Whitehorse death-row dog homeless again

A Whitehorse shelter dog that was temporarily spared from execution last year may have lost his last chance at being adopted, as a last-ditch effort has been met with public opposition.

For over a year now, the Yukon Supreme Court has been dealing with the case of Trevor, a Rottweiler-shepherd cross that was about to be destroyed at the Whitehorse city pound in July 2009.

The court granted the dog a temporary stay of execution after the Humane Society Yukon intervened, arguing that Trevor is not dangerous despite reports that he had bitten some people.

Trevor has been kept in an isolation cage at the society's Mae Bachur Animal Shelter in Whitehorse since August 2009, while the society tries to find someone who can adequately take care of him.

However, its latest adoption plan has been scuttled by residents in Ibex Valley, near Whitehorse, who are opposed to a resident's offer to adopt the troubled dog.

"There was a number of residents that were upset, and one circulated a letter around and got a number of signatures and just said that they were concerned about having a dangerous dog in their neighbourhood," Trish MacPherson, chair of the local advisory council in Ibex Valley, told CBC News on Thursday.

"They just decided to put a letter in, and that helped the shelter decide that maybe it was not a good place to have him."

Won temporary injunction

Trevor was rescued from abuse early last year, and brought to the humane society's Mae Bachur Animal Shelter.

He was adopted out several months later, but by July he was surrendered to the Whitehorse pound following the reported attacks. He was deemed to be dangerous and was slated to be put down.

After the temporary court injunction was granted, stopping the city from putting Trevor down, an animal behaviour assessment concluded that he would likely remain an anti-social and aggressive dog that could be managed by the right owner.

A prior attempt to place Trevor in a home in Burwash Landing backfired when the local First Nation raised its own safety concerns related to having a dog with such high needs in their community.

Then earlier this month, Ibex Valley resident Len McGinnis had offered to adopt Trevor and care for the dog on his 8½-hectare property in the Ibex Valley area.

When McGinnis's offer was presented to the court on Oct. 5, Justice Ron Veale said residents in Ibex Valley must approve of the plan first.

MacPherson said the Ibex Valley local advisory council had originally put the item on the agenda for its meeting Thursday night, but the residents' letter means Trevor will not be moving into their community.

Trevor's case is slated to go back to the Yukon Supreme Court on Nov. 2. Officials have said they don't want the case to continue dragging on in court much longer.