Canada ends avalanche dog rescue programme in Banff National Park

Canada’s Parks Canada agency will cease its avalanche dog search and rescue programme in Banff National Park this month, ending the last remaining dog handler role.

The decision forms part of a broader C$145 million budget cut announced by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government, which also includes hundreds of staff redundancies at the agency.

Scott Ward, a 73‑year‑old retired dog handler who served for 17 years in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, said the programme had saved countless lives, locating lost children in summer and rescuing avalanche victims in winter.

Ward’s final canine, a German Shepherd called Leroy, was retired in August after tracking 156 people, finding 57 lost individuals and assisting in two murder investigations. A replacement dog had been trained but was never deployed.

The move has provoked public outrage, with more than 5,000 signatures on a petition launched by Conservative MP William Stevenson, who warned the cut could jeopardise public safety. Stevenson raised the issue in parliament, while Liberal parliamentary secretary for finance Ryan Turnball defended the spending reductions.

Parks Canada confirmed the “difficult decision” to eliminate the role, stating that search and rescue operations will continue through other means as part of modernising its law‑enforcement branch.

Source: BBC News. Photo: David McElwee / Pexels.