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Fatal dog shooting raises land management issues

Pemberton couple shocked by ‘who cares’ graffiti on posters
dog-owners

Clare@piquenewsmagazine.com

James and Veronica Woodruff couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw "who cares" scrawled across posters and placards asking for help in identifying the person who shot their Samoyed puppy.

"We just couldn’t believe it when we saw this," said Veronica, a former president of the naturalist club. "I am really mad with this attitude that I am getting from people. For someone to write ‘who cares’ across a poster, that is terrible. What kind of mentality does this type of thing show?"

The Woodruffs’ eight-and-a-half month old puppy Silva was allegedly shot by a hunter in the Mackenzie Basin Road area near Pemberton last Saturday.

The couple, Silva and their black lab Chilko were mountain bike riding on "Overnight Sensation" when they heard the rifle shot that killed their dog. Now they are offering a reward for information about who put a bullet through their dog’s chest.

"You come to the table with the information and I will come up with the cash," said James Woodruff, who spent most of last Sunday putting up posters and large placards warning people to beware of hunters and offering the reward.

RCMP Const. Devon Jones said the police were following several leads and had seized the bullet from the dog.

"We have interviewed several hunters, but there is no one suspect at the moment," said Jones, at a press conference Monday.

Veronica Woodruff said she was unaware that the area was a popular place to hunt when she went riding there last weekend.

"If I had had any inkling that there was the remotest chance of this happening I never would have gone there," she said.

Indeed, the trails which traverse the area between Mosquito Creek and the glider launch site, off the Mackenzie Basin logging road, travel through some of the best deer hunting territory in the area.

Woodruff said they ran into a hunter at the head of the trail and he said their dogs were going to disturb the game for hunters. But, she said, the couple didn’t think anything of the comment at the time. Not long after they heard a shot. When they called for Silva she did not return.

An hour later James found her cold and blood soaked body in a ditch off the MacKenzie Basin Road.

"Every time I think of her I just flash to finding her with blood all over her, her legs in the air, and her tongue hanging out," he said, clearly distressed.

At the time nearby residents said they saw a taupe pickup truck with two older men in it. But so far neither the hunters nor the truck have been located.

The Woodruffs would like to see a hunting ban put in place around the trails in the Mosquito Lake area so that this type of tragedy or something worse never happens again.

"I think it is a bigger issue of land use and land management," said Veronica Woodruff, who works for Whistler’s municipality as a fish and wildlife technician. "You can’t mix mountain bikers and hikers with people with guns. And even if it is the mountain bikers who get the oust at certain times that is fine. But we need to know that.

"Something has got to come from this."

Woodruff is not alone in her call for a ban. Rod Macleod of the Pemberton Valley Trails Association plans to bring it up at the next meeting Dec. 14.

"This is a horrific thing and we will definitely talk about it at our next meeting," he said. "I would say that we should propose at our next meeting to write a letter to expand the no hunting area to some of these recreational trails."

The ban could possibly cover the area of the Mosquito Lake trails and the Ivey Lake subdivision.

Macleod said the PVTA might also put signs up at trailheads along the Mackenzie Basin Road to warn people that hunters are in the area each fall. The PVTA is also planning to release a map of trails this coming summer, said Macleod, and information such as when hunters are about would be included.

Hunting season runs from Sept.10 until Nov.30, but the best time for landing game is in November when snow forces the deer down the mountain sides.

The Woodruffs believe their puppy was a casualty of the simmering unrest between hunters and recreational users in the area. It’s a tension that Grant Lamont of WORCA has seen first hand.

"I have had close encounters and there have been many close encounters with hunters," he said. "It is mixed use in that area and it needs to be managed. There are a lot of recreational users in there and maybe it is time for the hunters to re-examine what they are doing because guns and people don’t mix.

"This type of occurrence really shines the light on why there needs to be some sort of land use management plan in place up in Pemberton."

Hunters are upset that recreational users let their dogs run free, which scares game away and affects the hunt.

"A lot of hunters, in fact people in general, are really upset about the way dogs are allowed to run loose," said Allen McEwan, who was born in Pemberton and has hunted there all his life. "It is a real problem and people need to realize that they can’t let their dog run loose on a side hill as if they are the only animal out there. Every dog that is allowed to run loose is going to chase wildlife."

McEwan, who no way condoned the killing of Silva, said in general there are few incidents between recreational users and hunters as they are generally out at different times of the year and he does not believe a ban is necessary at this time.

"This issue is clearly someone with a rifle who made a very poor decision," said McEwan a long time member of the Pemberton Wildlife Association.

But with Pemberton’s population growing rapidly – it has doubled in the last six years – it may only be a matter of time before something even more serious happens.

"I have told everyone that what happened to our dog is a tragedy, but what happens if it’s your son or daughter next time?" said James Woodruff. "There is going to be quite an uproar within these different user groups, and I am not sure how we are going to solve it, but it has to be resolved."

Public groups, municipalities, regional districts and others can apply to the Ministry of Water Land and Air Protection to stop hunting in certain areas.

"If it is on Crown land they can make a submission to Water Land and Air Protection for the changes to the regulations," said Alan Martin, director of the Fish and Wildlife section of WLAP. "Our major concern is public health and safety and generally we try to address those through hunter education, but certainly there are areas where the use of firearms next to built up areas or areas that are used heavily are incompatible and those closures can be put into place."

The police are calling on the public for assistance in solving the case. If found guilty the dog-killer will face up to six months in jail or a fine of up to $2,000.