A Whistler man who admitted to killing dozens of healthy sled dogs two years ago has been charged with animal cruelty.
Bob Fawcett was the general manager of Howling Dog Tours in April 2010 when he claimed he slaughtered the dogs by shooting them in the head or slitting their throats. Details of the butchery made headlines worldwide after he filed a successful claim for post-traumatic stress disorder with WorkSafe BC.
After a lengthy investigation by the BC SPCA that saw the carcasses of 54 animals exhumed from a pit near Whistler, Crown prosecutors have approved a single criminal charge of causing unnecessary pain or suffering to an animal.
A charge recommendation file from animal cruelty investigators totalled more than 1,000 pages, and the SPCA is now defending the massive amount of resources it dedicated to the case.
"This investigation was about uncovering the facts in a particular case of alleged animal cruelty that shocked people around the world," Marcie Moriarty, the SPCA's general manager for cruelty investigations, said in a release Friday.
"But it was also about ensuring that all sled dogs and other working animals are protected from suffering and abuse. Only by fully investigating these allegations could we send a clear message that we are a humane society where brutality and violence against animals will not be tolerated."
She said that the cost of the investigation was unprecedented, but argued the outcome of the case will impact the well-being of working animals across the country. Exhuming the dogs cost the SPCA $250,000, with almost half the total paid for by a provincial grant.
A new code of practice for the sled dog industry was adopted in February thanks to the work of a government task force formed in the wake of the investigation.
In his WorkSafe BC claim, Fawcett claimed he had massacred between 75 and 100 dogs over a period of a few days during a slowdown in business following the 2010 Olympics.
He described trying to chase down a dog that had survived a shot to the face and was left with one eye hanging out, and climbing into the pit full of dog carcasses to finish off an animal he had believed to be dead already.
Fawcett also described the slaughter on online forums about post-traumatic stress disorder. He claimed he was "forced to kill" by his new bosses at Outdoor Adventures Whistler, a claim the owners of the now-defunct company have vehemently denied.
Outdoor Adventures donated all of its assets to a non-profit foundation dedicated to the welfare of sled dogs in December.
Fawcett is scheduled to make his first court appearance on May 24 in Pemberton provincial court.
