Whitehorse's death-row dog may get new home

The Yukon Supreme Court has given the territory's humane society and Whitehorse bylaw officials six weeks to secure a new home for Trevor, the dog that was spared from being euthanized last year.

The Rottweiler-shepherd cross has been held in an isolation pen at the Mae Bachur Animal Shelter since last summer, when Humane Society Yukon won a court injunction stopping the city from putting Trevor down.

Trevor's previous owner had surrendered the dog to the pound in July, following a number of attacks on people.

With the Yukon Supreme Court injunction sparing Trevor from immediate death, both the humane society and the city have been trying to find a suitable new foster owner for the dog, which has been assessed as an anti-social and dangerous animal.

Appearing in court on Wednesday, humane society officials said a resident of Burwash Landing, a small community about 285 kilometres northwest of Whitehorse, has agreed to take Trevor.

The prospective new owner could be a good fit for Trevor, as long as the city agrees, the humane society's Rachel Westfall said outside court.

"I don't anticipate any major hurdles, but we will definitely need to do some fine tuning, just to make sure that everybody's satisfied that it's secure," Westfall told reporters.

"The city won't be able to have the day-to-day oversight that they would have in Whitehorse."

Hope problems don't resurface

Bylaw officials had originally stipulated that Trevor be released to a home inside city limits only.

Senior bylaw officer Dave Pruden said at this point, the city just needs to ensure that Trevor's problems won't come back to haunt them.

"We need to confirm stuff about where the dog's located, how far away it is from others in the community," Pruden said.

"The City of Whitehorse doesn't want to ship a problem — if it is a problem — out to a community, no matter where it's located."

Westfall said the prospective owner in Burwash Landing has liability insurance.

Yukon Supreme Court Justice Ron Veale told lawyers on Wednesday that Trevor's case cannot go on forever, so he's given all parties six weeks to sort out the situation.