Cougar suspected
in attack on dog

KERRIE REAY thinks her
dog was aitacked by a 100-
pound cougar and she wants
her neighbours to know
about it.

Walker — Reay’s 100
pound Husky - Malamute
cross — was out in the yard
around 10 a.m, Thanksgiv-
ing morning when he darted
off, toward a rocky septic
field just behind Reay’s
Deep Creek home,

. Reay says she went in-
side to take a shower and
when she finished, the dog
was back - bloody, afraid
and riddled with 14 tooth
and claw marks on his groin
and neck area.

With her other dog
“Mister” cowering in the
woods, Reay knew some-
thing was wrong,

She called a vet, who
stilched up Walker’s neck
and put him under observa-
' tion for three days until his
wounds stopped bleeding.

She also had a local hun-
ter friend check out fist-
sized paw prints left behind
in the sand of the septic
field.

“I's a clear print in the
sand,” she said,

But, not having seen the
cougar herself Reay called
in local conservation offi-
cers to see what they could
do.

“We don't want to in-
voke panic and field a
bunch of complaints,” said
Terrace officer Bob But-
cher. “We have to monitor
the situation to see if it hap-
pens again,”

Butcher said the office
here receives one or two
cougar complaints a year ~
all of them unconfirmed,

And while he said cou-

Healthy
tourist
numbers

IT MAY have rained this

summer and the economy .

may not be the best, but
you wouldn't know il by
looking at the number of
people who stopped at the
touris! infocentre on the
highway.

The infocentre recorded
4,808 parties made up of
- 8,397 people stopping from

May to August this year
compared to 4,903 parties
and 8,213 people for the
same period in 1998.

In August alone, 1,334

parties stopped made up of

. 2,490 people, That's on par
with August 1998 when
1,494 parties made up of
2,497 people.

Tourism counsellors no-
ticed an increase in the
number of European visit-
ors to the area this year,

And tourists were still
stopping by in September,
says Rana Nelson who
works for the Terrace
Tourism Council.

“Lats of Germans," said
Nelson, ~“And not all are
here for fishing. Some are

"here just touring."

She suspecis a visit
here last fall by a group of
German tourism operators

- could be a reason for the
increase in the number of
visitors from that country.

LUCKY TO BE ALIVE: Walker, a Husky- -Malamute
cross shows off stitches on his neck after a possible
cougar attack Thanksgiving Sunday.

gar attacks here are definite-
ly possible, the elusive cats
with long tails seem to dis-
appear aiter each initial
sighting, leaving officers
unsure how to treat the si-
tuation.

Butcher added Deep

Creek is known for its bears:

and wolves — both of which
have been known to attack
dogs.

Cougars, he said, usually
fear dogs to the point that
dogs are used by conserva-
tion officers in more popu-
lated areas to chase and tree
the animals.

But if Reay’s dog cor-
hered a cougar the cat may
have reacted defensively to

escape, said Butcher.

Reay says she under-
stands conservation officers
are busy with bears at this
lime of year and decided to
to tell neighbourhood par-
ents and dog owners herself
of a possibie attack,

“[ thought if I were a
parent; ?'d want to know,”
she said,

She also noticed 12
school children waiting on
Kalum Lake Drive every
morning just a couple hours
earlier than Walker’s day-
light attack .

“Even if we're wrong
and it wasn’t a cougar -—
parents should know.”

“KERMODE!
IRA Psse .

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The Terrace Standard, Wednesclay, October 20, 1999 - A7

For

ACTIVE

LEADERSHIP

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TERRACE RCMP VICTIM SERVICES

Terrace Victim Assistance Program (TVAP} is
presently accepting applications fram people
interested in becoming a Victim Service Worker.

VICTIM SERVICE WORKERS will deal directly with
Victims of Crime, providing emotional support,
referrals and information pertaining to files,

Highly motivated Men and Women who are 19 years
and older and possess strong interpersonal skills are
encouraged to apply.

LINDA HAWES
FOR

MAYOR

November 20, 1999

All applicants must be able to undergo an extensive
security scresning,.

Interested applicants should contact Jan or Sherry, at
638-7411 or pick up an application package al.the
Terrace RCMP detachment.

Deadline for applications November 1, 1999. Paid for by tha committee to elect Linda Hawes.

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——

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