The ugly truth about the sled dog industry
I can’t say I was looking forward to seeing the documentary Sled Dogs which was shown at the Westdale Theatre on Sept. 18.
I knew it would be difficult to watch because the film went behind the scene to expose the seedy underbelly of the sled dog business, a business that forces dogs to run in gruelling races in sub-zero temperatures. Many have died during the races and many more have sustained painful injuries.
Despite the high number of deaths, the industry has sold the myth to tourists that the dogs are bred to be a type of super dog and that they’re able to endure the cold and pain. And so the practice has continued.
In April 2010, however, the world was offered a glimpse into the real life of the sled dog when a mass grave was discovered in Whistler, B.C. that was filled with the bodies of 56 sled dogs.
The global outcry that followed resulted in an inquiry that brought together some of the world’s leading forensic investigators who found that the animals had either been shot or had their throats slit before being dumped. Several puppies had been crushed by foot.
The person responsible, Bob Fawcett, worked for Howling Dog Tours Whistler Inc. and had allegedly been told to euthanize the dogs because business had been slow after the 2010 Olympic Games. Fawcett was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to nine of the dogs and sentenced to three years’ probation.
What was revealed in the film was that animal welfare laws are so slack they allow a person to shoot their dog as long as it’s done humanely, an oxymoron if ever there was one.
The Whistler grave was a brutal discovery and pulled the spotlight onto the industry, causing many to question its ethics. Fern Levitt discovered the problems for herself when she and her husband, Arnie Zipursky, who was the film’s executive director, went dog sledding then happened upon a field where the dogs were kept.
Levitt included some of the brutal footage from the Whistler inquiry as well as interviews with a musher who did the 1,600 kilometre race between Anchorage and Nome, Alaska, which lasts from eight to 15 days. He started the race with 16 dogs and finished with 11 due to the dogs being too sick to continue.
Perhaps the hardest part of the film to watch was footage of the living areas where dogs were housed, which Levitt compared to concentration camps. It showed a huge field of dogs tethered to sixfoot chains with some running in circles and their necks rubbed raw. Many looked sick and emaciated and in a frenzied state.
The myth about the super dogs came fully undone, though, with footage of some dogs after a day’s run as they lay shivering and hunched over while others were in obvious pain.
Another disturbing scene captured the moment a dead dog was frozen, like a piece of meat, half buried in the snow. The owner of the farm, which bred sled dogs, was heard to mutter, “Not today” as cameras captured the tragedy.
When the film ended, the lights were turned on and Levitt and Zipursky took questions from the audience. A few minutes in, a woman at the back asked how many mushers they had visited.
Levitt told her she had interviewed many more than were included in the film. The woman persisted. “How many?” she yelled, talking over Levitt. “How many?” It was clear the woman was a musher who had come to defend her industry.
Not surprisingly, the sled dog industry hasn’t taken kindly to Levitt’s film, saying there are many ethically run sled dog businesses where dogs are well looked after. But here’s where their defence, and the woman at the screening, gets a little confusing.
It was made clear from the Whistler massacre that there are problems with animal welfare laws as well as with the inspection and supervision of the sled dog industry. Footage from Sled Dogs clearly showed those problems still exist and that many dogs are living in horrific conditions.
Why isn’t the sled dog industry — and the woman at the showing — concentrating on cleaning things up and ensuring that all dogs are kept safe and healthy, instead of defending their own turf?
As I expected, the film was difficult to watch. But as a human being who shares the planet with other living beings, I see it as my responsibility to learn how they are being treated.
Shouldn’t that be a motto we all live by?