City council recently increased impound fees for dogs picked up by municipal bylaw from $100 to $250 a day. It was a poorly thought out move, one which could result in more dogs winding up at an already over-burdened SPCA shelter because their owners cannot afford to bail them out. 

It's the last thing the SPCA needs. 

When impound fees were $100, most people could afford that. But now at $250 a day, many will have to make the very difficult decision about whether to retrieve their pets or buy food. With this increase, there is little doubt that the SPCA will end up with more surrenders at a time when the kennels are already full with many dogs waiting to come in. 

In another curious move, city council failed to consult shelter administration at all, but implemented the new rates on its own. 

The NWT SPCA has tried hard to care for, house and medically treat dogs from around the territory working alongside Vets Across Borders to spay and neuter as many as they can. This will be the only way to get the dog population in the North under control. If they can reduce the numbers, it becomes more possible to find responsible dog owners who will take better care of their pets. 

And, of course, this doesn't take into account the many dogs the SPCA takes in often from the communities who have been badly abused. Yes, sometimes the rescues come too late and the animals die in the cold. 

The work done by the SPCA with its limited resources and often low staff numbers cannot be underestimated. The agency is constantly asking for fosters or adoptees to step up because they are at capacity and they have dogs in dire circumstances waiting to come In. That city council, despite all this, decided to raise the impound rates without any input from the shelter demonstrates a lack of awareness and a gap in empathy.  

Rather than increasing the workload and stress of an already overburdened service, council needed to go the other way and ask the shelter for advice. 

This almost disdain for dogs is also evidenced in the ridiculous gravel pit it calls a dog park and is one of the greatest embarrassments of this city, the dog capital of Canada. While on evacuation in 2023, many people were able to see the first-class areas for dogs and their owners offered in other jurisdictions. 

How administrators treat the animals has a trickle-down effect that results in sloppy pet care. This after Mayor Rebecca Alty visited the dog park during the election looking for recommendations and another councillor ran on a platform advocating for improving conditions for the dogs. Once elected, the issue was swept aside. 

There is such a fallacy about Northern dogs that many tourists come to see. We forget that some, hidden or not, behind tall fences are tied to small chains and connected to dog houses with little or no straw to survive the -40 C temperatures at night. Many fail to get any exercise at all and just spend their lives in deplorable conditions deprived of the social environments they crave.

And for some, their only exercise are laps at the dog park here that public and environmental health have checked for health and safety reasons. Such is the response of the city to a public area located behind a multi-million dollar swimming pool which will always run a high deficit. Dog owners, conversely, were told to treat the park like a neighbourhood block project and fund upgrades themselves. 

Increasing impound rates was a simplistic solution to a complex problem. This is not a reflection on the dogs who are only trying to survive, but a system's failure which continues to treat other sentient beings with disrespect. It is an attitude not missed by young people and others, we hope, are working to create a more compassionate and caring society. 

It seems like that is not us for now.

SA国际影视传媒擭ancy Vail is a longtime Yellowknifer concerned with social justice.