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Sled dog report may not be public in March

Report to be forwarded to Agriculture Minister and released to the public later

The provincial task force looking into the dog sled industry will have its report ready near the end of the month, but it may not be released publicly until some time later.

A communications manager with B.C.'s ministry of agriculture told Pique today that the task force, led by recently appointed Environment Minister Terry Lake, would have its report ready to be submitted to the minister of agriculture on March 25 but the report itself would not be released to the public at that time.

The communications manager said via e-mail that the report would be made public "on review," but would not comment on any timeline for it being released, adding that the ministry does not expect a long time gap.

Media also reported recently that the report would come in two parts, but when asked about how the report would be structured, the ministry said it has "no knowledge" of that.

The Sled Dog Task Force was convened on February 2. Chaired by Lake, its mandate is to examine the circumstances that led to the alleged killings of up to 100 dogs that occurred on April 21 and 23, 2010.

It will also look into the regulation and oversight of the dog sled industry, but it will not perform any activities that would "compromise" an investigation being conducted by the SPCA with assistance from the RCMP.