Shooting of unclaimed dogs in Manitoba city prompts protests
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 | 10:56 AM
CBC News

Animal rights activists are outraged over a Manitoba city's practice of shooting stray dogs that are caught and not claimed.

The controversial form of euthanasia employed by the City of Steinbach, 50 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg, is legal, said city manager Jack Kehler.

According to Len Turcotte, a provincial animal protection officer, "Once the dog has not been claimed and [the pound] had it for whatever amount of days, his particular rural municipality states he has a choice of different ways of putting the dog down.

"And if the RMs are not willing to pay for those sorts of services, he can put it down in any manner he sees fit."

But the Winnipeg Humane Society calls the practice old-fashioned and unacceptable.

"It's just not right," said Bill McDonald, executive director of the society. "Get out of the 20th century and into the 21st."

Kehler said Steinbach is following the most up-to-date guidelines set out by the Canadian Council on Animal Care, the national organization responsible for setting and maintaining standards for the care and use of animals in science in Canada.

"I guess [animal rights activists] are saying then that the Canadian Council on Animal Care is also outdated because that's the practices we're following," said Kehler.

McDonald puts the blame for the policy squarely on the shoulders of Steinbach's civic politicians.

"Members of that council should be ashamed of themselves that they're allowing this to proceed this way," he said. "It really just rests with the politicians, so I would encourage people to get a hold of Mayor Chris Goertzen and tell him this is not right."

Turcotte said Steinbach is the only Manitoba municipality he knows of that uses the method, but thinks there's probably more.

Municipal officials in other areas of the province told CBC News the practice is not common.