In amongst the 30 horses at the city's equine rescue centre, there are four dogs newly arrived for temporary housing. Timber, Zeus, Rango and Max have called the Pineview facility home since Sept. 19, when they were seized by police in the aftermath of a fatal shooting in Valemount.
The dogs, according to witness accounts from the scene, were the companions of a man and his daughter, both of whom were shot in the incident. The man died and the daughter is in serious condition in hospital. The dogs were allegedly used as weapons against the RCMP in the altercation but none of them were harmed.
The details of the incident are still playing out in court, making the dogs part of the frozen assets of the deceased man's estate until the court rules on their fate. That is not expected to happen any sooner than January, said Prince George Equine and Animal Rescue Society operator Nicola Redpath.
In the meantime, the society is hoping for financial help to pay for the large amounts of food the boney-thin German shepherds eat. Redpath is also hoping to make contact with people experienced in aggressive dogs to come forward as possible owners, should the courts decide to release the animals and not euthanize them instead.
"They cannot go to just any home. They are special dogs, in that sense. They are highly trained, they obey hand and voice commands, and as you can see [they relished the attention of human visitors, one kissed the nose of a passing cat and they have become favourites of the children who live at the facility] they are just goofballs. Really friendly. But we don't know what we don't know about how they might behave in unforeseen situations. We can't take the chance on adopting them out to anyone who isn't used to that kind of dog."
Redpath said she understands the need to put down animals that pose a public danger "but these are great dogs. They have never been aggressive with us, the kids play with them all day, but they know our kids now. They haven't been aggressive with any of our other animals either. In fact, they have been lovely. But we know there is more to these dogs than meets the eye, so if we can talk to people who know how to handle dogs like this, we would love to meet you."
The equine rescue centre has had to make due with modified horse facilities and common tools to keep these canine guests at their centre, "but we are not set up for this at all," Redpath said.
The SPCA facility was even more ill-equipped for these sorts of dogs. This made the equine rescue centre a better option for police. Redpath and her volunteers had recently placed a number of llamas and alpacas in adoptive homes, so they had some time and space to put towards these dogs.
At first worried they might have to put at least one of them down themselves, for fear of injury, the mood of Timber, Zeus, Rango and Max gradually improved to the point of playfulness and affection.
To help support the Prince George Equine and Animal Rescue Society, visit their website for donation and volunteer channels. Contributions of goods and services to their annual online auction are now being accepted. The internet auction takes place in November.
