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Dogs from the Whistler Sled Dog Co. take tourists for a ride in the Soo Valley north of Whistler. (Courtesy Sled Dog Foundation)
It was a year ago this month that news of the now-infamous sled dog slaughter in Whistler, B.C, made headlines around the world.
After it emerged that a tour operator with Outdoor Adventures Whistler had shot and stabbed approximately 100 healthy sled dogs the previous April, there was an outpouring of condemnation, and a month later the company suspended its sledding operations.
But the story may have a happy ending after all.
Despite an abundance of negative publicity after news broke of the shocking cull, Outdoor Adventures has now been transformed into the Whistler Sled Dog Co., owned by the Sled Dog Foundation, a newly created not-for-profit that aims to become a model for sledding operations worldwide.
The new company began operations just before Christmas in the Soo Valley north of Whistler and business has been brisk, says Sue Eckersley, one of the foundation’s three committee members.
Although the massacre gave the sled dog industry and Whistler a black eye, she says the industry has rebounded and people have put the ordeal behind them.
“I think that people—both the public and the media—have embraced this new situation, and I think what everybody wants is to know that going forward things are going to be different.”
Eckersley says the operation will be a basis for research on sled dog behaviour and care, and everything learned will be made available to sled dog operators around the world to improve their operations and the well-being of their animals.
“Plus, there’s all these companies that have been operating really well with great knowledge, and what we would like to do is be a home for all that knowledge,” she says.
“The best thing about this whole scenario is that the potential is huge. We have an opportunity to influence thousands of dog’s lives.”
A young boy and a sled dog make friends at the Whistler Sled Dog Co. (Courtesy Sled Dog Foundation)
In mid-December, Outdoor Adventures owner Joey Hussain donated the business to the foundation, including 151 dogs, land leases, kennels, and equipment.
“[A]fter significant research and consultation with animal welfare experts, academics, and others, my team concluded that we would try to influence positive change for the industry and for the welfare of sled dogs. We believe the creation of this foundation is the best way to achieve this,” Hussain said in a press release at the time.
The foundation has a no-kill policy unless an animal has to be put down for health reasons, and an area has been set aside where retired dogs can live out their old age. Profits will go toward establishing best practices and educating sled dog operators.
‘Drastic Action’
It was initially believed that around 100 sled dogs had been slaughtered by Bob Fawcett, who ran Outdoor Adventures’ sled dog division. But an investigation by the BC SPCA found only 56 dogs in the grave where they had been buried.
A worker’s compensation claim for post-traumatic stress filed by Fawcett detailed how he had killed the dogs by shooting them or slitting their throats, then buried them in a mass grave.
In an online forum for soldiers suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, Fawcett said he was told that the sled dog division of the company would go out of business unless “drastic action – immediate disposal of half the herd” was taken.
“I reluctantly agreed to do the job – I was told we had two days to get the job done due to a large tour group we had coming,” he wrote.
Fawcett, who went into hiding at one stage because of death threats, said he had been diagnosed with PTSD and was “in a bit of a mess” since the cull. “I have had to execute and watch most of my best friends die,” the father of two wrote in the posting.
Continued: Hussain told the media he took “moral responsibility” for the cull …
