Botched dog cull enrages some Igloolik residents

Here’s Max, killed recently by an Igloolik hamlet worker in what some Igloolik residents believe may be an unofficial dog cull. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

Although they believe the Hamlet of Igloolik has authorized the shooting of dogs that are loose for more than 24 hours, the people looking after Max say he was loose for less than 10 hours but shot anyway. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

Reports that a hamlet official destroyed a young, friendly dog have some residents of the north Baffin community of Igloolik, especially dog lovers, in an uproar.

The town’s acting senior administrative officer had authorized the hamlet’s dogcatcher to kill any dogs that were loose for more than 24 hours, a community source said.

That’s caused some residents to fear an unofficial dog cull is in the works.

Despite that bylaw, the dog in question could not have been loose for more than 10 hours, and so it shouldn’t have been killed anyway, some residents say.

The acting SAO, Rikki Butt, did not return messages left at the hamlet office by Nunatsiaq News on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2.

Nancy MacDonald owned the dog in question until a few months ago.

“His name was Maximus Tootoo, but I called him Max for short. He was a very beautiful dog,” MacDonald told Nunatsiaq News Nov. 1.

MacDonald gave Max, about two years old, to another woman who was looking for a dog.

That woman had then asked two friends to look after Max while she travelled out of the territory.

Both friends asked to remain anonymous for fear of backlash from the community, especially towards their dogs.

MacDonald and both friends said the dog was friendly, and never displayed abnormal aggression on their watch.

One of the friends said they checked on the dog at 11:30 p.m. Oct. 30 and saw Max secured in the backyard.

At 10 a.m. the next morning, someone informed the two friends that the dog was tied up at the dump, about to be killed by the dogcatcher.

“We went to the dump to see if we could prevent this from happening. The dog was dead, but was still warm to the touch,” one of the friends said.

There was a second dog nearby that looked like it had been shot recently too, the other friend said.

When the two friends asked the SAO about the bylaw, they said they were told the dogcatcher would kill any dog that is loose for 24 hours.

But both friends said the dog couldn’t have been loose for more than 10 hours.

“And there’s always been a kind of understanding, if your dog is missing, you have an opportunity to look for the dog. People had a chance to tell you your dog is loose,” one friend said.

MacDonald said the community needs to come together at this time.

“I think what we have to do right now is look into this one particular incident, see why it happened, and what the community should do about it,” MacDonald said.

The local RCMP said they could not locate the SAO, despite an ongoing investigation into the matter.

“We haven’t been able to find the SAO since yesterday afternoon, and that’s essentially where we’re at right now. I don’t have any firsthand knowledge of the incident,” Cst. Brad Gregory said from Igloolik Nov. 1.

But this is a bylaw, not a criminal matter, Gregory said.

Local police have not received any reports of loose aggressive dogs, he added.

Meanwhile, rumours swirl as pet owners fear for their pets.

“I heard the dog catcher is working on a bounty, $50 for each dog, and was boasting that he gets paid to hunt dogs,” an anonymous source suggested.

Hamlet of Igloolik Dog Bylaw # 77 by NunatsiaqNews on Scribd