Two Dogs Fatally Shot - Kamloops

[tommythecat]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.2453600

The story isn't very clear to me, did the brother take them or did hunter's shoot them?

[oneh2obabe]

Sounds like the neighbour said his brother had shot what he thought were 2 wolves.

[Ken7]

I read it also and it appears the brother may have shot the dogs, said he shot wolves.

I'm guessing it's a running at large dog problem that someone was tired of, one looks a little like a pit.

Not saying it is the way to deal with such an issue. Not the dogs fault but the irresponsible owner!

[Fancy]

They were mastiff crosses and in no way can be mistaken for wolves by a responsible hunter. If they were running deer or chasing livestock then I can see why they were shot. I do get the impression they were interfering with hunters though.

[tommythecat]

So if the brother did shoot them then that's some serious domestic issues. I agree that any "hunter" should and would know the difference between these dogs and wolves. If he did shoot them thinking they we're wolves he should have reported it to the local conservation service

[Fancy]

I think the dogs being at the bait station were scaring off what the hunters were after. If that's the case, then I hope dog cruelty charges are contemplated.

[Merry]

While not condoning deliberately shooting the dogs, one has to wonder about the level of responsibility of the owner in this tragedy. If he had not allowed his dogs to run loose this shooting would never have happened.

Frankly, I'm sick and tired of folks who think that because they live in a rural area its perfectly OK to let their dogs run wild. I remember an incident a few years back where I was visiting my son (who lived in a rural area) and offered to take his small dog for a walk (on a leash). About 10 minutes into my walk I was passing another home where the owner was outside doing yard work. The owner took one look at me and my dog and warned me that I might not want to walk that way in future, because he often let his large dog run loose and it didn't react well to other dogs.

I think that, in his mind, he was doing me a favour by giving me a "heads up". It never seemed to occur to him that I and my little dog had more of a right to be there than his big dog had to run loose. And it's attitudes like that which need to change.

I love dogs of all shapes and sizes. But no-one should have to be afraid to go for a walk because of large dogs being allowed to run loose.

[Donald G]

People on this string have more faith in the ability of hunters to accurately identify what they shoot than I have. A few years back, before the "hunting course" became mandatory, a man pulled up to the Game Check Station in Cache Creek with a female moose tag ... in the ear of a mule.

Proud as punch he was too at how he had stealthily worked his way up real close to it before putting it down with only one shot.

[Fancy]

I thought the hunting course was mandatory 30 years ago. Of course lots of changes with the exams to get a licence but the upshot was to be able to identify your target. No excuse to mistake a mule for a moose nor a moose for a beef cow regardless of hunting courses that are available.

[Rwede]

At least 30 years ago. I took it in the early 1970s.

"A few years back?" I don't think so. And the Cache Creek game check hasn't been operational since the early 1980s IIRC.

There's more to this story than has been reported. It wasn't about "hunters." It was about 2 very large dogs chasing the hell out of everything and running loose, and a neighbour who wanted to protect his kids and livestock.

I don't condone his shooting them, as he should have contacted the authorities before taking matters into his own hands. I do, however, place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the idiot who allowed his dogs to run at large.

[Donald G]

To Rwede ...

1965 - 6 - or 7 is the closest I can place it. A "game officer" was the one who told me the story at the time. It may have even hit the Kamloops media. You are right. It is a bit more than a "few years back". I assume that "game identification" became part of the hunting course as a result of incidents like that one.

I know it was before the hunting course because there was a big hue and cry from SOME hunters crying in their beer about having the pay for the course in addition to their hunting licenses.