"We realize he'd overworked on this issue, and we want to work with him to make the situation better."

Woodcock said a letter in the Drum earlier this month from a visiting tourist who threatened to sabotage Inuvik's tourist industry if residents didn't ensure more humane treatment of animals sparked the group into action.

However, she said the group is not necessarily concerned about the threats made by tourist Ortrud Buschmann from B.C.

She and the other five members of the group have been concerned about the problem long before the letter was published, she said. "There's no one instance, there's a lot of them," she said. "Ever since I moved here, I thought something should be done.

"This is at the very beginning stages," said Woodcock. "We still have to talk about what we want to do exactly, but we want to co-operate with the town and work with them."

Some of the ideas proposed by the group include:

• Working with education in the schools, to teach kids that mistreatment of animals is unacceptable. (A nine-year-old girl was caught bashing a husky puppy against a utilidor earlier this month, breaking its legs, according to RCMP Const. Craig Thur.)

• Strengthening the town's animal control bylaws so that animal abuse is more clearly defined, along with the penalties.

• Do fundraising to help needy owners build fences around their property so that animals have more space to run.

• Pressuring council to reinstate licensing of animals by owners, with higher fees to ensure people that own animals do so because they truly want the animals.

• Creating a phone hot-line that people can call to complain about animal mistreatment that they witness, so that action can be taken.

While the group is concerned about animal cruelty, Woodcock said the group has no intention of passing judgment on owners of working dogs who use the animals for hunting, trapping or other traditional activities.

"This is about pets, not working dogs," she said.

Meanwhile, tourist Ortrud Buschmann told the Drum last week that she has sent a letter of complaint to the International Fund for Animal Welfare, calling on the group to protest animal mistreatment in the region. She plans next to write the Humane Society, to spur further action south of the border.

What enraged Buschmann was the sight at the Arctic Red River crossing of a female dog tied on a short rope without any food or water or shade present.

She said six pups around the mother looked half-starved, and suggested the mother had no milk to give them because of the condition she was in.

"This is such a shocking sight that it makes your blood boil," said Buschmann. "It is a bloody disgrace, and turns tourists away."

"Your town as well as others are dependant on tourism to make a living and create jobs," she wrote. "Don't you think that this is a part of your responsibility to stop this cruelty to animals? How can you be like an ostrich, sticking your head in the sand and hoping the problem goes away?"

Fort McPherson RCMP Sgt. Bob Grey said he talked to the owner of the dogs about the incident, and they have been moved away from public view. He did not say whether the animals appeared to be in poor condition, or whether their appearance has improved.

Grey said he isn't positive the tourist's views on the matter were accurate, but said he can sympathize with her. "My dog is just like my little kid," said Grey. "I'd hate to see her mistreated."