A February suspension of third-party bookings of Outdoor Adventures’ activities by Tourism Whistler (TW) is still in effect as Whistler heads into the summer season, while Whistler Blackcomb has started booking all of the operator’s activities except dogsledding.
The two Whistler organizations implemented the all-out suspension of tour bookings following the news of an alleged mass killing of Outdoor Adventures Whistler’s (OAW) sled dogs, which was said to have taken place in April 2010.
The B.C. SPCA excavated a mass grave of dog bodies in May and are currently working on a criminal investigation in conjunction with the RCMP to determine if the dogs were killed in an inhumane fashion.
When asked about the status of the booking suspension, Breton Murphy, senior manager of communications at TW said, “The suspension on the sale of OAW products continues. As we said from the outset, we’re waiting for the report to be shared regarding the events by the SPCA.
“It was a move that was supported by the board of directors at the time and once the findings regarding the incident are finally made public we’ll take another look at where to go from there,” he added.
Whistler Blackcomb (WB), on the other hand, has resumed booking summer activities with the Adventure Group, which owns OAW.
While river rafting is the only OAW activity currently being booked by WB, plans to resume bookings of horseback riding, ATV and hummer tours are set for the near future, a spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday (June 29).
But come winter, WB will maintain its policy of not booking any sled dog tours through any operator in the area.
A look on OAW’s website shows that the company still has its winter activities listed, but when asked if they are offering summer activities, a clerk at OAW confirmed summer activities are indeed on offer and the website’s lack of listing was just an oversight.
According to the clerk, rafting, the Wild Play Adventure Park, zip-lining, ATV tours, horseback riding, Hummer tours, jet boating and fly-fishing are all being offered by OAW for the summer season.
Officials at Outdoor Adventures did not responded to a request for an interview before press deadline.
As for when the SPCA might release details of its investigation to the public, Marcie Moriarty, head of the B.C. SPCA’s cruelty investigation division, said Wednesday that she is unsure.
“We will have the report in to Crown sometime towards the end of August, with the hope that charges will be made sometime in September,” she said.
The findings of the report should be made public once, and if, charges are laid by the Crown. For now, Moriarty said that investigators are still working on the report.
