The Fan Hitch, the official publication of the Inuit Sled Dog International, is published 4 times a year.  It is available to those who do not have access to the world wide web by subscription for $4.50 USD/$8.00 CAD to cover the cost of printing and mailing.  U.S. subscription requests should be sent to Sue Hamilton, Editor, The Fan Hitch, 55 Town Line Road, Harwinton, CT  06791, USA.  Send Canadian and international requests to GeneviËve Montcombroux, P.O. Box 206, Inwood, Manitoba, ROC 1PO, Canada. * Contents of The Fan Hitch are protected by international copyright laws.  Neither photos, drawings nor text may be reproduced in any form without written consent.  Please forward these requests to the Editor at qimmiq@snet.net * The Fan Hitch welcomes for publication your letters, stories, comments and suggestions.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way..."   This is how Charles Dickens began his epoch novel, set in the maelstrom of the French Revolution.

Mark and I have been through Iqaluit only a half dozen times, stopping over for mere hours to nearly a week.  That hardly makes us authorities.  Nonetheless, from our first visit in 1994 to our most recent and longest stay just this past April, we have both seen and sensed change.  We always felt that Iqaluit was "different" from the smaller hamlets where we have spent proportionally more time.  Given it is bigger than those other places, we could expect the difference that mere size confers on a place. But every visit we have observed change in the years leading up to, then as the capital of, Nunavut Territory.  Whether it is the rise in population, the increase in automotive traffic, a desire to shed a former image for an upscale "city" one, a clash of two cultures or within one culture, with some wishing to embrace change as opposed to others longing for the old ways, I have observed more uneasiness and tension than a vibrance of optimism, 'two cities' struggling for an identity.

Given the circumstances of the shooting of Ken MacRury's dog Serius, and subsequently other sled dogs (see articles elsewhere in this Fan Hitch), I see what occurred as more than just the act of pulling the trigger and killing dogs.  Barely three months from Nunavut's decision to make the Canadian Inuit Dog the Territorial mammal, an announcement which we ISD enthusiasts found exhilarating news, the very symbol was spat upon, whether or not that was the shooters intention. What we thought heralded a bright future for the breed on May 1st of this year, is once again shrouded in uncertainty.

There is no disagreement that people and their pets must be safeguarded from dangerous dogs.  Good, sound and fairly applied laws for dog and non-dog owners alike must be in place to see to this. But I have been reminded by my Inuit friends of how valuable their dogs were in the pursuit of food and without a good team and great lead dog, human life was put in jeopardy.  Protecting humans from dogs and protecting humans with the help of dogs need not be mutually exclusive activities.  And the "two Iqaluits" need to find a way to make this happen.

It is my hope that maybe, just maybe, Serius and other working sled dogs will not have died in vain, that all the attention brought about by this ugliness will result in renewed effort to preserve the Canadian Inuit Dog.

Wishing you smooth ice and narrow leads.

Sue