100 Sled Dogs Slaughtered In Vancouver

A sickening story out of Vancouver, Canada, about an outfit that killed 100 sled dogs last April, because of a lack of tourism. Please skip this story if you are especially tender of heart, or it's near your supper.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The 100 dogs were shot dead over two days after an expected post-Olympics boon in dogsledding business at an adventure company didn't pan out. Most died instantly, but others suffered -- like the one that ran away with its "face blown off and an eye hanging out."

The gruesome event was described in documents awarding compensation to a worker, who claimed post-traumatic stress disorder for having to shoot the dogs after bookings dropped sharply for a tour operator following the 2010 Winter Olympics.

According to one story, the dogs were shot and then their throats slit. The owners of the company are saying they knew nothing of the details of the culling.

Moriarty (general manager of cruelty investigations for the B.C. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) said it is likely the individual who will be facing charges and not the company.

"Obviously we would like to lay charges as soon as possible," she said. "We are looking at the particular individual. Whether the company is liable, I don't know. Morally, yes."

...The name of the man who killed the dogs has not been released, but his lawyer, Cory Steinberg, told CKNW that it was "the worst experience (the man) could ever have imagined."

The documents reveal bookings for dog sled tours collapsed after the Olympics, and when the company could not find homes for its animals, it ordered the cull. The dogs, which were part of a pack of 300, were shot over two days last April.

"He was essentially told to figure out a way to make (the business) more cost-effective. They just had to have less dogs. So he did everything he could finding homes for them, having them adopted, every which way that he could," Steinberg said Monday.

Graham Aldcroft, a spokesman for the company, said Outdoor Adventures had a financial stake in a company called Howling Dogs in Whistler for four years, but operational control of Howling Dogs was with the worker referred to in the WorkSafe B.C. documents.

"While we were aware of the relocation and euthanization of dogs at Howling Dog Tours, we were completely unaware of the details of the incident until reading the ... document Sunday," Aldcroft said in the statement.

Is the post traumatic stress real? He says he was attacked by a couple of the dogs, and slaughtering one hundred of man's best friends could not have been easy. Still, he did it. Was he just following orders? Did he disregard humane treatment because something is twisted inside him? Was he given expenses for euthanizing the dogs and decided he could do it cheaper than a vet and pocket the difference? Did he consider this just part of what he needed to do to keep his job?

It will be of no comfort to those animals, but I hope the SPCA investigations sort out the stories and punish whoever was responsible for this cruelty.

Michael Vick was unavailable for comment.