Redsonic Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 How Sad Article Here Trekker Marco Lavoie eats his beloved pet dog to survive days after it saved him from bear attack NOVEMBER 03, 2013 A man was forced to eat his beloved german shepherd after being trapped in the Canadian wilderness. Source: AFP A TREKKER who was stranded in a remote region of Canada killed and ate his beloved German Shepherd just days after the dog had saved him from a bear. Marc Lavoie’s three-month climbing trip in the Canadian outback turned to disaster when a bear attacked his camp on the banks of the Nottaway River, around 800km northwest of Montreal. Mr Lavoie escaped with his life when his German shepherd chased it away - but not before the bear had destroyed his canoe and food supply. Risking starvation Mr Lavoie made the heart-breaking decision to kill the dog just a few days later. He hit the animal with a rock and ate its meat. Mr Lavoie was rescued this week after three months in the deep wilderness. By the time he was airlifted out the outdoorsman was suffering from hypothermia and dehydration and had lost about 40 kilograms, the Toronto Sun reported. Survival experts said the decision to kill the dog may have saved his life. "He survived because he made good decisions. Eating his dog was one of them," Andre Francois Bourbeau, a survival expert, told the paper. Even so, locals said they had warned the outdoorsman against trekking the river alone. Andre Diamond, a Waswanipi Cree who lives on an island at the mouth of the river, said: “He said it didn't scare him, but it's not a river to travel alone. Other adventurers have gone there over 20, 30 years and never came back.” The Nottaway River is a notoriously dangerous place to travel with temperatures dropping below freezing, and potentially deadly currents. Mr Lavoie is in hospital in a serious condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 The dog saved him twice ..... what a horrible position to be in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Her Majesty Dogmad Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 I don't think he should ever have taken the dog with him in the first place, if you know these areas you'd also know they are full of bears and food attracts them. Poor dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 Gawd, I'd rather die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Her Majesty Dogmad Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 Gawd, I'd rather die. and so would I, he obviously didn't have all the skills he needed to be out in that environment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 To be honest I get quite p*ssed off at people who have to trek in the wilderness or climb ridiculous summits unprepared to just get lost and cost tax payers thousands in rescue. If you aren't prepared and don't know what you're doing, give it a miss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Gifts Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 To be honest I get quite p*ssed off at people who have to trek in the wilderness or climb ridiculous summits unprepared to just get lost and cost tax payers thousands in rescue. If you aren't prepared and don't know what you're doing, give it a miss. It is clear he wasn't prepared. He had no back up plan in the event he lost his canoe and/or food and/or hunting/protection equipment. With just that one event he lost everything and he almost lost himself too. It's unnessecary. Even Grizzly Adams needed some buddies out there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Maeby Fünke Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 (edited) To be honest I get quite p*ssed off at people who have to trek in the wilderness or climb ridiculous summits unprepared to just get lost and cost tax payers thousands in rescue. If you aren't prepared and don't know what you're doing, give it a miss. I was about to say the same thing... Do you remember that guy who got lost in Alaska and starved to death? His name was Christopher McCandless and a film was made about it. It's called Into the Wild and it was directed by Sean Penn, who had a kind of obsession with the story. There are some interesting articles about it in the references section. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_McCandless Edited November 3, 2013 by Maeby Fünke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjelkier Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 To be honest I get quite p*ssed off at people who have to trek in the wilderness or climb ridiculous summits unprepared to just get lost and cost tax payers thousands in rescue. If you aren't prepared and don't know what you're doing, give it a miss. Totally agree. What, he couldn't catch fish? Set a snare for rabbits? Eat moss or berries? I wouldn't have killed the dog. I should rephrase, I couldn't kill my dog in that situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjelkier Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 To be honest I get quite p*ssed off at people who have to trek in the wilderness or climb ridiculous summits unprepared to just get lost and cost tax payers thousands in rescue. If you aren't prepared and don't know what you're doing, give it a miss. I was about to say the same thing... Do you remember that guy who got lost in Alaska and starved to death? His name was Christopher McCandless and a film was made about it. It's called Into the Wild and it was directed by Sean Penn, who had a kind of obsession with the story. There are some interesting articles about it in the references section. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_McCandless I read that book and got so angry while reading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph M Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 To be honest I get quite p*ssed off at people who have to trek in the wilderness or climb ridiculous summits unprepared to just get lost and cost tax payers thousands in rescue. If you aren't prepared and don't know what you're doing, give it a miss. I was about to say the same thing... Do you remember that guy who got lost in Alaska and starved to death? His name was Christopher McCandless and a film was made about it. It's called Into the Wild and it was directed by Sean Penn, who had a kind of obsession with the story. There are some interesting articles about it in the references section. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_McCandless I read that book and got so angry while reading it. It was a huge wank, what a pretentious little snot.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjelkier Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 To be honest I get quite p*ssed off at people who have to trek in the wilderness or climb ridiculous summits unprepared to just get lost and cost tax payers thousands in rescue. If you aren't prepared and don't know what you're doing, give it a miss. I was about to say the same thing... Do you remember that guy who got lost in Alaska and starved to death? His name was Christopher McCandless and a film was made about it. It's called Into the Wild and it was directed by Sean Penn, who had a kind of obsession with the story. There are some interesting articles about it in the references section. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_McCandless I read that book and got so angry while reading it. It was a huge wank, what a pretentious little snot.... My thoughts exactly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Maeby Fünke Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 Yes, the film annoyed the hell out of me and I think less of Sean Penn because of it. I was swearing at the TV by the end. The best articles are written by two Alaskans... One is a park ranger and the other is a journalist. http://nmge.gmu.edu/textandcommunity/2006/Peter_Christian_Response.pdf http://web.archive.org/web/20040328080406/http://www.pitt.edu/~nidus/archives/spring2003/manmadecold.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph M Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 Yes, the film annoyed the hell out of me and I think less of Sean Penn because of it. I was swearing at the TV by the end. Same. Hahaha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9angel Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 Poor dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mixeduppup Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 I couldn't imagine being in that situation. Poor man and poor dog. the whole situation is terrible. No blame cast. I wasn't there and I don't know what went down. Just all around sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tazar Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 No Sorry no way could I kill one of my dogs, let alone eat it. Call me an idiot but I would rather die with my dog. Although I would not be dumb enough to get myself into the situation this fool did..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Gifts Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 To be honest I get quite p*ssed off at people who have to trek in the wilderness or climb ridiculous summits unprepared to just get lost and cost tax payers thousands in rescue. If you aren't prepared and don't know what you're doing, give it a miss. Totally agree. What, he couldn't catch fish? Set a snare for rabbits? Eat moss or berries? I wouldn't have killed the dog. I should rephrase, I couldn't kill my dog in that situation. This is why I think he was unprepared. Even with the loss of tools from the bear attack, to be able to survive in an emergency situation he could've at least taken a bloody boy scout manual on how to improvise or watched a few Bear Grylls DVDs before he left home! The attack happened early in his trip and because he was overdue home his family raised the alarm, so he was in that predicament for months, not just a couple of weeks. It took the searchers 8 days to find him and he was nearly dead. Why did he not try to get back to civilisation earlier under his own steam? I also hate to say it but I suspect he took his dog for protection as well as company and I'm not sure that is fair on the dog. And if the bear wrecked the camp what was he going to feed the dog if he couldn't even feed himself? I hope the guy has a lot of regrets and never again attempts something so foolish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiecuddles Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 Seems odd to me too that he didn't cut his losses and head back earlier, sounds like he had something to prove and didn't want to admit he'd screwed up. I got lost in the bush once for an afternoon, I was literally within 30 minutes of calling emergency services when I got a lucky break that got me out of trouble, I had my dog with me and I was glad I did because I felt there was a reasonable chance I would need her warmth if I was stuck there overnight. I didn't go in unprepared for what my original plan had been and had water, a rain jacket and some muesli bars in my backpack which I always carry as standard, but I'd only been taking the dog for a walk and took a wrong turn. I'm experienced in the bush and knew what to do to look after myself but I screwed up and got myself turned around. There's nothing wrong with screwing up, what's wrong is having a way out and not being willing to admit that you need to pull out and wasting peoples time and money as a result when they have to rescue you too late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Maeby Fünke Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 Here is a link to the story as it appears in the Toronto Sun. There is a photo of the hiker as well as some amusing comments in the readers' comments section. http://www.torontosun.com/2013/11/01/man-apparently-ate-his-dog-to-stay-alive-in-quebec-woods Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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