Adventure Travel Company Accused Of Killing Over 100 Sled Dogs

An adventure travel company has come under scrutiny in British Columbia, Canada after a former worker filed a compensation claim for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. The employee says that the condition came about because he was ordered to shoot more than 100 sled dogs over a two day period last year.

According to this story from CTV News, Outdoor Adventure Whistler conducted a “horrific” culling of their sled dogs last April, killing more than 100 of the them and throwing them in a mass grave. The culling took place April 21-23 and in the original claim, the worker says that he helped kill 70 dogs. The article says that the company later corrected that number to 100.

The tales that the person filing the claim has to tell are certainly not easy ones to read, and dog lovers will especially want to take caution when reading the story. A follow-up article, found here, says that Royal Canadian Mounted Police have now joined the investigation into what actually happened, and they will now dig up the mass grave to further investigate the allegations.

The story says that Outdoor Adventure Whistler did not respond to inquiries about the incident, but indications are that with the economy still sluggish and the travel industry still recovering, the dogs were killed off following a particularly slow winter season last year. One Vancouver group has already called for a complete ban of dog sled tours following this report.

Reading this story earlier was a extremely tough for me. As an animal lover, I wouldn’t want to see any creature treated this way. This is a glimpse of a darker side to adventure travel, and while I believe that this is probably an isolated incident, it doesn’t make it any easier to read about. If the allegations prove to be true, I hope action is taken very swiftly against the people involved.

Thanks to Eric Chan for sharing this sad story.

Kraig Becker

12 thoughts on “Adventure Travel Company Accused Of Killing Over 100 Sled Dogs”

  1. spam the companies email info@tagwhistler.com
    I love how the person who did the killings is trying to get compensation , what happaned to deciding no. Both the ownwer and the killer should be treated the same way. I live in canada and this is just sick and appaling

  2. Agreed that this story is appalling. Can't imagine doing something like this to those animals. It is an incredibly sad story to say the least.

  3. Anonymous, spamming will not help. It's also a crime. Let the justice handle it.
    If kids or parents are reading this: Before you want a baby dog at home, think twice as it will grow up, you have to be responsible for it, feed it, give the dog some love, space and some outdoor life for all of his life. If you're not sure of this, don't buy one. How many dogs are abandoned in our rich/stupid countries every year due to bad treatment. Animals and especially dogs have a soul & heart. Don't break them.

  4. @Adventure Junkie, You said that you would not want to see *any* creature treated this way. I wonder, do you eat meat? If you do then consider googling "factory farms". What happened to these dogs is horrific and the guilty parties should be held accountable, however, the animals we eat suffer each and every day in ways you have to see to believe.

  5. This is a very sad example of the way animals are treated by some humans. I certainly hope those responsible will be brought to justice.

    Anonymous, you have mentioned factory farming which I agree is also appalling. Following on from this, it is also worth mentioning that in some countries, such as Russia and China there are currently no animal welfare laws. There are many horrendous reports on the internet about animals in China being skinned alive for their fur. I would beg anyone not to buy any fur products or products with fur trims for this reason.

    With specific relevance to the outdoor industry, the use of duck and goose down in jackets and sleeping bags is something that is coming under scrutiny. In particular, "live plucking" is cited by some as a cruel practice, however the down taken from dead geese is likely to have come from animals that have been factory farmed. If the geese have been bred for Fois Gras then their treatment will have been particularly bad. A synthetic filling is a better choice for anyone concerned about animal welfare.

  6. It's appalling, but as someone else mentioned, this kind of thing happens on a daily basis around the world. Unfortunately money is becoming worth more than lives of living beings, and it's a horrible thing.

  7. Consider a farmer who owns 100 pigs. Suppose the price of pork crashes, and it would cost more to butcher his herd than he could sell the meat for. Should the farmer keep feeding the pigs, sell the meat at a loss, or cull his herd?
    Dogs have a special place in our culture, but they are animals, and other cultures wouldn't think twice about killing or eating them.

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