Stop The Dog Torture @ Krabloonik

September 3rd, 2008 at 04:22am Michael Conniff 2

One of my biggest regrets as a journalist in Aspen is that I knew in 2002 about the cruel and unusual punishment meted out to helpless sled dogs at Krabloonik in Aspen and I did nothing about it. I put it on the list--the list of stories that I would get to when I had a chance. I never got to it, and months went by while the dogs at Krabloonik suffered.

Fortunately, two women walked in off the street one day saying they had been to Krabloonik and I referred them to Thomas Watson, a reporter from England who did a bang-up job on a series of exposes. Krabloonik owner Dan MacEachen stopped shooting unneeded dogs in the head, and some reforms were made. Thomas and his wife Katie even adopted one of the dogs. But now there's evidence that conditions for the dogs are as bad as ever, if not worse, at Krabloonik.

A new group of citizen activists--including Bill Fabrocini, Lisa Consiglio, Leigh Vogel, and Lee Ann Vold--have put together a Web site to stop the abuse of the Krabloonik dogs, and Leigh's pictures are unforgettable. Some of them met Tuesday again with MacEachen, and again promises of reform were made. I would urge everyone in the Roaring Fork Valley to apply the heat to the Snowmass Town Council September 8, 2008, to make sure the abuse is stopped cold.

This letter from Katie Ingham of Basalt to the Town Council says it all:

August 28, 2008

Dear Snowmass Town Council,

For 34 years, 200 to 400 Krabloonik sled dogs have been chained to their small wooden boxes out in an open field in Snowmass Village. For about 4 months a year, they are worked very hard pulling tourists in heavy sleds, then for 8 months they are stored in this field on 5-foot long heavy chains and left to bake in full sun with only a hotter box to retrieve in to. They have no socialization, no attention, no exercise, no life, and spend their days traumatically pacing in vicious circles, lucky to have adequate food and water.

In 2005, the public became aware of the owner Dan MacEachen’s practice of “culling” dogs and puppies who were the wrong temperament or size or too old or sick or just not to his liking, by shooting them in the head and throwing them in a pile of other, hopefully dead, carcasses and feces. Our community was horrified and demanded that this be stopped. What is happening today to those dogs who are unsuitable for rehabilitation and adoption through the Aspen Animal Shelter, whose operator only adopted out 27 dogs in 3 years and who stated that, “These tethered dogs can’t walk in a straight line and require several months to stand comfortably upright”?

Michael Vick was appropriately prosecuted, in part, for executing dogs who simply lost their usefulness to him. How is this any different? These lovely, innocent creatures deserve a higher standard of care and as the owners of the leased property that Krabloonik rents for only $200 per year, Snowmass Village has the responsibility and the leverage to ensure that this “business” respect these animals, treat them humanely and abide by all state laws, which it is not doing.

I have lived in Aspen for 36 years and am now residing in Basalt for 4 years. I am just an average citizen who has agonized over the conditions at Krabloonik since it became too large to manage itself properly. Now is the time for change! Thank you for your attention.