加拿大公园管理局悄然取消了一项始于20世纪70年代初的搜救犬项目。
Parks Canada has quietly axed a search and rescue dog program that dates back to the early 1970s.
“这是对游客安全和执法的一项非常重要的服务，”退休的加拿大公园管理局犬只训导员斯科特·沃德说，他担任护林员35年，1983年至2000年担任训导员。
“It’s a really big service to visitor safety and law enforcement,” said Scott Ward, a retired Parks Canada dog handler, who worked as a warden for 35 years and a handler from 1983 to 2000.
“每年都越来越忙。呼叫量在上升。现在的游客安全人员比我那个年代忙得多。”2001年至2019年在班夫国家公园担任犬只训导员的迈克·亨德森说，他理解省钱的必要性，但削减犬只项目可能会降低安全性。
“It’s getting busier every year. The calls are going up. The visitor safety people are way busier now than they were in my era.”Mike Henderson, a dog handler in Banff National Park from 2001-19, said he understands the need to save money, but cutting the canine program could reduce safety.
“你们削减的不是一个过时的项目。它有55年的成功记录，我们不断证明自己的价值。……我们从未躺在功劳簿上，也从未在任何时候花费过高，”亨德森说，他曾拥有三只犬——阿提拉、阿塔尔和卡兹——并参与了1000多次出勤。
“You’re cutting a piece that’s not obsolete. It’s got 55 years of success, and we keep on proving ourselves. … It’s not like we sat on our laurels or were hyper expensive at any time,” said Henderson, who had three dogs — Attila, Atar and Cazz — and was involved in more than 1,000 calls.
最后一只搜救犬勒鲁瓦于去年夏天退役，结束了七年的职业生涯。勒鲁瓦参与在荒野中寻找50多人，定位雪崩遇难者，搜寻山难遇难者遗体，协助打击偷猎，还是一位知名的公共关系形象大使。
The last search and rescue dog, Leroy, was retired last summer after a seven-year career. Leroy was involved in finding more than 50 people in the wilderness, located avalanche victims, recovered mountain fatalities, helped stop poaching and was a prominent public relations figure.
亨德森和沃德说，一只新犬只经过约两个半月的训练被纳入联邦服务体系，随即遭到裁撤。
Henderson and Ward said a new dog went through about two and a half months of training to be brought into federal service only to have it cut.
2025年联邦预算包括在三年内削减加拿大公园管理局1.45亿加元经费。
The 2025 federal budget included $145 million in cuts to Parks Canada over three years.
加拿大公园管理局发言人表示，将就为何削减犬只项目一事回复加拿大广播公司（CBC）新闻的提问，但在发稿前未给出答复。“为何现在要取消它？”该搜救项目于1970年获批，在贾斯珀国家公园启动。
A Parks Canada spokesperson said they would get back to CBC News on questions about why the dog program was cut, but didn’t provide an answer before publishing. 'Why'd we get rid of it now?' The search and rescue program was approved in 1970 and started in Jasper National Park.
它在山区国家公园被广泛用于野外救援、寻找失踪人员、支援当地警方、定位雪崩遇难者以及发现非法露营地。
It was highly used in the mountain national parks for backcountry rescues, to search for missing people, support local police, locate people who died in avalanches and find illegal campsites.
该项目一度发展到六只狗，但后来被逐步削减。贾斯珀野外队十多年前就停止使用犬只，仅剩班夫仍在使用。
The program grew to six dogs, but was slowly whittled down. The Jasper field unit stopped using dogs more than a decade ago, leaving only Banff.
西德·马蒂于1966年至1978年间在班夫、贾斯珀和约霍国家公园担任巡逻员。他说，他们曾与搜救犬及其训导员密切合作。
Sid Marty was a warden in Banff, Jasper and Yoho national parks from 1966-78. He said they worked closely with the search and rescue dog and its handler.
他说，这种狗能迅速找到被雪崩掩埋的人，有助于避免加拿大公园管理局的工作人员在漫长的搜救过程中遭遇后续雪崩。
He said the dog could quickly find people caught in avalanches, helping to avoid Parks Canada staff getting caught in subsequent avalanches during a lengthy search.
沃德说，他的狗——Data、Smokey和Gypsy——在寻找失踪人员方面发挥了关键作用，比如那些从营地走失的孩子。
Ward said his dogs — Data, Smokey and Gypsy — were critical in finding missing people, such as kids who wandered away from campsites.
他说，这些狗接受过搜寻人类气味的训练，“从草丛中像回形针那么小的气味到像人体那么大的气味”都能找到。亨德森强调，这些狗的作用远不止搜救。
He said they were trained to search for human scent “as small as a paperclip in the grass to as large as a human body.”Henderson emphasized the dogs went beyond search and rescue.
他说，它们的日常工作可能包括处理非法露营、响应心理健康求助电话、处理非法篝火、监控区域封闭情况、清除食物以避免野生动物养成依赖人类的习惯，以及监控偷猎行为。
He said their day-to-day could have them handling illegal camping, responding to mental health calls, dealing with illegal campfires, monitoring area closures, removing food to avoid wildlife becoming habituated to it, and monitoring for poaching.
“你可以让吵闹的露营者乖乖睡觉，”他说，“你开车过去，好好相劝，再让狗亮个相，所有人都会说：‘好吧，我们这就去睡。’”亨德森说，本应进行咨询，以更好地了解削减该项目会带来哪些损失。“为什么我们现在要取消它？这绝对需要有个说法，”亨德森说。
“You can put the rowdy campers to bed,” he said. “You roll in, ask nicely and light the dog up, and everyone says, ‘OK, we’re going to bed.’”Henderson said consultation should’ve taken place to get a better understanding of what would be lost by cutting the program.
被裁的不只是狗。加拿大公园管理局正在进行“劳动力调整”，最近通知了2917名员工——超过其员工总数的一半——他们可能被解雇或被调往其他岗位。加拿大公园管理局代理首席执行官安德鲁·坎贝尔在一封全体员工的电子邮件中表示，该联邦机构必须削减约500个全职岗位。
“Why'd we get rid of it now? It definitely needs to be spoken to,” Henderson said. Not only dogs getting the boot Parks Canada is undergoing a “workforce adjustment” and recently notified 2,917 employees — more than half of its staff — they could be fired or moved to different positions. Andrew Campbell, acting CEO of Parks Canada, said in an all-staff email the federal agency has to cut about 500 full-time jobs.
新计划的全面推行预计在2027年，坎贝尔说，他们允许人们自愿离职或退休，以减少被裁人数。
The full rollout of the new plan is anticipated in 2027, and Campbell said they’re allowing people to voluntarily leave or retire to reduce the number of people who are cut.
他在对员工的电话会议中表示：“加拿大公园管理局已经动用并将继续动用其掌握的一切手段，尽量减少非自愿离职。”
“Parks Canada has used, and will continue to use, every tool at its disposal to minimize involuntary departures,” he said in a call to staff.