The Environmental Benefits of Dog Sledding
There are certainly environmental advantages to eschewing motorized transport and opting for self-powered or animal-powered means of transportation. The carbon cost of travelling by skidoo or snowmobile is obviously higher, due to the burning of fossil fuels.
Dog sledding also has a far less damaging impact on the pristine snow-clad environments that you have travelled to see. A well-managed dog sledding operation can give sustainable travellers access to beautiful settings without polluting those environments.
Quietly gliding across the landscape will also have less negative impact on the wildlife that calls the area home. Loud motors can disrupt the breeding cycles of a range of species, force them to flee traditional feeding grounds, or lead them to go to ground when they need to be out hunting or feeding.
Some might say that it would be better for people not to visit such pristine natural environments at all. Certainly, there are arguments to suggest that access should be strictly regulated and controlled. But there are also benefits to allowing people to access the natural wonders of this planet we call home. The more people can see for themselves the beauty and fragility of nature, the more they will love it and the more inclined they will be to protect it.
Winterdance Dogsledding Haliburton, Ontario
We took a tour of their kennels and unlike our experience in Greenland, here in Haliburton we felt uplifted. Hank and Tanya have a team of employees working with them to take care of their dogs and give them the love and care they need.
As Hank said “everyone who works for Winterdance stays for a long time.” It’s hard work and you have to love dogs so when people do join their team, they are like family”
We could easily see that their employees felt like family. The day we arrived, people were over at the kennel shovelling snow off the roof with smiles on their faces. One girl said to us “There’s no place I’d rather be today.”
They heard we were going out on an overnight run with Hank and everyone offered up their services to lead the way on the snowmobile to keep an eye out for angry moose. Even after a full day of work, they were eager to get out on the trails again.
When we entered the kennels we were thrilled to see that each dog had spacious kennels and comfort. They are fed only the best food and they are let out daily to roam freely in the huge yard. A dog in the city would die for this attention and running space!
The dogs are rotated when working to make sure that they have plenty of rest. They have days off but when another group of dogs gets to run without them, they are not happy. We learned that these dogs love to run!
Expert Q&ASearch
Advertisement