Dispute over missing sled dog puppies sent to mediation by Nunavut judge

A Nunavut judge has ordered mediation for a small claims case in Iqaluit involving allegations that sled dog puppies were stolen and shipped south.

“It’s not an invitation. It’s not a suggestion. It’s an order. I’m directing you, both parties … in the spirit of goodwill, to discuss things,” Justice Paul Bychok said on June 10 inside Court Room 2 at the Nunavut Court of Justice.

The plaintiff in this case is Meeka Mike, an Iqaluit woman who raises sled dogs, according to court documents.

The defendant is the Iqaluit Humane Society.

The case was set for trial June 10, until Bychok ordered the parties into mediation.

“I was a bit disappointed to see that our staff made a number of efforts to convene mediation and for one reason or another, it never happened,” Bychok said.

Mike filed a statement of claim in February 2018.

In her claim, Mike said the Iqaluit Humane Society took two of her puppies from outside her home on Feb. 13, 2018.

Mike said she contacted municipal enforcement authorities and the humane society the next day, but was told no puppies were being held.

After posting about her missing dogs on Facebook three days later, Mike said she learned they had been shipped south by an airline.

But Mike told Bychok she did not have any evidence of that.

If mediation proved unsuccessful, Bychok said he would issue a court order for the airline to provide cargo documents in order to “get at the heart of the matter.”

“It’s cruel to bring [the dogs] indoors when they’re on very rich diet of seal slightly fermented, into a variation of 60 degrees Celsius from recent temperatures we have here,” Mike said in her statement.

“The mom is stressed and yelping for her pups … This is not the first time this has happened, and disrupts building a viable team.”

Mike is asking for $21,000 in compensation from the Iqaluit Humane Society. That’s the cost of owning a dog team for one year, Mike said.

The Iqaluit Humane Society denies all of Mike’s allegations, according to their statement of defence.

The society’s statement had eight numbered points, including:

● They did not steal the dogs.
● Mike admits she allows her puppies to run free in Iqaluit, contrary to municipal bylaws.
● Bylaw officers returned the two puppies in question to Mike on Feb. 18, 2018.
● There were no live animals shipped by the airline on the date in question, Feb. 16, 2018.

The humane society also said that they are a non-profit community organization that does not capture animals. Instead, bylaw officials capture stray dogs and holds them for 72 hours.

If owners do not claim their pets within those 72 hours, they become the property of the City of Iqaluit.

The city then transfers ownership to the humane society, which coordinates with other non-profits in the south to find the animals new homes, the society said.

Mediation on this file was adjourned at the end of June 10 until Sept. 16, according to the Nunavut Court of Justice registry. Mediation will continue at that time.

Failing that, a trial date was set for Oct. 31 in Iqaluit, the registry said.