Brodie Thomas
Northern News Services
Published Monday, September 29, 2008

BEHCHOKO/RAE-EDZO - The community government of Behchoko euthanized 44 dogs belonging to Archie Beaulieu at the advice of a veterinarian.

The dogs were put down on Friday, Sept. 26 after Beaulieu did not respond to repeated efforts from the council to move the dogs from an industrial lot to another lot provided by the town.

News/North has been unable to contact Beaulieu since a previous interview in September. Beaulieu did not return messages left on his cell phone, and he recently changed his landline number according to several of his relatives. Nobody could provide the new number.

Yellowknife Veterinarian Dr. Tom Pisz travelled to Behchoko to put the dogs down. He said it was the largest number of dogs he has ever had to euthanize at once. He used a barbiturate to euthanize the dogs.

Pisz said the dogs were clearly being neglected.

"They weren't being fed properly, they had no water, they were standing in the mud, and they had no shelter," he said.

The dogs were in a fenced compound with a few doghouses, but not enough for every dog. He said some of the animals might have been rehabilitated but there are not enough resources in the territory to rescue that many dogs.

"The SPCA does not even have a building to place them," he said.

Pisz said animal neglect such as this is all too common in the territories. He said anyone can choose to open a kennel without a licence. In most jurisdictions kennels must be licenced and inspected twice a year. He thinks there should be territorial legislation brought in to monitor dog kennels.

He feels part of the problem is some dog owners think sled dogs should be treated differently than house pets. Sled dogs still need to be fed and exercised daily, even if they are kept outside.

"Keeping a dog on a three-foot chain for all his life and taking him for a run a few times a year, that is abuse too, even if you feed it," said Pisz.

Grant Beck is the owner and operator of Beck's Kennels in Yellowknife. He said his kennel currently has 116 dogs and is a full-time business operation.

Beck said all of his animals are kept in separate clean pens and are fed daily with the highest quality food, which he buys in bulk. It costs him about 77 cents per day per dog for food. He said his dogs get regular exercise.

He is aware of other kennels that do neglect their dogs.

"People are responsible for their dogs, the same as their kids or anything, and ultimately they are responsible for what happens to them," said Beck

Destroying the dogs may finally bring an end to the longstanding feud between the community government and Archie Beaulieu over the location of the dogs.

Beaulieu had been keeping the dogs on a zoned industrial lot free of charge for the past 10 years with permission of the community government. The dogs were moved there so Beaulieu could comply with town regulations and keep the dogs away from residential sections of town.

In March of 2008, Behchoko Towing Services made an application to council to expand its current lot by taking over the lot held by Beaulieu's dogs. Council agreed to consider the application on the condition town administrators work with Beaulieu to find a new location for his dogs.

Council agreed to give Beaulieu another plot of land rent-free. The new plot of land was well outside the community's 20-year expansion plan.

According to Craig Yeo, spokesperson for the community government of Behchoko, council made several attempts to speak with Beaulieu between March and May of 2008. In May, Beaulieu visited the new lot and agreed it would be suitable for his dogs. At that time arrangements were made with town staff to move the dogs and kennel to the new lot.

Beaulieu denied he agreed to move the dogs. In an interview conducted earlier in September, Beaulieu said he "just played along to see what happens."

Yeo said that Beaulieu did not show up to move the dogs on the agreed day. Town staff made several attempts throughout the summer to work with Beaulieu to move the dogs but they were ignored by Beaulieu.

The town attempted to provide labour and materials at no charge to Beaulieu so he could move the dogs and reconstruct the kennels on the new lot.

In a previous interview, Beaulieu said he would have paid to keep his dogs on the industrial lot.

In August and September, town administration mailed several written warnings to Beaulieu, reminding him of the free assistance.

In a letter from the community government of Behchoko outlining the events, Beaulieu was last approached on the afternoon of Sept. 8 and he told town officials he was busy and referred them to the story published in News/North on that same day. With permission from council, Town administration called in Pisz last week to destroy the dogs.