Reward offered in Little Grand Rapids for dead stray dogs
Calls for cull of stray dogs after attack, but not clear who would carry it out
The chief of Little Grand Rapids First Nation says a $25-per-head reward for stray dogs is being advertised on the local radio station after the fatal mauling of a woman in the Manitoba community — but so far, no one is taking up the offer.
"Nobody wants to do it," said Chief Roy Dunsford.
"We don't have anyone who wants to kill those dogs."
Donnelly Rose Eaglestick was found dead Saturday morning at a construction site for the community's new water treatment plant.
RCMP later confirmed the 24-year-old, whose body was found surrounded by dozens of dogs, died from an animal attack.
"[I'm] kind of scared. I'm scared for the kids," said Dunsford. "And the dogs already feel the taste of human being. Maybe the dogs will attack again."
He was one of the people who found Eaglestick's body Saturday morning surrounded by roughly 30 dogs, he said.
"It's kind of a shock. Really. Really a shock to me. To us," Dunsford said.
He said he wants the dogs out of his community or killed, but details of how that would happen are still unclear.
Others, including Manitoba Grand Chief Derek Nepinak, have called for a dog cull in Little Grand Rapids.
The chief said he doesn't want anyone else to die, which is why he issued the plea to his members. He said a rescue organization called him to offer to come in to the community to remove the dogs and put them in shelters, which he said he is also open to, but he hasn't heard back from the rescue since.
"We just want them out," he said.
In the meantime, he's warning his members to stay indoors and to keep an eye on their children while he and his council determine who will deal with the pack of dogs that killed the young mother.
Community members in Little Grand Rapids gathered Tuesday at the band office to discuss their concerns about the free-roaming animals.
"They're still in pain, they're still sad, they're still upset about the dogs," said band councillor Robert Leveque, reached Tuesday morning in Little Grand Rapids.
The fly-in community, which has an on-reserve population of roughly 1,200 people and is 270 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, does not have band constables who will shoot the animals, he said. So far, no one in the community has volunteered to do it. RCMP officers shot one dog Saturday but will not carry out a cull, according to a spokesperson.
Leveque said people are walking in groups and carrying long sticks to protect themselves.
"A lot of people are calling in to the radio to get rid of those dogs," he said. "We're trying to figure out who's going to do it."
He said he's seen at least two dogs return to the area where Eaglestick died but he hasn't seen a pack roaming the community. There are strays "here and there," he said.
The chief and council plan to return to Little Grand Rapids Friday for Eaglestick's funeral.
Judy Klassen, the Manitoba MLA whose Kewatinook riding includes Little Grand Rapids, was in the First Nation Tuesday to hear the community's concerns.
Members of the community are working on creating a trust fund for five-year-old Danica Eaglestick, Donnelly's daughter, who has now lost both her mother and father.
"The grandmother called me up from Little Grand," said Dunsford, with tears in his eyes.
"She's looking for [her] mom. And that's where I was … kinda hurt when they called me up."