'A mass of baying dogs': Neighbours sue to shut down Yukon kennel
Tagish residents say Shelley Cuthbert's kennel is keeping them awake at night, and hurting business
They can't take it anymore.
Six Tagish, Yukon, residents are taking their neighbour Shelley Cuthbert to court, saying her dog kennel has become a noisy, smelly, and unbearable nuisance.
According to a statement of claim filed this week in Yukon Supreme Court, Cuthbert's "Any Domesticated Animal Rescue and Boarding Kennels" has been a problem since she opened it in 2012.
Cuthbert is the former president of the Mae Bachur animal shelter in Whitehorse. She was forced out of the job in 2012, following a year of acrimony and financial hardship at the shelter.
The statement of claim says the dogs at her Tagish kennel — an estimated 80 of them — "bark and howl at all hours of the day and night." A diesel generator on the site adds to the noise.
The document also says the "offensive smells" of accumulated feces waft onto neighbouring properties through the summer months.
None of the allegations has been proven in court.
There is no zoning or community plan in the Tagish Lake area, so nothing restricts Cuthbert from operating the kennel.
Home addition hasn't helped
The neighbours closest to Cuthbert's property say they're most harassed by the dogs and their smells. They say they even built an addition on their home in order to sleep further from the dogs, but it hasn't helped.
"Anytime they leave or enter their house or travel within sight of the property line shared with the Cuthbert Parcel they trigger a mass of baying dogs," the statement of claim says.
Another neighbour, who runs Tagish Cabins B&B, says the noisy dogs are hurting his business.
The residents are seeking a court injunction to shut the kennel down, or damages to be paid for loss of property value and loss of profit.
Cuthbert has not yet filed a statement of defence.
She has not responded to a request for comment.
With files from Vic Istchenko