My Remarkable Journey
I met my first retired sled dog ('sleddie') in 2012 and I fell under the sleddie spell. A year earlier I had heard about the post-Olympic cull in Whistler, BC Canada and was horrified. I wrote letters and attended the two memorial walks in my city - one in February 2011 and a second larger one April 23, 2011 that coincided with memorial walks all around the world. The news was huge. The BC SPCA decided to do an exhumation in Whistler at huge financial cost. The public was outraged and the government was making promises we were hoping they would keep. People were talking, crying and outraged - shocked to hear that this could happen in our corner of the world.
But then it seemed to fall silent. People had moved on to other news, but I couldn't.
In Whistler, a new group had taken over the main sled dog operation who had been the subject in the news and was attempting to run it as an ethical sled dog tour company. But it only took a season or so to realize that it wasn't possible for them to run it as such and still make a profit. So they folded and made the decision to find homes for the remaining dogs. It was early 2012 and the manager of our local SPCA at the time, Penny Stone was contacted to help. She had been to the Whistler kennels, met the dogs and knew the group that was looking after them during the transition. As a volunteer with her at the time, I remember hearing stories about the dogs, but when that first group came in I was floored. They looked nothing like what I thought they would. They were smaller than I was expecting, they had short coats and they were so friendly! All the myths I'd heard were dispelled immediately! Over the course of almost two years, groups of sled dogs from Whistler - survivors of the cull - came through the shelter to be adopted.
In the summer of 2013 the kennels at the local SPCA were full (40-ish dogs in care) so with Penny's help we organized a group photo. I put my wide lens on my camera and climbed up on the roof of the shelter. That photo would wind up marking the end of an era for me. Things changed at the SPCA and I didn't think for the better so I stepped back from volunteering with them. Shortly after, Penny was let go. Working on the 'after' side in animal rescue can be tough so I took a much-needed break... but it wouldn't last long.
About a month later - in September 2013 - Penny and I went for lunch one day to catch up and she told me about her recent visit to Whistler and about the remaining dogs. They wanted to get them off the mountain before another winter set in so she was heading up in again in a couple days. I think I invited myself along in that moment, to be honest, I can't remember! In any case a couple days later we hopped on the ferry and then drove the 2 hours to Whistler. I spent three full days at the remote mountain kennel in the Soo Valley just outside Whistler, BC getting to know the 43 remaining dogs and photographing them to help get them adopted and to tell their story.
The need for former sled dogs to find retirement homes hasn't stopped. Within a few months of our trip, Penny founded the Victoria Humane Society in early 2014, and she was contacted by a sled dog operation to help bring more sled dogs into care. And it hasn't stopped, so I haven't. Today, there are still thousands of sled dogs working in commercial and sport operations just in my corner of the world alone and it's a tough life. Being 'just a dog' is not an option. As sled dogs they're considered different than the dogs we share our homes with - in the eyes of our government, our lawmakers and those who use them to pull sleds for sport and commercial purposes. And the well-meaning public, who holds the ultimate power in their wallets, continues to be duped, all for visions of beautiful photo ops. That's where education comes in.
As a photographer, I've photographed somewhere in the neighbourhood of +1000 rescue dogs since 2010 and I can say that the 200+ sleddies I've photographed are no different than any of them. They have fears, likes and dislikes. Some seem eternally broken mentally (when human eyes are watching), and some don't seem to have a care in the world. They can be silly. Some like to be couch potatoes, some like to run around, some continue to surprise their humans time and again, year after year... like all dogs. I get that they may have lineage, but for the majority of the dogs I've met, they're happy to just be dogs, individuals with a choice.
This trek has taken me on some fantastic sleddie adventures. Walks along the beaches, wandering in the woods, exploring places I've never been, and spending time at the kennels in Whistler where the cull took place. One of the most rewarding times though are the reunions, where over 50 retired sleddies have come at once to show the limitless possibilities of being retired. I've been told countless stories from adopters and foster homes who are documenting, through words and images, these chapters of life. And along the way I've met some pretty great humans who have supported my work and allowed me and my camera into their lives.
It has been - and continues to be - an incredibly personal journey. In the last decade I have made promises to myself that "once this book/project/year" is done, I will put some effort into other advocacy photo projects... but I can't seem to stop documenting their lives and sharing stories, so I decided to devote an entire website to them... kind of like embracing that which you cannot change in yourself.
This is uncharted territory though. I would expect this site holds the most comprehensive and largest collection of former sled dog photos and stories in Canada, maybe even beyond. There are times when I wonder where it will lead. I wonder if any of it will make a difference. Is anyone actually looking at this? So I'm working on training myself to think more along the lines of "what if this does help"? Even if just one person changes their mind... then maybe they'll tell just one person. Just keep taking the steps forward. When I hear of kids who are doing projects on sled dogs and compassion for their school classes, or that one person who went on an Alaska cruise but didn't go on the sled dog excursion because she couldn't confirm how the dogs were cared for, or the large corporation that dropped its sponsorship of the long distance race, I know progress is possible, we just have to keep working at it.
Thank you for joining this work!
But then it seemed to fall silent. People had moved on to other news, but I couldn't.
In Whistler, a new group had taken over the main sled dog operation who had been the subject in the news and was attempting to run it as an ethical sled dog tour company. But it only took a season or so to realize that it wasn't possible for them to run it as such and still make a profit. So they folded and made the decision to find homes for the remaining dogs. It was early 2012 and the manager of our local SPCA at the time, Penny Stone was contacted to help. She had been to the Whistler kennels, met the dogs and knew the group that was looking after them during the transition. As a volunteer with her at the time, I remember hearing stories about the dogs, but when that first group came in I was floored. They looked nothing like what I thought they would. They were smaller than I was expecting, they had short coats and they were so friendly! All the myths I'd heard were dispelled immediately! Over the course of almost two years, groups of sled dogs from Whistler - survivors of the cull - came through the shelter to be adopted.
In the summer of 2013 the kennels at the local SPCA were full (40-ish dogs in care) so with Penny's help we organized a group photo. I put my wide lens on my camera and climbed up on the roof of the shelter. That photo would wind up marking the end of an era for me. Things changed at the SPCA and I didn't think for the better so I stepped back from volunteering with them. Shortly after, Penny was let go. Working on the 'after' side in animal rescue can be tough so I took a much-needed break... but it wouldn't last long.
About a month later - in September 2013 - Penny and I went for lunch one day to catch up and she told me about her recent visit to Whistler and about the remaining dogs. They wanted to get them off the mountain before another winter set in so she was heading up in again in a couple days. I think I invited myself along in that moment, to be honest, I can't remember! In any case a couple days later we hopped on the ferry and then drove the 2 hours to Whistler. I spent three full days at the remote mountain kennel in the Soo Valley just outside Whistler, BC getting to know the 43 remaining dogs and photographing them to help get them adopted and to tell their story.
The need for former sled dogs to find retirement homes hasn't stopped. Within a few months of our trip, Penny founded the Victoria Humane Society in early 2014, and she was contacted by a sled dog operation to help bring more sled dogs into care. And it hasn't stopped, so I haven't. Today, there are still thousands of sled dogs working in commercial and sport operations just in my corner of the world alone and it's a tough life. Being 'just a dog' is not an option. As sled dogs they're considered different than the dogs we share our homes with - in the eyes of our government, our lawmakers and those who use them to pull sleds for sport and commercial purposes. And the well-meaning public, who holds the ultimate power in their wallets, continues to be duped, all for visions of beautiful photo ops. That's where education comes in.
As a photographer, I've photographed somewhere in the neighbourhood of +1000 rescue dogs since 2010 and I can say that the 200+ sleddies I've photographed are no different than any of them. They have fears, likes and dislikes. Some seem eternally broken mentally (when human eyes are watching), and some don't seem to have a care in the world. They can be silly. Some like to be couch potatoes, some like to run around, some continue to surprise their humans time and again, year after year... like all dogs. I get that they may have lineage, but for the majority of the dogs I've met, they're happy to just be dogs, individuals with a choice.
This trek has taken me on some fantastic sleddie adventures. Walks along the beaches, wandering in the woods, exploring places I've never been, and spending time at the kennels in Whistler where the cull took place. One of the most rewarding times though are the reunions, where over 50 retired sleddies have come at once to show the limitless possibilities of being retired. I've been told countless stories from adopters and foster homes who are documenting, through words and images, these chapters of life. And along the way I've met some pretty great humans who have supported my work and allowed me and my camera into their lives.
It has been - and continues to be - an incredibly personal journey. In the last decade I have made promises to myself that "once this book/project/year" is done, I will put some effort into other advocacy photo projects... but I can't seem to stop documenting their lives and sharing stories, so I decided to devote an entire website to them... kind of like embracing that which you cannot change in yourself.
This is uncharted territory though. I would expect this site holds the most comprehensive and largest collection of former sled dog photos and stories in Canada, maybe even beyond. There are times when I wonder where it will lead. I wonder if any of it will make a difference. Is anyone actually looking at this? So I'm working on training myself to think more along the lines of "what if this does help"? Even if just one person changes their mind... then maybe they'll tell just one person. Just keep taking the steps forward. When I hear of kids who are doing projects on sled dogs and compassion for their school classes, or that one person who went on an Alaska cruise but didn't go on the sled dog excursion because she couldn't confirm how the dogs were cared for, or the large corporation that dropped its sponsorship of the long distance race, I know progress is possible, we just have to keep working at it.
Thank you for joining this work!
"We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals... In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extension of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear... They are not bretheren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth." |
me + pancake coolin' in the shade after a long day of photography: photo by penny stone