Canada Ends 55-Year Avalanche Dog Rescue Programme in Banff, Prompting Public Outcry

Parks Canada has eliminated its canine search and rescue programme, ending a 55-year tradition of using dogs to find lost hikers, skiers and avalanche victims in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The agency confirmed the decision to the BBC, describing it as a difficult choice to axe the sole dog handler position out of Banff National Park, one of the most rugged parts of Canada, which welcomes more than four million visitors each year from around the world. Parks Canada said the move is part of efforts to modernise its law enforcement branch, and that search and rescue operations will continue to be delivered through other means. The cut comes as Prime Minister Mark Carney's government makes broad funding reductions to Canada's public service. Last week, Parks Canada announced that hundreds of its employees will soon be laid off. Local newspaper Rocky Mountain Outlook reported the programme was eliminated as part of recent budget cuts to the agency totalling C$145m ($104m; £78m). The decision has stirred public outrage. More than 5,000 people have signed a petition since Tuesday calling for the role to be restored. William Stevenson, the Conservative Member of Parliament for the Banff area who started the petition, said he welcomes tighter government spending but warned the cut could harm public safety. "How could they possibly make such a bad choice in where to cut?" he told the BBC. Scott Ward, 73, who retired after 17 years as a dog handler in the Rockies, described the work as gratifying. He recalled the relief on parents' faces when a search dog found their children safe in Banff's heavily wooded wilderness, and another occasion when his canine partner led him up a steep mountainside for two hours to reach a man with a broken leg who was close to dying from hypothermia. "We lost a huge public safety and staff safety resource," he said. Under the programme, dogs were trained to trace everything from a small paper clip to shell casings to a human body, according to Ward. After avalanches, a common winter hazard in the area, they searched for trapped hikers or skiers buried under heavy snow. "It saves probers hours and hours of standing shoulder to shoulder and poking in the snow, and also exposing themselves to secondary avalanche hazards," he said. In summer, the dogs helped find children who had wandered away from their parents' campsites. The programme's final dog, a German Shepherd named Leroy, was retired in August. Over seven years on the job, Leroy helped track 156 people, found 57 who were lost in the wilderness and helped solve two murders in Banff. A new canine had been trained and was ready for duty before Parks Canada gave notice last week that the programme would be eliminated. Stevenson also raised the issue in Canada's parliament during a late sitting on Thursday. In response, Ryan Turnball, a Liberal MP and parliamentary secretary for finance, said the government is focused on reducing Canada's deficit and "ensuring public funds support growth, resilience and the well-being of Canadians". Stevenson said he will continue to push the issue and has asked for a sit-down meeting with Parks Canada's chief executive. Other countries, including Italy, still rely on canines, often called avalanche dogs, for mountain search and rescue. Ward hopes the Canadian programme will be restored, recalling a saying from the old park warden who trained him: "You can make an armpit smell like a lilac bush and you can put a man on the moon, but nothing can replace the nose of the avalanche dog."