Inuvik - A local contractor is upset and threatening legal action after his golden retriever was killed and thrown in the dump.

Paul Petrin says his dog Thunder was not a violent animal.

Paul Petrin and his dog Thunder travel on the Raymond Channel. Thunder was put down and his carcass burned without Petrin's knowledge. - photo courtesy of Paul Petrin

"He never bit anybody, he was very good with kids, very good with people," he said of the dog.

But he admitted the dog had been loose in Inuvik a few times in the last few years.

"Sometimes you would open the door, and there he would go again, running away," he said.

Petrin said the dog last ran away on Friday, Nov. 16.

He searched for his pet and asked neighbours if they had seen it.

He also checked the town office where photos of confiscated dogs are posted, and said he saw no photos of his dog.

On Nov. 22, Petrin had a hunch.

He went to Inuvik's town dump and found his dog's body where the town stores animal carcasses.

The dog had been put down and partially burned, and its back legs were missing.

Shocked and saddened, he called animal control, who he says confirmed the dog had been euthanized.

Petrin then took the frozen dog carcass, placed it in the back of his truck and drove to town hall and the Inuvik Drum office.

He said he wanted to bury the dog at his camp, which is off the Raymond Channel of the Mackenzie River.

But he said the town's bylaw officer and RCMP soon saw the partially-burned carcass in the back of the truck and told Petrin he couldn't just drive around with it, saying it was a health hazard.

The officers provided an evidence bag for the collection of hair samples but said the dog had to be returned to the dump.

Petrin said it forced the town to admit they had euthanized it.

"It was a total denial until I showed up with him in my truck," he said.

Officials from the town and animal control could not be reached by press time.

A meeting between Petrin and town officials was scheduled for Nov. 26, but he declined to discuss the details.

Petrin said he would be speaking with a lawyer and discussing the possibility of legal action against the town.

Mayor Derek Lindsay said Tuesday that it was still too early to make comment on the case. He did acknowledge, however, that a meeting with Petrin had been arranged.

Three people contacted the Inuvik Drum saying Petrin's dog was dangerous. All requested their names not be published.

One dog owner said she had witnessed the golden retriever attack her dog, which weighs 70 pounds, and cause it to bleed.

The animal was recently treated by a visiting veterinarian.

Other people said they saw the dog walking freely around town more often than the few times Petrin says the dog was loose.

"It was dangerous," one owner said. "This dog came after my dog, and I didn't know if it was coming after me. I can only agree with what animal control did."