15 charged following protests at two Alberta kennels that provide sled dog tours
CANMORE, ALTA. — More than a dozen people affiliated with an animal rights group have been arrested in a protest against sled dog kennels, months after the same organization’s occupation of a turkey barn prompted the Alberta government to promise a crackdown on rural trespassers.
RCMP say they were called to the Mad Dogs and Englishmen kennels east of Canmore, Alta., on Saturday morning when approximately 30 protesters allegedly broke into the kennels to protest the treatment of the dogs.
Police say 15 people were arrested and face charges of break and enter to commit mischief.
A news release from Liberation Lockdown says protesters “locked down” the kennel as well as another, Howling Dog Tours, alleging the dogs were tethered for days at a time on very short leashes.
Liberation Lockdown also converged on the Jumbo Valley Hutterite turkey farm near Fort Macleod, Alta., on Sept. 2, spurring Premier Jason Kenney to announce that existing laws will be amended to crack down on protesters who go onto private agricultural land without permission.
No one from Mad Dogs and Englishmen could be immediately reached for comment, but a statement from Howling Dog Tours says its facility exceeds regulatory requirements and has had regular inspections from the SPCA and provincial government.
“It is unfortunate that a group of people, who know that no laws are being broken, can protest this way to push their values,” Howling Dog Tours owner Rich Bittner said in the statement.
Police say all of the accused from Saturday’s incident have been released and will appear in provincial court in Canmore on Jan. 15, 2020.
Trev Miller, an organizer with the protesters, said they entered the properties to “raise awareness of conditions that are perfectly legal,” claiming animals often have sores on their necks and no hair from where collars leash them to poles.
“We’re asking that inherent rights of non-human animals, including the right to live free from human exploitation on short leashes, be recognized for all individuals and that animal livestock operations be replaced with non-oppressive industries,” Miller said in a news release.