Trevor the dog, Part 99, plus tax, plus $25,000 later. And the smoke has not even cleared yet.
Bylaw tried to claim “ownership” over Trevor in order to kill him last July; their wish died in the courts.
This issue has shown itself to be another raw example on how Whitehorse prefers to communicate with the public: fight them in court when they wish (despite their claim that they try to accommodate all parties).
City bylaw manager John Taylor is on public record saying the court cost so far is worth it because it is all about safety.
Taylor has repeated public safety like a mantra.
Now, to be clear, I respect the public safety part, but the funny (and not so funny) thing here is: If the city had deemed Trevor a “dangerous dog” (which is about public safety), they would not have had to spend an enormous amount of money trying to kill him.
The bite-back with public money continues!
Trevor was seized by Taylor and a senior bylaw officer last Friday from the Humane Society.
“It’s in the lawyer’s hands,” Taylor said to me during a phone call last Saturday.
“It’s in the court’s hands,” said city lawyer Lori Lavoie minutes after Taylor hung up on me.
Neither gave just cause for seizing Trevor over the course of the weekend.
News flash: A volunteer dog walker screwed up and took Trevor’s muzzle off, and Trevor paid the price.
Trevor did nothing wrong.
He can’t remind his walker he has to have a muzzle on; he’s just an ordinary dog, not the speaking kind.
Trevor’s ordeal has proven how far Whitehorse will go to kill a dog. It is my opinion the city’s record of serving animals in Whitehorse borders on negligence. Officials have not addressed the ongoing neglect/abuse of dogs in Whitehorse.
Dog neglect continues in Whitehorse (and beyond) and the root of the problem continues to be ignored.
A human tragedy will happen again à and, again, it will be human-caused!
Mike Grieco
Whitehorse
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