100 Husky's need help in Montreal HELP

[HelenNutmeg]

These poor beautiful dogs are currently abandoned in Montreal, Quebec....
see emails below for further details. There are about 100 dogs remaining
needing rescue, a confirmed 22 of which are pregnant. This can mean up to
200 husky puppies will need adoption as well. If you have ANY resources to
help these dogs please consider them! My only resource is spreading the
word.... I wish I had the house or the money to do more!

Please contact John Beniot who is working closely with the situation at the
moment at <mailto:maboo@ videotron. ca> maboo@videotron. ca or at 514 891 9623
for further information if you can help! Or even if you can post photos and
the story of these wonderful dogs on your organizations website, it would
help spread the word!

Thank you all for your hard work, lets make a group effort to help these
dogs and volunteers.

Annika McDade
Canmore, Alberta > To: Beth.Galloway@ aviall.com
> Subject: Husky Surrender
> From: Beth.Galloway@ aviall.com
> Date: Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:09:45 -0600
>
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> Ours friends up in Quebec need a hand with about 100 huskies that
> have been very badly neglected and are now being surrendered but
> need to find their way to no kill shelters, rescues and foster
> homes. A girlfriend of mine up in Montreal is working very closely
> with this group and all transportation will be arranged if you
> decide you can help us out. With that many, you can even tell us
> what you want, young, mature, male, female or even pregnant. These
> dogs surprisingly are very friendly and are not only starved for
> food but attention as well. I am NOT sending along the photos of
> the ones that did not make because let's face it, rescue is hard
> enough and you can just take my word for it, let me not sleep with
> these images in my head. If we can get everyone out there to offer
> help with just one or even two, we can really make a HUGE difference
> and show these dogs that not all humans are dirtbags.... ...shoot me
> an email back if you can think of anyone that could help out and
> please feel free to forward this along to as many others as you can,
> word of mouth and many hands are going to be key in saving this gang!
>
>
>
>
> Beth Galloway
> Customer Service Manager
> 1840 Alstep Drive, Unit 5
> Mississauga, Ontario
> L5S 1W1
> Tel: 905-676-1695
> Fax: 905-676-9046
> Cell: 416-903-0262

[chico2]

Helen,what about Best Friends Sanctuary in Utah,they rescue desperate animals from all over the world,mostly they are a last resort rescue and this certainly seems to be a last resort for these pups.

[Melinda]

I will crosspost!

[Melinda]

have some mushers interested and passed them the phone numbers!!

[Chris21711]

From what I understand, they won't be going to any mushers.

[aslan]

was thinking the same thing Chris.. Melinda these are the same dogs Benmax was posting about. They are in no shape for mushing or anything else at this point. They are looking for fosters not homes.

[Melinda]

I realize that girls, these mushers are husky experienced and won't use these dogs for that, I'm under the understanding they are looking for experienced FOSTER homes also and mushers will help out if they have room. I suppose I should have mentioned that when I said "mushers" instead of "husky" people
Just saw the pics....wow...poor dogs, pups are cute but the poor mom needs some meat on her bones to continue caring for them.

[Golden Girls]

hey where's the thread from last week about these dogs

Shelley thanks for crossposting to your contacts

[Golden Girls]

Originally Posted by HelenNutmeg

My only resource is spreading the
word....

Thank you for spreading the word, we need more of you

[Melinda]

finally its in the paper...ottawa citizen

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technol...349/story.html


SPCA seizes 97 sled dogs in Laurentians
By Irwin Block, Montreal GazetteNovember 17, 2009 2:33 PM
MONTREAL — Rescue teams from Humane Society International and the SPCA Laurentides-Labelle in Ste. Agathe des Monts have seized 97 sled dogs in Quebec's Mont Tremblant area from a trainer who could no longer look after them.


Paul Chevalier, who runs the shelter in Ste. Agathe, said many of the dogs were in poor health, having received only the minimum of care.


“The dogs were chained outside without regular access to adequate food, clean water or shelter,” Nikolas Gour of international group said in a statement.


The animals are to receive veterinary treatment, food and water in Ste. Agathe and at another shelter in nearby Val Morin, he said.


They will later be taken to rescue groups in Canada and the U.S. where they will be sterilized and adopted.

[Golden Girls]

Just heard on CTV they'll be airing @ 6 this story. Hopefully it'll help bring in much needed funds & more people will open their homes & hearts, so tragic :sad:

http://www.hsicanada.ca/press_room/s...ue_111709.html

November 17, 2009

Quebec Dog Rescue
Humane Society International and SPCA Laurentides-Labelle Rescue Nearly 100 Neglected Sled Dogs

Humane Society International

SAINTE-AGATHE-DES-MONTS, Quebec — Humane Society International and the SPCA Laurentides-Labelle partnered to rescue approximately 100 neglected sled dogs in the Upper Laurentians of Quebec. The owner was unable to care properly for his dogs and released them to the care of the SPCA LL.

"The dogs were chained outside without regular access to adequate food, clean water or shelter," said Nikolas Gour, campaigner for HSI/Canada. "Our assistance was desperately needed, and Humane Society International is pleased to help give these dogs a better life."

"This rescue will prevent the situation from getting worse: among the dogs we took in, approximately 30 females are pregnant," said Corinne Gonzalez, executive director, SPCA LL. "Without our intervention, the owner could easily have found himself with 150 more puppies when winter is right around the corner. The SPCA LL is asking the population for financial help for part of the food and vet fees for these dogs during their stay in Val-Morin."

Rescuers are swiftly removing the dogs and transporting them to an emergency shelter in Val-Morin, where all of the dogs will receive veterinary treatment, food, water and care. As soon as possible, the dogs will be brought to rescue groups in Canada and in the United States, where they will be sterilized and adopted into loving homes.

United Animal Nations has deployed a team of volunteers to staff the emergency shelter in cooperation with HSI and the SPCA LL.

"United Animal Nations volunteers are expert at running temporary shelters and supporting communities that become overwhelmed by a large influx of animals," said UAN emergency services manager Janell Matthies. "They will work non-stop to give these rescued dogs clean kennels, food, water and attention like they never experienced before."

Tragically, this situation is not unique, with cases of neglect of sled dogs regularly reported in Canada. HSI and the SPCA LL are calling upon the provincial and federal government to pass stronger animal protection laws to ensure the protection of all dogs. For sled dogs, sterilization and planning for the care of the dogs during the eight-month low season should be a priority.

Earlier this year, The Humane Society of the United States, the American partner of HSI, delivered 25,000 pounds of dog food to remote Alaskan villages to assist sled dogs and their owners affected by flooding of the Yukon River.

Humane Society International/Canada will have broadcast-quality video and photos available from this operation for viewing and download by news media outlets at video.hsus.org.

[BMDLuver]

at least they got it right. Now here's the other one:
[URL="http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cbc/091117/canada/canada_montreal_sled_dogs_rescued"]

100 sled dogs rescued in Laurentians
Module body

1 hour, 54 minutes ago


MONTREAL (CBC) - The owner of more than 100 neglected sled dogs has turned the animals over to the SPCA because he could no longer care for them, officials with the SPCA Laurentides-Labelle and Humane Society International said Tuesday.

ADVERTISEMENT

"The dogs were chained outside without regular access to adequate food, clean water or shelter," Nikolas Gour, a Humane Society International spokesman, said in a statement.


The dogs, which were being kept in the Upper Laurentians, have been transported to an emergency shelter in Val Morin, Que., and are being provided with veterinary care, officials said.


The dogs' living conditions could have gotten much worse because about 30 of the seized dogs were pregnant, said Corinne Gonzalez, executive director of the SPCA Laurentides-Labelle.


"Without our intervention, the owner could easily have found himself with 150 more puppies when winter is right around the corner," Gonzalez said.


The shelter is asking for donations to help pay for the veterinary care needed for the dogs. Officials said the dogs will be sterilized and made available for adoption as soon as possible.


Neglect of sled dogs is a regularly reported problem in Canada, said the animal welfare groups involved in the rescue. They are calling on the provincial and federal governments to pass stronger protection laws.


Sterilization of sled dogs and planning for their care during the eight-month low season, when sledding is not as popular, must be a priority, the groups said.


Last month, the Quebec government presented an action plan aimed at fighting animal cruelty.


The plan includes hiring more inspectors and adopting stricter regulations for the care of pets.

[Tundra_Queen]

I saw this on the news tonight and it made me sick! They also showed some dogs that didn't make it laying in a big hole. The poor pups. :sad:

[chico2]

Why would a sledder have 100 dogs??
Was he breeding?

[brianna079]

he was a sledder that did this as a 'job' during winter tourist season...he lost controle of his unsterilised animals, and could not afford to care for that many.

[Love4himies]

So sad, I hope the wide coverage of media will bring in the much needed funds and foster homes for these dogs.


I hope some of the bitches are healthy enough to be spayed and abort the pups as I don't think there needs to be any added dogs to this mess. :sad:

[Melinda]

I recieved this letter this morning concerning the dogs.

http://action.humanesociety.org/site....0&dlv_id=9561

[aslan]

I got the same letter so i forwarded it along.

[Melinda]

same here aslan and posted on facebook, the more we reach the better it is

[Gail P]

Originally Posted by chico2

Why would a sledder have 100 dogs??
Was he breeding?

For a tour operator, 100 is not really that many. Figure that you hook up about 6 to a sled that is pulling 2 people (one in the basket, one driving) and you have a group of people wanting to take a tour so you need several teams. Plus you need a team/teams for the guide(s). It's easy to do the math, say it's a group of 10 people, 2 per sled. They'd require 5 teams of 6 dogs each (30 dogs), plus there would probably be 2 guides so another 12 dogs, now we're up to 42 dogs. Just for one trip. Then, you've got more bookings, pretty much 7 days a week during the snow season. If you don't want to be overworking your dogs you need more teams available to switch out so the same dogs are not working all day long, seven days a week. This is why dogsled tours are so costly, they need a lot of dogs to operate a tour kennel. As dog food prices have been increasing, a lot of the racing kennels seem to be reducing the size of their kennels, choosing quality (speed) over quantity of dogs. Some mushers do breed, but for the purpose of having up and coming young dogs to replace the dogs they have to retire. They are not typically breeding for sale to the pet market.

Most mushers take great care of their dogs, have very well thought out feeding programs and give great consideration to their dogs health and well-being. As with everything in life though, no matter what you're involved in there will be a few rotten apples here and there and this is one of those situations apparently. That the owner in this case was neglectful is disgraceful Mushing organizations have kennel guidelines that they encourage all mushers to follow and also encourage voluntary kennel inspections.

Here's some info about the kenneling facilities at a good tour operator's kennel that is located in my area:

The original state of the art, sled dog kennel was designed to house approximately 60 Siberian Husky dogs, but has since had an addition added to now hold 100 dogs as our husky family grows. The kennel has a radiant heating system through the cement floor and is maintained around 5° Celsius in the winter, so that the dogs are comfortable, but not hot enough to lose their winter coats. They love coming home at the end of a days dogsledding to their warm kennel & supper!!

The dogs share their inside kennels with a friend or brother or sister. We also have 2 large fenced outside play yards that everyone gets to go out and enjoy throughout the day. These yards have lots of places for dogs to dig, jump over trees and obstacles, have a good old race, interact with each other and just plain do what dogs love to do when they aren't out dog sledding.

The front of the kennel is kept around 20° Celsius and has a kitchen/feedroom, grooming room, washroom and a large open reception area which houses all of our equipment and a small dogsledding themed gift shop.

Training & Nutrition

Because of the summer heat the dogs are unable to do much work, their coats are simply too dense to allow heat to escape quick enough. So summer time means summer holidays! Once fall roles around though its a different story. The first cool night will find the dogs howling at 6am anxious to get running! The general rule of thumb is that once the temperature reaches 10° C or below, it is cool enough for the dogs to start training. When we do fall training we run just like we would if there were snow on the ground except that we use an ATV 4-wheeler instead of the sled. At first 1 km runs are more than enough to keep everyone happy, but by Christmas time 15 km is an easy workout. Fall training is a great time to work with promising young lead dogs, to get puppies (1 year olds) used to running in a team, and just generally get everyone back into shape!

Like any athlete the dogs are only as good as the fuel that goes into their bodies. We have had great success and are very happy with feeding Nutram Dog Food, a Maple Lodge Food company. One of the many nice things about Nutram is that it is made right here in Ontario. In the off season our dogs eat the normal Chicken diet for Medium Breeds and than come fall switch to the high energy food as they start training We have yet to find a food that the dogs like the taste of better. The dogs coats are always beautifully shiny and even at the end of the sledding season the dogs are in incredible shape!

[chico2]

Gail,thank you for the insight,I am of course totally ignorant of anything about mushers.
I also must have missed the fact this man was a tour-operator

[Melinda]

I have had many calls about the huskies, I just cross posted people, contact the HSI in the email I posted.

[Melinda]

just a dumb question, one mail , article says they were seized another says they were surrendered, not being familiar with Quebec laws myself, I want to know WHY this musher is not being charged with anything, or is he? and if so, with what and how many counts??? He'd have the books thrown at him in Ontario, is it different there?

[Golden Girls]

I'm as happy as anyone else that these dogs were rescued HOWEVER why didn't AnimaQuebec apply the P42 (only organization here in Quebec who has the power to seize) so that this man face criminal charges for starving/dehydrating to the point where at least one dog was blind from neglect and 30 unhealthy pregnant females were forced to live in these conditions while others suffered skin diseases ... all chained and left to die can just sign a release paper and walk away?

oh everything is ok he was just a poor struggling musher

Quote from Scotland Haisely of the HSI

"The laws couldn't give us enough to do anything anyway, because according to the criminal code these are acceptable conditions of living"

what about the dead and the dying?

It states in the criminal code that ALL animals (even in Quebec ) must be provided with food water & shelter ... he should of and would of been charged had this been done the legal way.

[BMDLuver]

The musher voluntarily released the dogs. He most likely could not have been charged with anything or the case would have dragged on forever as the dogs did have minimal food, water and shelter. That's why the laws need to so desperately change as the definition of what is acceptable is so grey that legal charges are difficult to obtain. In this case, there would not have been even enough to obtain a warrant to seize I believe and inspectors would have to wait for another month until it became more critical. So for these dogs sakes it was a good thing that he did voluntarily surrender the dogs. Kind of a sad statement of this province I know but currently a reality.

[Melinda]

see here, if a dog is skinny/emaciated a notice is sent to the owner to get vet care with in a week, a return visit is to see if the law was followed, if not then the dogs were removed, vet checked and the owner charged accordingly, but first the dogs were removed....you can't do that there? were there ever any other complaints about these dogs? and can't your spca's seize, sorry, is animaQuebec your spca??

[BMDLuver]

if you are a p42 inspector then you have the right to seize animals as you have the right to enforce the criminal code. If you are a regular inspector, then you need to first advise of the conditions to the owner, give the owner a time frame to improve conditions, go back for a visit to see if owner is complying, if non compliance then you have to go to a judge and get a warrant. Once you have the warrant, you must be accompanied on the property with a SQ officer present to invoke the warrant and seize the dogs. The dogs are moved in to care and remain in limbo until such time as the owner decides to surrender the dogs or the court rules that the dogs become the property of the shelter that has taken them in.

If the owner is complying with the recommendations, then the inspector must make regular visits to see that the compliance is being upheld. If not, back to the first scenario over again.

This is why the government has agreed to add p42 inspectors as this is a big province with a lot of animals living in these conditions that the numbers can't keep track of..... so many hours a day and so few inspectors to keep tabs.

Skinny, emaciated is not enough...... there has to be proof of no food, no water or no shelter. If a dog dies on the property then that's not enough either as dogs are property to be disposed of as seen fit by the owner, even if in some cases it could have been due to neglect it's hard to prove after the fact as bloodwork is not particuliarly viable beyond 72 hours.

[Golden Girls]

Originally Posted by BMDLuver

if you are a p42 inspector then you have the right to seize animals as you have the right to enforce the criminal code

That was my question

[BMDLuver]

However, you can only invoke P42 if the conditions are such that the musher in this case is breaking the law. Sadly, not feeding animals well is not considered breaking the law nor is giving them a 3m chain nor is leaving them outside 24/7 nor is leaving dead bodies to decompose..... so although P42 makes it much simpler to act quickly, laws still do need to be changed to make all of this unacceptable across the board.

[Melinda]

my god, makes me thankful I live in Ontario, why can't more be done to change the laws? or to petition the province to hire more people, I can't believe all of that actually exists...poor quebec dogs!!!