The Yukon government wants Shelley Cuthbert and 50 dogs in her care removed from territorial land off the Atlin Road near Tarfu Lake.

The territorial Department of Energy, Mines and Resources (EMR) is petitioning the territory’s Supreme Court to make that order.

The petition, filed Tuesday, includes an affidavit from natural resource officer Jason Colbert.

Colbert states on Aug. 6 Brenda Spoule, a manager of land use with EMR, received a complaint from the area.

Colbert investigated the forested area 1.2 km from the Atlin Road on Aug. 7, finding part of the area fenced off.

He did not want to cross the fence, saying there were several dogs present – some demonstrated aggressive behaviour. Some were at large, while others were in pens.

“I didn’t want to enter the fenced areas on account of concerns for my personal safety,” Colbert said in the affidavit.

He left a note instructing whoever was staying there to contact him.

Two days later, on Aug. 9, Colbert, animal protection officer Jay Lester and conservation officer Adam Henderson performed a joint inspection of the site. They were unable to determine how many dogs were there. Colbert explained this was due to safety concerns.

He observed that his note had been removed.

Colbert visited the site again on Aug. 15. Nobody was present during the 6:30 p.m. and 8:10 p.m. visits.

He left a business card and returned on Aug. 17 to again find nobody there. He left another card.

There was another visit on Aug. 22. He found a man present, identified as Tyler Lamire, who stated he was looking after the dogs while Cuthbert was away.

Lamire could not say who all the dogs belonged to. Colbert gave him a card and instructed him to have Cuthbert call him. Lamire said he would.

On Aug. 24, Colbert posted a letter from Spoule at two locations in the area. This letter was demanding that the occupant of the land contact Spoule. Colbert installed a motion detected camera nearby.

On Aug. 28, the camera captured photos of Cuthbert removing the two letters. Colbert explained, in the affidavit, that he recognized Cuthbert because of photos that had appeared in the media.

Lester called Colbert the next day to inform him that he had communicated with Cuthbert through email. He stated she informed him that she was using the site, was responsible for the dogs and was there “for the long haul.”

Later that day, Colbert, Lester and Jason Hudson, the department’s head of enforcement, met Cuthbert at the site and toured the area.

Colbert observed six dog enclosures of various sizes. There were approximately 50 dogs. One was tethered at the entrance of the site.

He reports to have been told the dog had been placed there to deter people from entering.

Cuthbert had set up four tents. Two were used for storage, one was used to store dog food and she was living in the fourth.

Colbert saw four dogs at large. He said Cuthbert called them feral because she could not catch them. He figured they were in her care but had gotten loose.

He took a recorded statement from Cuthbert in which she was reported to have stated:

• she was there for over a couple of weeks;

• she was the only person there;

• she stays there every night;

• she had accidentally cleared four trees; and

• she no longer has a permanent residence in the territory.

Colbert clarified that be believed cleared trees meant they had taken a hit from her vehicle.

He described fencing as wire attached to the trees. Haywire and pallets were present to prevent the dogs from digging.

Colbert returned to the site on Sept. 11 to hand-deliver a letter. It was from Colin McDowell, the director of the land management branch, demanding that Cuthbert vacate the area by Sept. 26.

During this meeting, he reported that she told him she wanted to bring a trailer and a bus for better shelter for her and the dogs.

On Sept. 21, McDowell received a response letter, which was included in the affidavit.

Cuthbert reported that by law, she could camp in an undesignated area for up to 400 days. She said she was looking for a more suitable location in the meantime.

Colbert returned Sept. 27 and noticed Cuthbert’s footprint in the area had expanded. There was a new wall tent and a new dog enclosure that included a dog run. He noticed a large water tank.

He said Cuthbert told him she is planning to stay over the winter, and had a stove as a heat source.

Colbert handed her another letter ordering her to leave the site.

He reported that every time he visited the area, the dogs would bark loudly once they noticed him. The barking would diminish only if Cuthbert was present, he said.

“The barking was loud enough that it was difficult to carry a conversation when standing outside the fenced areas on the site,” Colbert said.

Noise was not the only concern he reported. He said there was a strong odor of dog feces and urine on or near the site every time he visited.

If the petition is successful, Cuthbert would have to remove herself, all the dogs and any personal belongings from the property. She would also have to leave the land in the same condition in which she found it.

Her footprint in the area is estimated to exceed 200 metres by 50 metres. The land in question is under the control of the Territorial Lands (Yukon) Act.

The petition notes that the government has never authorized Cuthbert to use the land.

The department argues that this has caused interference with the public use of land that should be vacant.

Cuthbert relocated to the area earlier this year after she lost a lawsuit and appeal with her neighbours in Tagish, where she had operated a kennel. She was ordered to have no more than two dogs on her Tagish property.

For a period, she would not follow that order, which spurred an application to hold her in civil contempt of court.

Following the start of that application, she removed the dogs from the Tagish property, and the contempt application was withdrawn.

Cuthbert has launched a $1-million lawsuit against her former neighbours, Stefan and Ursula Angerer, Leopold and Edeltraud Selinger, Gerry McGraw, Stefan Landfried, Emerald Gillespie, Anne Middler and Lisa Gallant.

The suit has yet to proceed.