Animal welfare inspectors remove 'large number of dogs' from sledding company in Ontario

Animal welfare inspectors have removed "a large number of dogs" from two properties associated with a dog sledding company in Ontario, the provincial solicitor general's ministry confirmed on Tuesday.

Officials from Animal Welfare Services inspected properties associated with Windrift Adventures in Oro-Medonte Township, north of Barrie, and Severn Township, north of Orillia, on Sept. 23, according to Brent Ross, spokesperson for the solicitor general's ministry.

The dogs were removed during the inspection, Ross said in an email to CBC Toronto on Tuesday night.

"The animals are being provided shelter and have received care," Ross said in the email.

Ross declined to say what prompted the removal of the dogs, how many animals were involved and whether any needed veterinary care. He also declined to say where the dogs are being looked after currently.

He said the inspection is continuing and it would be inappropriate for the ministry to provide further comment.

It is not known if Windrift Adventures is appealing the seizure of its dogs.

CBC News left two phone messages at numbers listed on the company's website, seeking comment from the company on the date of the original publication of this article. CBC News only heard from the company after the publication, and the article has since been clarified to respond to a number of its concerns.

Company investigated in 2018 for animal cruelty

In January 2018, the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA), which has been replaced by a new animal welfare enforcement system headed by a chief animal welfare inspector, investigated Windrift Adventures.

A month later, the OSPCA ordered the company to provide insulated shelter, clean water, appropriate food and veterinary care to the dogs located at its site in Moonstone, Ont, in Oro-Medonte Township, after a complaint was made by two people.

Natasha Guerriero and Dylan Blake, from Whitby, Ont., said they went dog-sledding and took videos of the animals afterward.

The videos, which the pair posted to Facebook, show dozens of dogs chained up in the snow, with one dog limping with an apparent open wound on one of its front legs.

The pair booked their outing through a company called Toronto Adventures Inc., Guerriero said.

The tour operator has since cut ties with Windrift Adventures, and a staff member had said that Toronto Adventures received death threats over the incident.

At the time, the OSPCA had said the owner of the dogs must comply with the orders or the animals could be seized. It later said three dogs needed veterinary care and Windrift Adventures was complying with the orders.

'We love our dogs,' Windrift says

On its website, Windrift Adventures says its kennel is home to 225 dogs. 

"We love our dogs and we love the sport of dogsledding. We enjoy introducing people to the sport and teaching them what dogsledding has to offer," the website says.

"There is no other way to enjoy what nature has to offer than mushing down the trail on the back of a dog team!"

Fern Levitt, a documentary filmmaker based in Toronto and the director of Sled Dogs, a point-of-view documentary released in 2016, said keeping dogs on chains creates "enormous stress" and she is grateful that any dogs being abused have been rescued.

"The industry is rife with abuse," Levitt said.