Behchoko Debating Dog Situation

June 18, 2008
CJCD-FM Yellowknife

The community of Behchoko is considering an extreme measure to deal with rampant dogs on the loose known for biting and attacking its residents. Craig Yeo, a communications coordinator with the Behchoko community government, says a draft bylaw in front of council would allow them to pick up untagged dogs and destroy them immediately. The draft by-law takes out a 48-hour reprieve for owners to pick up their untagged pets. Yeo says they feel they have no other choice. "We don't want to shoot dogs, but we can't have people being bitten by dogs. We have the highest rate of dog bites in the territory and it's a situation that's out of control. The council, at its meeting the other night, said, 'We need to get tough and take measures'. We're a small community. We don't have a lot of money. We can't afford a big pound program and we're hoping people begin to control their dogs." There is a small dog pound in Behchoko, but currently there are no programs to have pets neutered or spayed. Janet Pacey, President of the NWT SPCA says she's been aware of the feral dog problem for some time. "It's a bit of a tough one. Yes, they're technically owned by people, but they aren't necessarily looked after by those same people. They're not fed on a regular basis, they're not tied, they're left to run loose in their own devices. Hence, they want to pack. Dogs are social animals, social creatures and what they don't get from people, they will seek out in other dogs." Pacey says the dogs shouldn't be made to suffer because the owners are neglecting them. The draft by-law will be in front of the community council again next week for second reading.

Bison shot and left to suffer

Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, May 22, 2008

ACHO DENE KOE/FORT LIARD - An investigation is underway into the illegal shooting of a bison in Fort Liard.

Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) staff said the animal was intentionally maimed.

On May 9 ENR staff shot a mature bull which had an injured back leg that wasn't healing, said Carl Lafferty, the manager of Wildlife and Environment for the Deh Cho region.

After shooting the animal ENR staff skinned the bison to find the cause of the injury. It was suspected the bison had injured its leg by crossing the ice on the Petitot River or by fighting with another bull, said Lafferty. Instead, staff found a bullet hole in the animal's leg.

"It looked like it might have been in agony for a long time," said Lafferty.

Inside the leg the bone had been shattered just below the ball joint of the hip. The bullet likely hit the bone and bounced back out causing enough damage for the bone to fracture under its own weight, said Lafferty. The wound and the month the animal lived with it caused extensive damage to the muscle tissue in the leg.

"It was like taking a big bowl of raspberry Jell-O and it just poured out, the muscle tissue was so damaged," Lafferty said.

Because of the location of the bullet hole staff suspect that someone in the community was annoyed by the bison and shot it to drive it off.

The bison was shot in its backside while walking away, an area that a hunter wouldn't shoot if they were trying to kill a bison, said Lafferty.

Based on calls made to complain about the injured bison ENR staff suspects that at least some community members knew about the reason for the bison's limp. Everyone who called in to report the animal referred to it as "wounded" while ENR staff were calling it "injured," said Lafferty. In hindsight, the choice of words suggests that people making the calls knew someone had shot the bison, he said.

By taking matters into their own hands and shooting a bison someone put the whole community at risk, Lafferty said.

"This animal is far too big to be shooting at without killing," he said.

If people have a problem with a bison they should report it to the local ENR office and a staff member will respond and move it out of the area, said Lafferty.

The manner in which the animal was shot is illegal under the NWT Wildlife Act and could result in a maximum fine of $1,000. Section 39 of the act allows a person to wound or kill wildlife if it's necessary to preserve their or someone else's life or protect their property. In such cases, however, the incident has to be reported right away so the animal can be dealt with, said Lafferty.

"Wounding an animal and not telling anyone is very irresponsible," he said.

The incident has also been reported to the RCMP because it involves the discharge of a firearm within the community.

ENR records show the bison rarely left the community so it was probably shot within the hamlet's boundaries, said Lafferty.

Cases of intentionally wounded bison are unusual.

In his 21 years as the superintendent of ENR in the region Paul Kraft said this is the first case he can remember of someone shooting a bison with the intention of injuring it. Most people know better because of the chance of the animal charging, said Kraft.

The community was put at risk during the period between when the animal was shot and when its wound started to slow its movements, said Lafferty.

Staff with ENR in Fort Liard first recorded the bull's injury on April 10. The bull had been tagged and collared last July so staff were keeping a detailed record of its movements.

Because leg injuries in bison caused by natural reasons aren't uncommon staff left the animal alone expecting the leg to heal, said Lafferty.

"We thought it was honestly just injured," he said.

The injury, however, didn't get better and the bison stayed in the community prompting an increasing number of complaints from community members who were concerned about having an injured animal in the hamlet. ENR staff in Fort Liard responded to the calls and used methods to prompt the bison to move away, said Lafferty. The length of time it took to move the animal even a short distance, however, got longer.

"He was progressively getting harder to move," said Lafferty.

A video taken by staff on April 30 shows the bull limping slowly and keeping weight off of its rear left leg. At the urging of the community staff moved forward their planned destruction of the bison by three days and shot it on May 9.

Two local men that were hired to help with the process of cutting up the carcass were both appalled by what someone had done to the animal, he said.

"It didn't sit well with how they were raised," said Lafferty.

"It was suffering for some time."

This case is a perfect example of why residents should leave dealing with bison up to ENR staff, he said.

"Don't take matters into your own hands. Call us," said Lafferty.

A new deal for Iqaluit’s neglected dogs

Humane Society shelter gives cast-off canines a better chance to escape death or exile

CHRIS WINDEYER
Nunatsiaq News, May 9, 2008

As Janine Budgell opens the door, the squall of wailing dogs is at first a shock to the ears.

Budgell is visiting the Iqaluit Humane Society's new shelter for the second of what will be four times this day. Opened late last month, the shelter shares space with the city's new dog pound in an industrial area off Federal Road.

Budgell, the society's president, and volunteer Pauline Schipper are here to let the shelter's 10 current residents - all dogs - out for a little exercise and to relieve themselves. These dogs are healthy and happy, unlike some of the dogs that live in the pound.

"If these dogs were in the pound there would be nobody to exercise them," Budgell says.

The new building has more space than the dilapidated old structure near Baffin Correctional Centre that used to house the pound. The room allows the Humane Society to have its own space for the first time, and that means healthy dogs that are prime candidates for adoption no longer have to be flown to Ottawa or put down.

It also frees up city bylaw staff to deal with more problematic dogs and separate the healthy from the sick, as Budgell puts it.

"We work really close [with the bylaw department]," she says. "With the new facility it'll be even easier."

The two grown dogs currently residing at the pound, a purebred Canadian Inuit dog, and a giant, exuberant Newfoundland-Husky cross, clearly need the workout.

Locked in big cages for hours at a time, the dogs bound out of their cages and once leashed, pull hard on their leads, giving Budgell and Schipper workouts of their own.

The volunteers also take care of a litter of eight mutt puppies that were found under a house, abandoned by their mother.

They squeal and wail and burst out of their cages when Budgell frees them, and it doesn't take long before puddles of urine and piles of feces to start appearing on the floor.

Budgell is up front with new volunteers: you will clean up poop. But it hasn't stopped Schipper, a self-proclaimed animal lover, from offering up her time to help out.

"I've seen a lot of mistreated or malnourished animals" since coming to Iqaluit a year ago, Schipper says. "Here, more than anywhere, we need a humane society."

Despite that need, the society still doesn't have the money to intervene on behalf of the roughly 2,600 pet animals that live in Iqaluit, Budgell says.

But volunteers do go into local schools to help teach kids how to avoid confrontations with dangerous dogs and the society teams up with the Rotary Club to bring veterinarians to town twice a year.

They'd also like to offer regular spaying and neutering, but Iqaluit's one resident vet doesn't have a space to perform surgeries, Budgell says.

And besides, the $400 cost of spaying or neutering one animal buys enough dog food to feed 25 animals for a month.

In the meantime, the society is relying on donations of materials and labour to bring their new space up to snuff, with a floor specially designed to collect and dispose of urine and a wider door to admit larger kennel cages. Plans are also in the works for a separate room to house either cats or mother dogs with newborn litters.

Budgell also says the society is looking for volunteers. Anyone interested can call 222-1300.

If you don't want to clean up poop, the society happily accepts donations.

Jail sought for puppy killer

Daryl Slade, Calgary Herald
Published: Tuesday, May 13, 2008

A man who beat a puppy so badly it had to be euthanized should be jailed, says a prosecutor, dismissing an impassioned apology from the guilty man.

"The most aggravating factor I identify is the extreme level of brutality involved against this defenceless animal," Crown prosecutor Gord Haight said in seeking a three- to four-month jail term for Christopher Piasentin.

"He was hitting the dog in a rage he was in after the dog wet on the bed."

Piasentin, 25, who previously pleaded guilty to causing pain and suffering, wiped away tears as he said there was never a question he was remorseful and took responsibility for his actions.

"I've taken every step in ensuring I don't react this way again," Piasentin told court Monday. "I'm honestly sorry. I'd do anything to take it back."

Defence lawyer Willie deWit, saying it was a momentary lapse, argued for a conditional jail sentence to be served in the community.

"The incident happened and he is remorseful," said deWit. "You look for answers why you would do this. That is what he is doing."

Minutes before Piasentin apologized, his mother, who did not give her name, told the judge she was shocked at the "extremely heinous crime" her son committed.

She said he had no history of violence and part of the problem was a combination of alcohol, drugs and stress.

Court previously heard Piasentin was at home with the dog, Levi, when the incident occurred Nov. 1, 2006.

The beagle had extensive fractures, a damaged liver, bruising and lung and brain hemorrhaging, according to the veterinarian's report.

Piasentin will be sentenced June 5.

dslade@theherald.canwest.com

Cooking for dogs

YELLOWKNIFE - Students at St. Joseph school donated $700 to Great Slave Animal Hospital last Thursday.

Grade 5/6 teacher Steve MacFadyen's English class raised the money through a one-day bake sale at the school, as part of a community support project.

According to the class, their $700 set a new school record.

"The rest of St. Joe's bought a lot of baked goods," said MacFadyen.

Made by students and parents, the peanut-free brownies, haystacks, cookies, muffins and Rice Krispies squares were snapped up quickly.

Class representatives polled students to determine which community program to support and decided upon the Great Slave Animal Hospital's shelter.

"We decided to raise money for them, because we all like to help animals, and it would be a good choice," said student Sarah Mailman.

"They wanted to do something good for the community, and they decided they would like to donate to the animal shelter," said MacFadyen, adding that students are familiar with the problem of people buying and then returning animals.

According to student Joseph Russell, they picked the animal shelter "because there's a lot of animals that we wanted to help because they might have felt hurt because they were alone."

"We came up with the idea and then we made posters all over the school," said student Victoria Rankin.

Roxanne Gravel, the administrative supervisor at Great Slave Animal Hospital, came to MacFadyen's classroom to receive the money students had raised.

After student Dylan Van Wyck presented her with the basket of money, the rest of the class surrounded her, asking a barrage of questions about her favourite animals, breeds and whether she had any pets of her own.

"I had no idea that a classroom would be raising money for our pound animals," said Gravel. "That's awesome, it will be put to good use, down to the very last penny,"

MacFadyen had been in communication with the shelter and heard about animals in need of operations.

"The students are quite happy to know it can be used in that regard," he said.

"There were a lot of animals that needed surgery and it was too expensive," said Russell. "I think it's gonna be used for the dog that might need surgery."

"It would go to every single pound animal that we have right now," Gravel said. "Hay River is doing its own money-raising for a dog that they sent up, Hope, the one that's been in the newspaper with the skin condition. So we'll just use this for surgery and treatment to any other pound dog that we have. We only have one pound cat right now, so it's all going to go towards the dogs."

Dog owner drives over pet

YELLOWKNIFE - A dog that had been rescued and found a home in Yellowknife was killed recently when its owner walked it by driving alongside it on the highway near Fiddler's Lagoon.

The dog was killed when the vehicle ran over it.

The not-uncommon practice of running a dog and driving with it beside the car has the NWT SPCA concerned for the safety of dogs.

The NWT SPCA has created this poster to warn people of the danger of driving while their dog is walked beside their vehicle. - image courtesy of the NWT SPCA

"It does happen all the time," said Robin Weber, vice-president of the NWT SPCA. "At least once a year I hear about it. Usually at the sand pits it happens, Vee Lake Road, on the ice road. This is the first time I've heard of it happening on the highway.

"How do you watch the road and your dog at the same time? There's no way."

The NWT SPCA has launched a campaign against the practice. There are posters available for download from the NWT SPCA website with the phrase "Do not run dogs beside vehicles."

"It's a totally preventable tragedy," said Weber. "There's no excuse for doing this. People are just too lazy to get out of their vehicles and walk their dogs."

Weber said as far as she knows the dog owner wasn't charged and there are no bylaws in place prohibiting people from running dogs beside vehicles.

She said the SPCA would like to see people who do this charged and is looking into whether or not a bylaw could be introduced.

"Hopefully we can educate other people and have this not happen again," said Weber.

Yukon proposes tougher animal protection laws

The Yukon government wants to expand its animal protection laws and stiffen penalties for anyone convicted of animal abuse.

The proposed amendments to the Animal Protection Act, announced Monday, would also boost powers for officers who are investigating complaints.

The changes would permit animal protection officers to obtain warrants by telephone, allowing those in rural areas to act more quickly. Currently, animal protection officers who need to get a warrant have to do so in person.

RCMP would also be allowed to enter homes without a warrant if they suspect an urgent case of animal abuse is taking place.

Pet owners could be ordered to provide the basic necessities for any mistreated pets, under the proposed changes.

As well, penalties would go up, with maximum fines of $10,000 and jail terms of up to two years. The current maximum penalties for violations of the act are a $500 fine and a six-month jail term.

The government is considering to outlaw the carrying of dogs loose in the back of open pickup trucks.

As well, any road collision that kills or injures an animal would have to be reported to local authorities. Such collisions would include bicycles as well as motor vehicles.

In a release, Community Services Minister Glenn Hart said government officials will hold community meetings across the territory this month and next. The first meeting will be held next week in the Mount Lorne and Ibex Valley areas.

Members of the public can also submit comments online, via the Community Services Department's website. Deadline for submissions is May 23.

The Yukon's animal protection laws were brought into question in 2006, after a Dawson City man shot and killed all 56 of the dogs on his property.

RCMP did not lay any charges against the man. At the time, a police spokesman said the territory's animal laws would make it difficult for police to charge and obtain a conviction of the man.

Yukon Government to Consult on Animal Protection Act

http://www.gov.yk.ca/news/2008/08-091.html

WHITEHORSE - The Yukon government is asking Yukoners to comment on proposed amendments to the Animal Protection Act, Community Services Minister Glenn Hart announced today.

"The proposed amendments aim to make the legislation clearer and easier to enforce, as well as to encourage compliance with the act," Hart said. "Yukoners have told us this is an important piece of legislation and we are seeking their feedback on proposed amendments to make it better."

The Animal Protection Act provides protection for the welfare of domestic animals in Yukon. The Yukon government will be holding a territory-wide consultation on the act April 21 to May 23.

The Yukon government commissioned an independent review of the act in 2006 to assess the effectiveness of the legislation. The study revealed that while the act was basically sound, there was potential to improve it.

Representatives from the Yukon government will visit communities in April and May to consult with interested residents and groups.

Information on the Animal Protection Act consultation can be found online and feedback submitted at www.community.gov.yk.ca until May 23. Information is also available at the reception desk of the Yukon Government Administration Building.

-30-

Contact:
Roxanne Vallevand
Cabinet Communications
(867) 633-7949
roxanne.vallevand@gov.yk.ca

Nathalie Harwood
Communications, Community Services
(867) 667-5075
nathalie.harwood@gov.yk.ca

Iqaluit moves pound as stray dog numbers rise

There's a new home for stray dogs in Iqaluit, after city staff moved its pound to a newly renovated building.

The movement of the dog pound to a facility on Federal Road comes at a time when residents say they've noticed more stray dogs roaming the city.

As a result, bylaw officers have been getting four to five calls daily, on average, from citizens worried about the strays.

"Usually, this time of the year, our numbers seem to be a little higher, and we attribute that to the last cycle of pups that went through in the fall," Rod Mugford, Iqaluit's chief enforcement officer, told CBC News on Wednesday.

"Now that they're a little larger and they're on the move, they're more predominant in the community."

Mugford said the new pound, located on the 1300 block of Federal Road, is more spacious and better suited to accommodate both dogs and cats.

Staff moved the animals to the new facility on April 11, from existing space in a building off Federal Road. City council approved the move in August 2007.

But even with the bigger space, Mugford said the pound has been full of stray dogs lately. He advised the public to avoid strays they see running around and call the city's animal control services right away.

"With our patrols and with the public complaints that we receive, you know, we diligently do the best that we can with the resources we have and we round up as many of the animals that we can," he said.

Dog dung irks legislative assembly workers

YELLOWKNIFE - Verna Currimbhoy says the trails and grounds near the legislative assembly are going to the dogs, and it's getting worse.

Dog dung is everywhere and it's not just the spring thaw that's making it so obvious, she said.

"I've been walking to work for the last 12 years and it's getting bad," said Currimbhoy, who works at the legislative assembly.

"Some people say it's the (melting) snow but no, this is not old stuff."

Currimbhoy suspects people typically don't bother to clean up after their dogs when taking them for a walk by the legislative assembly grounds.

The area contains lots of trees, open spaces and the Frame Lake walking trail, which is usually pretty quiet in the evenings and early mornings - a perfect setting to let one drop without being noticed.

"I don't see them do it," said Currimbhoy.

"Sometimes it's fresh in the morning when I'm walking to work," she said.

She said with all the dog feces around, and with more being uncovered as the snow melts, an unpleasant picture is emerging for visitors, not only at the legislative assembly but also the nearby Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre and Yellowknife Visitors' Centre - both of which also have a fair share of dog poop lying around outside them.

A co-worker of Currimbhoy's, who declined to be identified, said there would be less dog dung if the city would place some disposal bins around town.

"It's really embarrassing and gross to be walking around with a sack full of crap," she said, adding that she picks up after her dog but usually sneaks it into a garbage bin.

The city landfill refuses to accept animal waste deposited in garbage if discovered, something the co-worker said she realizes, but added "I'm, going to do it anyway."

"People aren't going to take the initiative (to clean up after their dogs) unless you make it easy for them," she said.

As Currimbhoy and two co-workers exited the legislative assembly to show Yellowknifer some particularly offensive piles of poop, the group ran into Inuvik-Twin Lakes MLA Robert McLeod.

"Oh, there's lots of it," he said when asked what he thought about the feces situation.

A few minutes later, as Currimbhoy was pointing to a long row of dung dotting the causeway between the visitors' centre and the legislative assembly,

McLeod drove up in a van and unrolled the window.

"Holy cow, it's a minefield!" he said.

Robin Weber, vice-president of the NWT SPCA, said the city has installed sanitary bag dispensers for dog walkers along the Frame Lake Trail and at the downtown dog park but dog poop disposal bins are non-existent.

The only animal waste drop-off location in town is at Fiddler's Lagoon - about a 15-minute drive from downtown on Highway 3.

She said the SPCA has considered putting a page up on its website dedicated to shaming people caught in the act of leaving doggie doo-doo behind.

"But it's hard to prove," said Weber.

The penalty for failing to pick up after one's dog is a maximum $2,000 fine.

Doug Gillard, manager of municipal enforcement, said his department does fine people from time to time but they haven't this winter.

He said, generally, if a bylaw officer catches someone in the act, they will make the offender clean up the poop without handing out a fine.

"My observation is that people are picking up their poop but (often leaving it behind) does go on," said Gillard.

And for those who have more dog crap than time to pick it up, help is on the way.

Taylor Maids, a two-person clean-up crew, is getting set to launch a business in Yellowknife specializing in ridding yards of unsightly feces.

"We got a lot of clients out there with some nasty backyards," said Mark Feldberg, a partner with Taylor Maids.

He said they plan to get started around the end of May. PHOTO:

Verna Currimbhoy grimaces as she looks upon yet another long line of dog stools left on the path between the Yellowknife Visitors' Centre and the legislative assembly. She says she is noticing more and more feces when walking to work every morning. - Mike W. Bryant/NNSL photo.

BILL S-203 NO VICTORY FOR ANIMALS

Parliament Passes Notorious Do-Nothing Animal Cruelty Bill

Bill S-203 was passed by Parliament last night, with a 189–71 vote in the House of Commons. The news will come as a shock to the vast majority of Canadians. An SES research poll conducted in 2006 found that 85% of us want better animal cruelty legislation. Instead, the government has given us S-203, a bill that entrenches obsolete legislation enacted in 1892.

MPs know that S-203 is not supported by the people. In recent weeks they’ve received thousands of letters and phonecalls telling them so. On March 30th, Canadians in 7 cities rallied against the bill and all the SPCAs and humane societies have condemned it. Petitions opposing it have garnered 130,000 signatures.

The only saving grace is that MPs will be held accountable for their votes at a new website, www.dontbecruel.org. The site was launched jointly by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies and the World Society for the Protection of Animals. Together, these three groups speak for half a million Canadians.

Objections to S-203 centre on its failure to address the legal loopholes that allow 99% of animal abusers to go free. The bill’s only new provision is an increase in the maximum penalties that judges can impose. But harsher penalties are useless when you can’t get convictions.

“If S-203 were not so profoundly sad, it would be a joke,” said Toronto lawyer Lesli Bisgould in a CBC Radio interview on April 4th.

Yesterday’s vote is the result of an 8-year struggle in Parliament to update Canada’s 116-year-old animal cruelty act. At various points during that period, more progressive legislation was actually passed in the House of Commons and then blocked by the Senate. This happened under pressure from lobby groups like the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association and the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters. The agenda of these and other animal-use organizations is to stop legislation that reflects society’s growing respect for animals and the emerging view of animals as sentient beings with interests of their own.

The failure of our outdated laws is compounded by the link between cruelty to animals and aggression against people. Research has shown that violent criminals have a history of committing severe acts of animal cruelty. In Canada, the problem can only persist because animal abuse cannot be curbed under the Criminal Code. This in itself is deplorable. Add to it that developing nations like Malaysia, the Philippines and South Africa have better animal cruelty laws than we do. (See the survey of animal cruelty laws in 14 countries at www.ifaw.org.)

The fear is that S-203 will halt further amendments and leave our animal cruelty laws indefinitely stuck in the 19th-century. There are at least a few MPs who don’t want that to happen, and others have expressed a willingness to go forward from here. Certainly, better animal cruelty legislation is needed, and sooner rather than later. We won’t tolerate another decade of procrastination on the part of politicians.

INFORMATION

For information on Bill S-203 visit www.againstanimalcruelty.ca

Otherwise, please contact:
Montreal: Cyrus Showkati, ceacl@yahoo.ca, 514.249.1321
Toronto: Mitch Nadon, c4p@mediaintelligence.ca, 416.535.8988
Toronto: Kelly Gredner, info@wildatheartcanada.org, 416.532.9297
Ottawa: Beth Greenhorn, bgreenhorn@yahoo.ca, 613.327.1853
Ottawa: Shelagh MacDonald, shelaghm@cfhs.ca, 613.262.0588
Vancouver: Rose Nadon, dutchdog@pacificcoast.net, 604.777.2222
Calgary: Heather Anderson, daisybillc373@shaw.ca, 403.590.7355
Windsor: Kelly French, kfrench08@gmail.com, 519.564.3682
Yellowknife: Robin Weber, weber_robin@hotmail.com, 867.873.5826

Vandals take bite out of dog park fence

YELLOWKNIFE - It may have been a cunning canine chewing away, bit by bit, at the outdoor dog park fence for months to make an escape, but it was more likely vandals who cut a hole in the chain link fence of the city park with wire cutters.

Either way, Janet Pacey, president of the NWT SPCA, is dumbfounded.

Brad Heath, with huskies Lochie and Sky, play in the dog park behind the Yellowknife Curling Club. Vandals cut a large hole in the fence of the park with wire cutters sometime last week. - Herb Mathisen/NNSL photo "Who would do that?" she asked. "What a bunch of jerks."

Last week, a volunteer who checks the park weekly discovered a large hole in the park fence behind the Yellowknife Curling Club.

Pacey was alerted to the vandalism the evening of March 25.

"It's more of a doorway than a hole," said Brad Heath, who regularly visits the park.

Heath described the hole as being about seven feet high and three or four feet wide.

"They cut three sides, so they could pull the chain linking back, so they could get their mountain bikes in there to ride around the dog park."

Monday morning, Pacey said the city had been made aware of the damage.

There is no lock on the park doors, which operate on simple latches.

"I just think it was someone who was bored," said Dawn Collins, who visits the park as the owner of a dogwalking business.

"It's the first major vandalism I've seen," said Heath, although over his many visits, he has seen minor damages.

The football field-sized park is used year round and is an integral place for dogs and dog owners, said Pacey.

"The whole point of a fenced-in dog park is that it is the only place where animals that are known to be flippant are safe in town," said Pacey.

"It's the only place where dogs can run without a leash."

"The dog park is a great facility," said Heath.

"I bring my huskies there three or four times a week to burn off energy. The dogs are safe there. They don't get into mischief."

The dog park was established after a September 2004 motion from council to create a space for dogs to run off leash.

ANIMAL CRUELTY BILL UPDATE