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Rescued from a remote campground, Atlas up for adoption

Dog brought to Whistler by WAG after his companion was killed by ministry for being feral
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Atlas, the dog rescued by Whistler Animals Galore (WAG) from a wilderness campground on Aug. 11 after its companion was shot, is now looking for a loving home.

The black, mixed-breed animal has been put up for adoption after recovering from surgery to repair two damaged legs in late August.

"He's doing fabulously. His cast is coming off and they will be putting something back on because it has not healed completely the way they wanted," said Sue Eckersley, a WAG board member. "He's so happy, his tail is always wagging. He's been outside in our new yard that the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation provided us with and he's doing well."

Atlas is around 18 months old and was abandoned and had run wild "since at least last summer." He was caught by volunteers from WAG after his companion was shot dead on the orders of the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.

Both dogs were deemed to be "feral" and shooting them near remote Sloquet Hot Springs, 143 km south-east from Whistler, was legal, said a spokesman for the ministry in August.

But now Atlas has completely turned around. "He's up for adoption and I think he's going to get adopted quickly. He's just absolutely gorgeous, a beautiful personality. It's just a testament to how resourceful dogs are, despite the ridiculousness we put them through," Eckersley said.

She said this made nonsense of the Ministry of Forest's approach of supporting the culling of dogs it considered irredeemably feral and unable to be rehabilitated.

"Oh my God! I want to walk into (the ministry) office with Atlas on a leash and say 'Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?'" she said.

The irony, for Eckersley, was that Atlas was considered aggressive by the ministry.

"And the other dog that they shot, nobody claimed that it had any kind of viciousness in him, other than that it was a feral dog. It was just B.S. It still makes my blood boil."