For years the solution has been simple — shoot the dogs that have outworn their usefulness. This approach worked well for Inuit villages plagued by packs of abandoned sled dogs that chronically raid garbage and occasionally attack humans and spread disease — but then a shocked ex-pat teacher from England joined the community and contacted Canada’s World Society for the Protection of Animals.

With the advent of the snowmobile, dogs no longer had a useful function and were left to their own resources, which led to a monthly round-up of the strays called "Dog-Shooting Day" in the small village of Kangirsuk. Now the town’s mayor is apologizing for the lack of a town veterinarian and is personally assisting in rounding up dogs for a more humane airlift to Montreal, where they are fed by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The cost of the airlifts is prohibitive, and both the locals and WSPA are looking for better alternatives. Other Inuit villages have not considered changing the shooting policies.

News compiled by Eric Hansen, Nate Hoogeveen, Jane Maguire, and Mary Catherine O'Connor of Outside magazine.