The Canadian Kennel Club (CKC) has pulled the plug on Dogsincanada.com, Masthead has learned.

A source told Masthead Tuesday that all staff at Apex Publishing, a CKC subsidiary and publisher of Dogs in Canada, were let go without notice yesterday. Staff that answered the phone at CKC referred the matter to CKC communications manager Sonny Allinson, who could not be reached by phone or email for clarification Tuesday.

While the Dogs in Canada website was unvailable Tuesday morning, by the afternoon a message flashed across the screen reading, "We are having some technical difficulties at the moment, we will be back shortly."

It was announced in September that the December issue of the print magazine and the 2012 annual would be the last for the long-standing magazine, as no profit was expected in the long term. A statement on the CKC website at the time noted, "It is anticipated that the well-known Dogs in Canada brand will continue to have a strong web-based Canadian Kennel Club presence and continue to provide a major online information source for the fancy, as well as for the pet-owning public."