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Bob Fawcett, Joey Houssian say Outdoor Adventures did not instruct on dog deaths

Howling Dogs owner advised company he would euthanize about 50 "sick" dogs

The alleged perpetrator of what's been called a canine massacre near Whistler last April said in a statement issued late Wednesday that he was not instructed on how to kill the dogs.

Robert Fawcett, former general manager of Howling Dog Tours Whistler Inc., said in a joint statement with Outdoor Adventures that the company gave him no instructions on how to euthanize the dogs.

"There were no instructions given to Mr. Fawcett as to the manner of euthanizing dogs on this occasion, and Mr. Fawcett was known to have very humanely euthanized dogs on previous occasions," the release said.

Fawcett informed owner Joey Houssian in mid-April 2010 that he estimated he'd have to euthanize about 50 dogs.

The animals were either "too old" for work in a dogsled operation, "sick" or just "not adoptable." The dogs lived to run and were no longer able to do so. Had they not been killed, they would have had "very poor or virtually no quality of life," according to the statement.

Both Fawcett and Outdoor Adventures claim that "considerable efforts" were made to ensure the dogs were adopted, both before and after mid-April 2010, but the efforts were not as successful as hoped.

The release does not mention the precise efforts it went to in order to find the dogs homes. Paula Del Bosco, executive director of WAG, Whistler's animal shelter, told Pique earlier this week that she was not aware that sled dogs from Outdoor Adventures needed re-housing.