Like Pigs to the Slaughter
January 31, 2011 12:02 PM Subscribe
A worker's compensation claim for PTSD suffered by an Outdoor Adventures Whistler employee who was ordered to shoot seventy sled dogs was obtained by CKNW. Since this story has made the news the BC SPCA has launched an investigation into the incident. This is not the BC SPCA's first investigation into the treatment of sled dogs in Whistler.
An Excerpt from the Whistler Question article:
According to a report on CKNW, the company has admitted that it ordered the killing of 100 dogs because of a downturn in business after the 2010 Olympics.
An Excerpt from the Whistler Question article:
According to a report on CKNW, the company has admitted that it ordered the killing of 100 dogs because of a downturn in business after the 2010 Olympics.
This post was deleted for the following reason: This is horrible but I'm not sure what a post about it is for other than to make a space for folks to agree that it's horrible. -- cortex
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posted by Antidisestablishmentarianist at 12:08 PM on January 31, 2011
posted by Antidisestablishmentarianist at 12:08 PM on January 31, 2011
Good fucking lord. Absolutely revolting, and I'm not sure what to think of the employee. On the one hand, I can't imagine doing what he describes- no job could seem worth it. On the other hand, people are coerced into doing some unbelievable things to keep their jobs; I wouldn't be surprised if there were heavy hand threats of not doing this.
I still think he is still criminally liable, but I think his PTSD claim sounds valid, and the company is far more to blame. Still, I keep coming back to the possibility that anyone who could murder 70 (or 100, if the company itself is to be believed!) dogs in cold blood might also lie about PTSD. Both he and the company should be in a world of hurt because of this: him because I can't imagine any normal person going through with it (including the parts of repeat shootings and mass graves), and the company for even asking that of an employee. But mostly I'd fault the company for putting any employee in a situation of "Do this, or lose your job".
This thread is going to be absolutely brutal, if it lasts.
posted by hincandenza at 12:10 PM on January 31, 2011
I still think he is still criminally liable, but I think his PTSD claim sounds valid, and the company is far more to blame. Still, I keep coming back to the possibility that anyone who could murder 70 (or 100, if the company itself is to be believed!) dogs in cold blood might also lie about PTSD. Both he and the company should be in a world of hurt because of this: him because I can't imagine any normal person going through with it (including the parts of repeat shootings and mass graves), and the company for even asking that of an employee. But mostly I'd fault the company for putting any employee in a situation of "Do this, or lose your job".
This thread is going to be absolutely brutal, if it lasts.
posted by hincandenza at 12:10 PM on January 31, 2011
yeah i don't see how this is best of the web. it's nothing more than outrageous.
posted by spicynuts at 12:12 PM on January 31, 2011
posted by spicynuts at 12:12 PM on January 31, 2011
It almost makes me want to believe in religion so they can rot in hell. Although I'm guessing there aren't many to any religions in which they would.
posted by dig_duggler at 12:12 PM on January 31, 2011
posted by dig_duggler at 12:12 PM on January 31, 2011
Still, I keep coming back to the possibility that anyone who could murder 70 (or 100, if the company itself is to be believed!) dogs in cold blood might also lie about PTSD
Do you eat meat? What do you think of the people who slaughter and pack animals so you can enjoy your steak? Or are dogs just special because they're cute or something?
posted by nasreddin at 12:13 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
Do you eat meat? What do you think of the people who slaughter and pack animals so you can enjoy your steak? Or are dogs just special because they're cute or something?
posted by nasreddin at 12:13 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
This doesn't suprise me at all. Businesses in Whistler have no respect for the law. If this person had refused to shoot the dogs and/or reported this he would've been fired and consequencially not had enough money to pay his rent. Also, companies sometimes supply ski passes but reserve the right to revoke them if they fire the employees so he may have lost his ski pass as well.
posted by Pseudology at 12:13 PM on January 31, 2011
posted by Pseudology at 12:13 PM on January 31, 2011
The company has said that 100, not 70 dogs were killed.
Oh, that makes it better.
Waitaminute...
posted by yeloson at 12:14 PM on January 31, 2011
Oh, that makes it better.
Waitaminute...
posted by yeloson at 12:14 PM on January 31, 2011
Would they have gotten away with it, if not for this PTSD claim? That's a horrifying thought... does this type of thing happen?
posted by gurple at 12:15 PM on January 31, 2011
posted by gurple at 12:15 PM on January 31, 2011
ok reading the first few paragraphs of that story has practically given me PTSD *shudder*
posted by supermedusa at 12:16 PM on January 31, 2011
posted by supermedusa at 12:16 PM on January 31, 2011
What do you think of the people who slaughter and pack animals so you can enjoy your steak?
I don't eat meat, but, for all the abuses that take place in meat packing, there is some modicum of control and oversight. This was just a guy with a shotgun. Shelters have rules when it comes to killing unwanted animals. One presumes businesses have the same, and this would, by any standard, be a grotesque violation of those rules.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:16 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
I don't eat meat, but, for all the abuses that take place in meat packing, there is some modicum of control and oversight. This was just a guy with a shotgun. Shelters have rules when it comes to killing unwanted animals. One presumes businesses have the same, and this would, by any standard, be a grotesque violation of those rules.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:16 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
Kill 70 dogs or lose a ski pass? What in the fuck is wrong with people.
posted by pwally at 12:17 PM on January 31, 2011
posted by pwally at 12:17 PM on January 31, 2011
Also, companies sometimes supply ski passes but reserve the right to revoke them if they fire the employees so he may have lost his ski pass as well.
It profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world... but for a ski pass?
posted by grouse at 12:17 PM on January 31, 2011
It profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world... but for a ski pass?
posted by grouse at 12:17 PM on January 31, 2011
does this type of thing happen?
What, treating animals as disposable objects? Of course it happens, every day. Not always dogs, but other pets, food animals, wildlife in the way of humans, etc.
posted by wildcrdj at 12:18 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
What, treating animals as disposable objects? Of course it happens, every day. Not always dogs, but other pets, food animals, wildlife in the way of humans, etc.
posted by wildcrdj at 12:18 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
Do you eat meat? What do you think of the people who slaughter and pack animals so you can enjoy your steak? Or are dogs just special because they're cute or something?
Do you eat dogs? The fact of the matter is that not animals are viewed or treated equally by humans (as individuals or as a society). We don't blink an eye at slaughtering cows or chickens for food, or obliterating entire colonies of pests. We do, however, treat pets differently. Acting like we don't have different standards of treatment for dogs is absurd.
posted by axiom at 12:18 PM on January 31, 2011
Do you eat dogs? The fact of the matter is that not animals are viewed or treated equally by humans (as individuals or as a society). We don't blink an eye at slaughtering cows or chickens for food, or obliterating entire colonies of pests. We do, however, treat pets differently. Acting like we don't have different standards of treatment for dogs is absurd.
posted by axiom at 12:18 PM on January 31, 2011
I can't even RTFA, and I'm getting PTSD just thinking about it.
:(
posted by brand-gnu at 12:20 PM on January 31, 2011
:(
posted by brand-gnu at 12:20 PM on January 31, 2011
yeah i don't see how this is best of the web.
It's probably not the best of the web, but it's what the web is good for. Every action that companies take (good or bad) that are in service to their bottom-line, should be trumpeted. That way people might actually start to notice that stuff like this happens way more than nice things.
This is horrible, and Outdoor Adventures can never pay enough to make it right.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 12:21 PM on January 31, 2011 [2 favorites]
It's probably not the best of the web, but it's what the web is good for. Every action that companies take (good or bad) that are in service to their bottom-line, should be trumpeted. That way people might actually start to notice that stuff like this happens way more than nice things.
This is horrible, and Outdoor Adventures can never pay enough to make it right.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 12:21 PM on January 31, 2011 [2 favorites]
I just left the following phone message for them, which is not at all mad-sounding enough: "Hi, I just want you to know that you cannot get away with killing animals in that way and not have people know about it. So, good luck with your business."
posted by gorgor_balabala at 12:21 PM on January 31, 2011
posted by gorgor_balabala at 12:21 PM on January 31, 2011
Do you eat meat? What do you think of the people who slaughter and pack animals so you can enjoy your steak? Or are dogs just special because they're cute or something?
Yes, dogs are special because they are cute or something. hincandenza was talking about the emotional difficulty of someone actually doing this, and frankly it would be more emotionally wrenching for most people to kill 100 dogs than 100 cattle. For good reasons -- dogs get under our skin; it's how they survive.
Beyond that, though, did you read the article? I'm no fan of the beef industry, at all, but at least they make some effort to put processes in place to make the kills quick and painless. This was... not.
posted by gurple at 12:21 PM on January 31, 2011
Yes, dogs are special because they are cute or something. hincandenza was talking about the emotional difficulty of someone actually doing this, and frankly it would be more emotionally wrenching for most people to kill 100 dogs than 100 cattle. For good reasons -- dogs get under our skin; it's how they survive.
Beyond that, though, did you read the article? I'm no fan of the beef industry, at all, but at least they make some effort to put processes in place to make the kills quick and painless. This was... not.
posted by gurple at 12:21 PM on January 31, 2011
it doesn't make sense to get outraged over the fact that dogs were killed any more than it makes sense to get outraged at the fate of the millions of other animals killed for our convenience every day.
I'm sorry, but I consider this a bit of a derail, on par with talking about poverty in Cincinnati and coming in and saying "What about poverty in Africa! It's so much worse!"
True. But this is bad, and we can discuss it without having to discuss every other example of animals being mistreated or treated as disposable everywhere else.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:21 PM on January 31, 2011
I'm sorry, but I consider this a bit of a derail, on par with talking about poverty in Cincinnati and coming in and saying "What about poverty in Africa! It's so much worse!"
True. But this is bad, and we can discuss it without having to discuss every other example of animals being mistreated or treated as disposable everywhere else.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:21 PM on January 31, 2011
I cannot click through. Just... no.
posted by L'Estrange Fruit at 12:22 PM on January 31, 2011
posted by L'Estrange Fruit at 12:22 PM on January 31, 2011
I think it's worth noting that the special status of dogs among animals as deserving more than living or dying by human whims is a pretty recent and I imagine western idea. For exhibit a I present Johnny Cash singing about Michael Vicking dogs on the Muppet Show!
I love dogs and I think this is terrible but I don't think anyone should be shocked to learn that there are people out there who didn't get the memo that dogs are part of the family now.
posted by ghharr at 12:22 PM on January 31, 2011
I love dogs and I think this is terrible but I don't think anyone should be shocked to learn that there are people out there who didn't get the memo that dogs are part of the family now.
posted by ghharr at 12:22 PM on January 31, 2011
I can't wait to go home and hug my puppy.
posted by greasy_skillet at 12:22 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by greasy_skillet at 12:22 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
Just to be clear, I eat meat and I'm not apologetic about it. But the idea that we should cast doubt on the morality or honesty of someone who kills animals--as opposed to the company that orders them to be killed cruelly and gratuitously--strikes me as horribly out-of-touch.
posted by nasreddin at 12:24 PM on January 31, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by nasreddin at 12:24 PM on January 31, 2011 [2 favorites]
The terrible thing is that this sort of practice is not unusual in agriculture, where unneeded animals are often culled. It would be interesting to see if this results in a criminal charge, but it may not. Ugh.
posted by KokuRyu at 12:25 PM on January 31, 2011
posted by KokuRyu at 12:25 PM on January 31, 2011
Read "A worker's compensation claim for PTSD suffered by an Outdoor Adventures Whistler" and wondered how ptsd was caused by whistling.
Awful about the poor dogs.
posted by nickyskye at 12:25 PM on January 31, 2011
Awful about the poor dogs.
posted by nickyskye at 12:25 PM on January 31, 2011
For the record, I eat meat, and I'd still have trouble killing 70 of ANYTHING that required a gun to do so
(I'm sure I killed plenty of roaches in my day, for example.)
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 12:26 PM on January 31, 2011
(I'm sure I killed plenty of roaches in my day, for example.)
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 12:26 PM on January 31, 2011
I think the link(s) could stand to have a graphic description warning.
Sad, horrible story
posted by pointystick at 12:26 PM on January 31, 2011
Sad, horrible story
posted by pointystick at 12:26 PM on January 31, 2011
I'm embarrassed to admit that when I first starting reading this thread I forgot what "PTSD" stood for and had been thinking that the employee's claim was for some sort of repetitive impact thing that had caused a physical injury, like carpal tunnel syndrome or something.
I was really confused, not only as to how this could possibly happen, but as to why the rest of the MeFites weren't outraged at this guy claiming shooting a shotgun over 75 times caused him such severe injury.
posted by Curious Artificer at 12:27 PM on January 31, 2011
I was really confused, not only as to how this could possibly happen, but as to why the rest of the MeFites weren't outraged at this guy claiming shooting a shotgun over 75 times caused him such severe injury.
posted by Curious Artificer at 12:27 PM on January 31, 2011
There's a pretty big difference between working at a slaughterhouse, where, you go in knowing you're going to be killing animals, and, being someone who works at a tourist dog sledding thing.
If this was a standard expected procedure thing, the resort would have simply pointed to it's policy & training manual where it talks about proper "Dog reduction techniques" and moved on.
posted by yeloson at 12:28 PM on January 31, 2011
If this was a standard expected procedure thing, the resort would have simply pointed to it's policy & training manual where it talks about proper "Dog reduction techniques" and moved on.
posted by yeloson at 12:28 PM on January 31, 2011
Do you eat meat? What do you think of the people who slaughter and pack animals so you can enjoy your steak? Or are dogs just special because they're cute or something?
As part of my self-contradictory nature, I used that same logic to absolve Michael Vick of any wrongdoing in the Bad Newz kennel fiasco while the elites use/abuse/discard animals of their choosing under the guise of cultural entertainment or scientific research and thus I reject the keeping of any animal for sport, play, entertainment or science.
As an aside, the keeping of a house cat does not fall under that policy because it has become apparent that human is not the keeper of a cat, it's usually the other way around.
posted by jsavimbi at 12:28 PM on January 31, 2011
As part of my self-contradictory nature, I used that same logic to absolve Michael Vick of any wrongdoing in the Bad Newz kennel fiasco while the elites use/abuse/discard animals of their choosing under the guise of cultural entertainment or scientific research and thus I reject the keeping of any animal for sport, play, entertainment or science.
As an aside, the keeping of a house cat does not fall under that policy because it has become apparent that human is not the keeper of a cat, it's usually the other way around.
posted by jsavimbi at 12:28 PM on January 31, 2011
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