I was referring to his alias in totality not in isolation... alot of his posts are divisive or seem to be loaded.... another mole?
Terrible turn of events for sure, but only having heard the dog owners side of the story and a non committal RCMP spokesman, I'm far from ready to lob the hunter under the bus.
20 feet, if accurate, is a pretty close distance if you are facing an "unmarked" aggressive dog. Not saying that's how it went down, but until I hear the hunters side of the story, I'm not ruling it out.
I'm glad someone got something from my comment.
I have a great respect for dogs and it's a terrible situation. It's seen by us as sad because the dog had a connection with human beings- family pet. Is that how it gets its value? I think so, but anti hunters might argue that all animals have the same value. Food for thought.
When in doubt, just pin it.
First off those comments were totally insensitive and ignorant!!
I have read the article and there is also a statement from the local CO not just the RCMP. I know this CO myself, he is a very fair guy. The 20' mentioned was given to the newspaper from the dog owner. She guessed it was about 20'. The dog was a canine therapy dog to make things worse. She was hiking with nine other dogs as well. Of course there is a small uproar: why are hunters in that area it's very popular hiking spot. People calling for his rifles to be taken away and banned from owning them etc etc. It's a bad situation all around. I feel for both sides of the story. I couldn't imagine seeing my dog get shot and killed in front of me.
There's lots of missing info in the story which would be nice to have. While I echo the recommendation for hi vis vest on dogs (I do it myself) I don't think we want to go too far down the road of saying it's the dog owner's responsibility to put a vest on the dog.
-It is the hunter's responsibility to know what he's shooting;
-It is the hunter's responsibility to be extra vigilant in highly populated areas. Private property and non-hunting recreationalists need to be top of mind.
If it happened as reported its a sad story. I'd be livid if it was my dog and the guy who did the shooting would be fortunate to not have a firearms/rectum accident.
Rob Chipman
"The idea of wilderness needs no defense, it only needs defenders" - Ed Abbey
"Grown men do not need leaders" - also Ed Abbey
Like I said, I'd like more info before I cast "judgement".
The irony here, IMHO, is that hunters lobby for wildlife to be managed by science(fact) not EMOTION.
Yet as soon as a dog loses its life, guess what rules the day.....
Just sayin'...
And to be crystal clear, I'm NOT taking the hunters side, I'm merely stating that forming a definitive judgment without his side of the story is foolish at best.