What could possibly go wrong?
A La Loche woman who was attacked by a pack of dogs last month says the community needs to do something about its dog problem before someone is killed.
Belinda Montgrand was walking to the village post office after 5 p.m. on Oct. 20 when more than 20 dogs suddenly ran at her.
[…]
La Loche Mayor Robert St. Pierre acknowledges that dog control has been an issue in the village for years. The community spends more than $20,000 a year on dog culls and to pay groups to take truck-loads of canines out of the community to be adopted elsewhere.
anybody own a gun?
Yes. But everyone is too busy doing traditional stuff.
I am as much a dog lover as anyone – and like Kate, I’m a min schnau owner – but there’s a thing called hard reality: a roaming pack of dogs attacking people requires shooting. Once dogs are allowed to start going feral, there’s no way back.
In a rural community any dog that turns on a human is quickly converted to coyote’s lunch because a dog out of control is no dog you want around.
On a reserve many of the unwritten rules that guide a properly functioning community are ignored; that’s just the way it is.
Can’t manage your dog population? Uh, OK. Here’s a veto over all national infrastructure projects…
Appoint a responsible local hunter or two as pest control officers and shoot any dogs running at large.
Uhhh…
Shoot them?
Let people carry guns?
Sorry – I’ll shut up now.
The dogs that aren’t shot, are “rescued” and sold in Saskatoon / Regina…
oh yeah.
What that village needs is a Chinese restaurant. Stray dog problem solved.
“…spends more than $20,000 a year on dog culls and to pay groups to take truck-loads of canines out …”
Well, there’s your problem right there.
“…“For us to go more often, we would need some sort of solid funding in place to help pay for the clinics,” she said.”
I am not sure, but I sense a solution could be at hand. Sometimes it really is like taking a horse to water….
Yes but Frenchie77, we’ve seen this movie before: “Give us money, and we’ll build clinics and the problem will go away!”
The money is given. The money is spent. The clinics don’t get built. The problem gets worse.
“Well, you didn’t give us enough money last time – give us MORE money and this time, we’ll fix it FOR SURE!!!” Lather, rinse, repeat.
Whereas, it’d cost them ~nothing to pass a simple ordinance – “Dogs roaming untied and unaccompanied may be shot on sight without penalty, and where ownership can be established, the owner will be billed for disposal of the carcass and any attendant damage”. The problem goes away quickly, with very few dogs being shot – once the owners realize the rest of the community mean it, they keep their dogs tied up.
“Hit ’em in the wallet.”
If they could only get $1 million from the federal government for animal control. For the children.
If I lived anywhere near, I would handle the problem for $500 a month if they all promise not to whine when I blew away rover..
Some years back (many) a little kid was savaged to death by dogs in La Ronge. Some folks got together and shot all the strays they could find. Probem solved. I love dogs but when they are wild and run in packs, they are dangerous. There is no shortage of lovely dogs with fine temperaments who are cared for by responsible pet owners, so I don’t see the need to rescue these dogs. Exporting the problem doesn’t solve the problem.
I agree with nold, in a rural community free range dogs are shot, eventually. It’s not an easy decision though because in a small town you know whose dogs you’re shooting, if it’s a child’s pet, how angry the owner will be if you shoot the dog. For these reasons, one of the towns I lived in was hesitant to cull it’s growing pack of pet dogs. Reminders and requests were the preferred option. As everyone knows, those who let their dogs run free and become their neighbors problem are also unlikely to be receptive to polite requests. Then a young deer was chased down and ripped apart by the dogs on the front lawn of a family with young children…it wasn’t hard to imagine how the situation could have been much more horrific. Within a week the roaming dogs had all disappeared. No one, even the owners, asked what happened to the dogs.
Hmmm……no mention that this may be due to the fact La Loche is a shithole. Reaping what they sow……or something.
Common problem on every rez. Seen it a hundred times. The community does nothing until someone is savaged or killed. That’s what communal property does for you.
I have a 22-250 for exactly this problem.
I lived in Saudi Arabia for a few years, and in the areas not too far from a village you would regularly see large packs of wild dogs. You quickly understood that you had to be very careful in those areas, and not to stray too far from your vehicle or other means of shelter in case they arrived. They are quite fast with substantial teeth (a Saluki mix) and you wouldn’t want to find yourself surrounded by a pack of them.
ten gauge SSG magnum load, quit and easy, and damn effective
Years ago I lived in Bella Bella BC which had a dog problem. The RCMP put up a notice that all dogs were required to be on a leash by a certain date. or they would be shot. They kept their promise much to the dismay of the Chief whose own dog ended up being shot. But it solved the dog problem.
I adopted one of these dogs from a local rescue organization. She cam to us starved and frightened from being neglected and abused. Also, there’s a bullet lodged in her back right leg. 2 years later, she is the most loving, soulful dog I’ve ever come across. They are worth saving.
Sad but true story. Winter 1978-1979. I lived in the trailer park just NE of town at the time & loose dogs were a constant problem for a neighbor who tied his dog up between us. Some folks actually complained about shooting the loose dogs. Wasn’t their kid, I guess.
Ugg, I like my shoulder as it is, not separated!
A nice little 40gr 22-250 pill at 4000fps will turn any doggie sized critters noggin to mush at 100M+.
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hmmm… la loche, la loche… that sounds so familiar.
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During my brief stay on a working hay ranch in Klamath Falls OR … I learned firsthand … the rural rules of feral dog control. Including one of the ranch owners OWN dogs who developed a taste for their chickens. Yep … my after-hours pet pal no longer curled-up next to my bed. Sad, to be sure … but I understood the harsh reality of biological control.
AFAIK, no Chinese restaurants in Canada has ever served dogs, so that won’t solve the problem. And all the Chinese Canadians I know would be aghast at such an idea.
However, Americans in the rural south eat possums and raccoons, which I don’t think someone in the north will ever do. I realize what the real avocation of the owner of this website is, but I cannot really see the difference between a feral dog and any other wild animal. I can see a reluctance to eating any wild animal, but not just dogs in particular. FYI, the Communist Chinese regime has outlawed the eating of dogs. I suppose that is a regime more to your liking. Hong Kong under the British had done it a long time ago.
This is a true story. In the last stages of the Vietnam war, some Hmongs, a mountain people who were vehemently against the Viet Cong, were rescued and sent to a town, I forgot which one, east of Los Angeles. They were so primitive that they foraged for firewood for cooking on top of the stove top, not knowing what it is used for. There happened to have been a big feral dog problem, which disappeared within weeks. They finally realized the Hmongs captured and ate them all. The town should be happy that someone solved its big civic problem for free. Instead, it immediately passed an ordinance to make eating dogs illegal. Some gratitude from those snowflakes. You understand, they were paying people to shoot the dogs, apparently inefficiently.
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“abtrapper says… community does nothing until someone
is savaged or killed.”
and even then, the “community” has issues…
“Geraldine Red-Iron, a vice-principal at Canoe Lake’s
high school, said that the dog issue is very divisive.
She said that whenever authorities try to kill the wild dogs,
people claiming to be their owners rise up in anger.”
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Not a big fan of Gandhi but whenever I hear stories like this about the conditions of dogs on reserves I think of his quote “the state of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals”.
AND $20,000 would cover the cost of spaying a lot dogs.
“people claiming to be their owners rise up in anger.”
yes! seen this myself just last week from a relative!
It’s bizarre. The animals are neglected, half starving, and begin to menace locals after running out of cats and smaller dogs to prey on. When it’s announced they’ll be shot all these “owners” suddenly appear. Happens like clockwork every year at the beginning of winter!
I am certain that is nothing that a few canoe sheds wouldn’t fix.
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around my neighbourhood, it’s mostly
shoot, shovel and shutup.
nobody wants predators harrying their
livestock or… more to the point…
their children.
us deplorables are funny that way.
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Three farm dogs menaced me while I was cycling the Wabash Trace. Two had collars and none of them were starved. I screamed myself hoarse and kicked at them with my Sidi’s. They ran off after 20 – 30 seconds, but seemed like an eternity. I can’t imagine being surrounded by 20 desperate mongrels.
On the other hand, my much loved rescue which we had to put down a few weeks ago had permanent damage to a rear paw from getting caught in a trap and several pieces of buckshot peppering one side. The pound said they’d been hunting him all the prior Fall and Winter (2008 – 2009) as he ran amuck among east county farmland. He had a severe hate-on for F-150s.