Sled Dogs and also rabbits and deer.

Well maybe I’ll get a reaction out of this one.

Disclaimer – I am not defending anyone that shoots or in any way wantonly kills one animal or many of them. I am trying to get some perspective on the situation. 

I understand about a 100 sled dogs were put down, it appears that the SPCA were approached some time ago and made aware that the dogs, for several reasons were surplus but they (SPCA) decided that the dogs were un-adoptable so shrugged the information off. Now accepting that the dog handler never said anything about putting them down I wonder what the SPCA folks thought would happen to these animals. I guess they didn’t think anything.

But now they are on the bandwagon and it is very convenient that there is a scapegoat – the fellow that reported the problem, then getting no help, put them down. Would the action have been any more acceptable if he had poisoned them, gassed them or gave them a shot of whatever it is that veterinarians use everyday? Guess not.

However I think that what people don’t understand is that at the end of their working life, you can’t just put these kind of critters out to pasture like an old race horse. Perhaps they should have just been turned them loose, then conservation officers could have gotten involved hunting the dogs down and shooting them one by one before they cleaned out the local deer, bird, cat and rabbit populations.

On the whole south end of Vancouver Island amongst our gardens, parks, road medians and orchards we have a tremendous problem of trying to control an exploded and exploding rabbit population that irresponsible people have and still continue to set loose when they find that the cute baby bunny pets have become a nuisance. As well we have deer, who evolved to live in the wild and took their chances with predators and humans, but have now adapted away from their natural environment  to become urban dwellers. They now gorge themselves, not on what should be their diet, but instead on garden plants and orchard produce both of which have in most cases been liberally treated with pesticides, insecticides and commercial fertilizers. So here’s a thought; the next time we have carnivores who have lived past their ‘good before’ date we should turn them loose in a couple of parks and let nature take its course.

And on the subject of cruelty to animals, I have to think that present day dog owners ( yes the majority who are up in arms over the incident) may not be exactly pure. The modern city dwelling dog is not allowed to roam free, it is fed food that for the most part bears no resemblance to anything that nature intended. Thousands of these animals (large and small) are confined to back yard runs, or worse to small apartments and houses and for the most part in the cities are left all day long so that their owner can come home for a few hours a day and claim to have a pet. We stick them with needles, we neuter them, we feed them dry or wet doctored food. We prolonge their lives when they get older and force them to live on with a variety of ailments and diseases. But on the other hand we do take them for walks and dutifully pick up their excrement with plastic bags.

Oh well what the hell!

To get back to those sled dogs – what would you do? Here’s a few questions.

1. Say you have enough animals to help you run a business. 25% get old and have various ailments.. Nobody wants them, you can’t afford to feed them – what do you do now?

2. OK lets do away with the sport of sled dogging, what are you going to do with all the dogs in Canada that have been bred and raised to be in this sport?

3. Do you know what has happened to old sled dogs since their use began more than 200 years ago?

4. OK what?

5. Have you ever watched TV or maybe a movie about sled dogs? Did you cheer or been moved in some way about a dog or the race?

6. Is your voice raised in anger over this incident because you are simply emotionally distraught?

7. Because you have a better solution?

8. Do you have any solution?

9.Do you think for yourself or follow ‘happily’ along in the public hysteria?

Me – I don’t have a solution. I’m sure I could come up with a decision for the future if I had the job. But I’m equally sure it wouldn’t make everyone happy, probably not even myself and I’m sure again it would not be a perfect solution.