The suspected shooting deaths of all 18 sled dogs in a Manley dog lot almost two weeks ago has angered many of the 75 residents in the musher-friendly community at the end of the Elliott Highway.

Alaska State Troopers are investigating the incident and have a suspect. But they have kept a muzzle on information surrounding the case, which occurred on April 8 in the remote enclave 160 miles northwest of Fairbanks.

Troopers never found any dead dogs, but there was evidence, in the form of blood splattered on dog houses and on the snow, that they had been shot. There are also several witnesses who heard shots in the vicinity on the morning of the alleged shooting.

"There's something fishy about the whole situation and we haven't figured it out yet," said Sgt. Robert Miller with troopers in Fairbanks. "We don't know where the dogs went."

The owner of the dogs, recreational musher Chuck Parker, reported the incident to troopers on April 10 but declined to talk to the News-Miner, saying that he wants to let troopers do their job.  "Until troopers get done with their investigation, I think it's in everybody's best interests out here for me not to comment," Parker said by phone last week.

The incident has been the talk of the town since it happened, however.  "Every conversation with everybody we run into is centered on this," said longtime resident Rick Gray, who along with his wife, Elaine, are two of several mushers who live in Manley. "For somebody to go into a guy's yard and execute his dogs while he's at work, that's abominable. "If I came home and found somebody in my yard executing my dogs, I'd be in jail."

As the town's most recognized mushing name and president of the Interior Dog Mushers Association in Manley, Joee Redington Jr. has fielded phone calls from mushers in Anchorage, Fairbanks and several Bush villages wondering what's happening.  "I've never heard of such a thing as long as I've been around dogs," said Redington, who has lived in Manley for more than 30 years.

"If somebody can just get mad and come over to your yard and get rid of your dogs, I don't think that sets a good example for anybody, whether you've got chickens, dogs or cows," he said.

Residents have a good idea who is responsible but neither Gray nor Redington would provide a name, instead preferring to leave it to troopers.  "You know how it is in these small towns," Redington said. "People don't want to say."

Both Redington and Gray said Parker was in the process of moving his dogs because a neighbor had complained about their barking.  Gray visited Parker on the day the dogs disappeared and described him as "dazed and confused."  "He doesn't have a wife or any kids, those were the things in life that depend on him," Gray said of Parker's dogs. "He enjoyed coming home to them because that's all he had."

The unresolved status of the case, though, has created tension in the end-of-the-road community that is best known for its hot springs.

"I've had people mention to me they locked their door for the first time in 20 years because of this," Gray said. "That bothers me."

Troopers were in Manley asking more questions and Gray is hoping they come up with some answers.  "We want to see their interest pursuing this until something is done," he said. "We don't want this to fizzle out."

Update  6/1/05:  Alaska State Troopers recovered evidence over the weekend they said may help them track down who is responsible for the shooting deaths of 18 sled dogs in the village of Manley almost two months ago.

"We served a search warrant on a suspect, and we're waiting on lab results from evidence we obtained," said Trooper Mike Potter, who is working the case. "Hopefully, we'll be able to make some connections."

Troopers seized a rifle, ammunition and some dog hair from the suspect's home. Potter declined to identify the suspect until charges are filed, if they are.

Troopers found the dogs April 25, more than two weeks later. The dogs were apparently tossed over a steep embankment on Tofty Road, a 15-mile dirt mining road just outside Manley, Potter said.

All 18 dogs were shot, most of them in the head or neck, he said. Troopers did recover a bullet from one of the dogs to check if the caliber matches the rifle seized.

Parker was reportedly in the process of moving his dogs because of tensions with a neighbor concerning noise from barking. Troopers declined to say whether the neighbor was the suspect in question.

Potter said he isn't sure when troopers will get any results back from the state crime lab in Anchorage.  "It could take a while," he said.

Reference:

Anchorage Daily News