Loose dogs to be destroyed in Fort Resolution starting today

The hamlet of Fort Resolution is warning residents to keep their dogs tied up or inside for the next week. Between Feb. 3 and Feb. 9, any loose dogs will be put down.

Mayor Garry Bailey says the move comes in response to two attacks in the last three weeks from feral dogs, which he says have formed packs.

"We've got kids being attacked, we've got elders being attacked, we've got little small dogs being eaten on the road," he says.

Two weeks ago, Bailey says, an eight-year-old was attacked by a pack of dogs.

He doesn't have a problem with destroying them.

"I'm not going to lose any sleep over it...I've lived in Fort Resolution and this is how they've gotten rid of the dogs for years."

SPCA calls for more support

Bailey says there is not enough support from the government to manage the dog problem in the community. On that, he and the NWT SPCA are in agreement.

"It needs to be on the government's agenda, I feel, that there is a huge problem here," says Nicole Spencer, president of the NWT SPCA.

"We can't take all the dogs from Fort Resolution. We want attention brought to the problem, because it's not just Fort Resolution. It's many communities in the North, right across Canada."

Spencer says the SPCA is not planning to send anyone to Fort Resolution to collect dogs due to a lack of resources and authority. But she says the organization does accept dogs that are sent from the community.

A Facebook post of the cull poster by the SPCA garnered angry comments directed towards the community, a reaction Spencer says was not intended.

"In no way did we want to bring negative attention to the people of that community," she says.

The post has since been taken down.

"It's just, there's a problem here, we need to help, they need help; something needs to be done about it."