Photo: David Buzzard
Charges may be recommended against a hunter who shot and killed a Squamish therapy dog near Lake Lucille on Sept. 28.
Valley Calderoni, founder of Canine Valley rehabilitation centre, was walking her dog, Kaoru, and nine other dogs from the centre, she said, when the dog was shot.
There was speculation Kaoru may have been mistaken for a wolf when the Squamish man shot her, but Sgt. Simon Gravel of the Conservation Officer Service told The Chief hunting of wolves is prohibited in the area where the incident occurred.
“The event occurred in the management area 2-7 and there is no wolf hunting in that specific area,” he said.
The 2-7 area is “fairly small” Gravel said, and has no open season on wolves, but it is surrounded by areas that are open.
Across the highway from where Kaoru was shot, wolf hunting is allowed. “It is the responsibility of the hunters to know where they are and know if there is an opening for the specific species they are hunting for,” Gravel said.
There is no signage that alerts hunters to boundaries, he confirmed.
Gravel said the investigation is continuing and is “thorough.”
Should it be deemed warranted, the Conservation Service would recommend charges to the Crown and if the charges are approved, the case moves forward.
Everyone involved with the incident is co-operating fully, according to Gravel.
The municipalities of Squamish and Whistler both have bylaws banning the discharge of firearms within their boundaries.
Outside municipal boundaries, there is no restriction on the discharge of firearms.
South of Squamish and north of West Vancouver there is a hunting closure that extends one kilometre east of Highway 99 and 400 metres west.
North of the District of Squamish there is no general hunting restriction, other than that firearms can’t be discharged from the road itself.
“You have to be 15 metres off the pavement if there is more than three lines and 15 metres off the centre line if there is less than three lines,” Gravel said.
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