Okay. I'm going to play Devil's Advocate here.
Let's get a few things straight.
First of all, there was supposedly an effort made to adopt out the dogs. It failed, nobody wanted them.
And little wonder. Sled dogs do NOT make good pets. They are a couple of steps closer to wolves than most dogs, without some of the negative aspects of wolf character bred out of them. This would go double for ones raised in the pack environment of several sled teams. Even if they are taken into a family that knows how to treat them, they require a LOT of exercise, and food.....
Sled dogs would soon eat you into bankruptcy.......and had the owners spent ALL their money on the welfare of All the dogs, when the company went bankrupt, ALL the dogs would have been put down.
So, the choice is bye-bye all the dogs later, or some of the dogs sooner.
It comes down to method.
Killing animals you own is not illegal, (nor immoral) if it is done humanely. A shotgun blast to the brain pan at close range with a 12 ga., even loaded with heavy birdshot, would be instant death, like switching off a light. Now this should be done one at a time, away from the other dogs, by someone you has actually killed an animal before, and understands both the physiology of the animal, and the use of the weapon. It would be an exceptionally unpleasant task..........that's for sure.
So, where does the information come from ??? I mean, the details of the killings??? I haven't seen any of that in the news reports.
I suspect they come from the guy's compensation claim.
Need I say more???
BTW, we are currently having a problem with mice, which we poison. The poison causes their blood to thin to the point they bleed internally, are put into agony, and hopefully pull themselves out of the house in search of water before they die an excrutiating death.
Funny......no one is charging me.
I wonder how many of the people crazed over this subject use poison, or hire exterminators if they have a vermin problem?
Without a second thought.....