In the past week, a dog had an altercation with a bear on Whistler Mountain.
A worker [took] his dog to work with him and did not have it secured or on a leash. This [dog] had an altercation with a bear and was injured. Whose fault is this? The owner's.
Not only did he have a dog where he shouldn't, it was not secured in an area where there are known to be bears. This is highly irresponsible.
Thankfully the conservation officers are not destroying the bear as the bear is doing what a bear does when provoked by another animal.
I feel for the injured dog and the owner, as no one wants to see their pets hurt.
The GoFundMe account is covering the vet bills but I'm not sure it puts the whole story out there.
[The owner] doesn't take any of the blame and puts it all on the "aggressive bear."
We need to stand up and do better. Dog owners need to leash their dogs on trails and streets. Every day, about 30 off-leash dogs run past my house as their owners think their dog is above the law.
Bylaw needs to get the message out there—we have leash laws and you need to abide by them!
For your safety and the bear's.
Sara Alexander // Whistler
