Lasting dog control needed in north

Posted 7 months ago

People have been pointing fingers this past week at who is responsible for the death of a young boy on a northern Saskatchewan First Nation. Ten year old Keith Iron was allegedly killed by a pack of dogs while walking to his cousin's house on the Canoe Lake Cree First Nation last Sunday.

While RCMP had not released the cause of the boy's death as of press time, relatives told media what they believe happened, which sparked a debate that has come up again and again. Some people blame the animals themselves, other say irresponsible owners are to blame, and some people say it is the responsibility of the municipal government, in this case the chief and council, to prevent tragedies like this from happening.

Basic common sense says that if you are a pet owner you should be responsible for your pets. This does not always happen, and unfortunately both animals and people suffer because of it.

Stray dogs are a problem across the country. How to deal with them is an ongoing debate between animal advocates and those concerned with the safety of the people in the community.

The chief of Canoe Lake has said that he feels responsible for this tragedy, while there are many people out there who want to help but simply can't due to lack of funding and resources.

Right now, animal control is the responsibility of individual municipalities. Seeing as it is a reoccuring issue all around the province, perhaps the responsiblity should be placed in the hands of the provincial government. Meadow Lake MLA and Minister of Municipal Affairs Jeremy Harrison told media that the legislature would consider a bill giving municipal officers the authority to destroy problem animals. But is that the best solution?

The Remote Area Vetrinary Services program is one way to prevent needless killing of dogs while protecting the safety of people, by providing clinics to spay, neuter and vaccinate dogs. However it is not a publicly funded program and therefore can't completly solve the problem. If the provincial government could help fund this program, killing problem animals wouldn't be necessary. According to the program's website, since 2004 four trips to the north, including Ile a la Crosse, La Loche and Stanley Mission, resulted in over 300 animals receiving examinations, vaccinations, and deworming, while 240 were spayed or neutered.

In 2007, a Northwest Territories community of 300 ordered its animal control officer to kill any stray dogs he saw after a dog attacked two girls in a playground. In that case the girls recovered, but it could have been a tragedy like the one this week in Canoe Lake.

Without humane ways to control the dog population, there may be no choice but to take such drastic measures. It would be nice to not have to come to that.

JB

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