VANCOUVER, British Columbia — One hundred dogs were shot dead over two days after an expected post-Olympics boon in dogsledding business at an adventure company didn’t pan out. Most died instantly, but others suffered, with one running off with a serious wound to the face.

The gruesome event was described in documents awarding compensation to a worker, who claimed post-traumatic stress disorder for having to shoot the dogs after bookings dropped sharply for a tour operator following the 2010 Winter Olympics.

“He had to chase her down and finish her off,” Marcie Moriarty, general manager of cruelty investigations for the B.C. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said of the wounded down that was run down and slain.

Moriarty said the slaughter left her sickened and said it is the worst investigation she’s ever done. Both the British Columbia SPCA and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are investigating the slaughter.

Moriarty said all the other dogs would have seen the incident in which the one dog did not die instantly from the single gunshot to the head and ran away from the worker.

“There aren’t words to really describe some of the ways these dogs died,” she said. “We don’t put cows down like that.”

An employee of Outdoor Adventures Whistler was awarded compensation in a ruling by WorkSafe BC, the provincial body that manages workers’ compensation claims. Outdoor Adventures did not contest the man’s compensation claims.

The WorkSafe documents were obtained by radio station CKNW. The station reported the man was attacked at least twice by nearby dogs as the shootings occurred.

 


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