NOTE: This post contains graphic pictures of injuries the result of a vicious dog attack on sheep. If you are at all squeamish, do not scroll down. If you can handle it and have dogs you think are cute when they chase other people's livestock....read and see what happens when stupid people own dogs.
The past few days have been difficult. Last weekend the neighbor's Shiba Inu/German Shepherd mix dog breached the fence and attacked our sheep.
The first night (Thursday) the sheep were chased around. The land owner called me late in the evening to come out and check on one of my clun's that was down. When I arrived she was up and moving about, thankfully.
At this time I had no idea what caused the ruckus, fearing it was coyote's I prayed the llama would be able to protect them.
The next morning the land owner found the neighbor's dog in the small pasture, chasing the sheep. He went after her with a log and by the time he went back for his shotgun she was back over the fence.
Unfortunately one of Monique's katahdins was injured. The dog got her by the leg.
Being that we just got done treating my ewe Maimie for a bite wound, we were prepared. Monique arranged for a prescription of antibiotics to be waiting for me at our local vet and we started treatment.
That afternoon I made a visit to the neighbor's house. To make a long story short, she was being evicted. She didnt think her dog would hurt sheep, since it often chases the other neighbors goats, and really enjoyed it. I told her it was doubtful the goats found it enjoyable. Regardless I had chased her dog away from our fence-line a few times through the summer and knew that dog had the potential to injure my sheep. At the time I had spoken to the woman clearing the pasture and told her my concerns. She promised me the dog would stay confined and away from the sheep.
The lady who owned the dog was full of excuses and blame for everyone else, no accountability. Since she was being evicted and her mother was dying of cancer she was so very sorry and felt terrible....blah blah blah.
I explained to her that the dog had the potential to kill and stressed in no uncertain terms that she needed to keep her dog safe and restrained. If the dog was seen on our side of the fence again, our state laws allow us to shoot the dog. She promised me she would keep the dog tied up.
She didn't.
The next morning the dog got into the pasture...again. This time her intent was to kill. Monique found the damage when she arrived, likely just in time. The sheep were all panting, fences were down and the llama was frantic.
Monique found this. The dog viciously took down one of my new ewe lambs by the neck.
We spent the day waiting for the vet to come. We wanted to give the lamb a fighting chance. If she could survive she deserved the opportunity to live. She did not ask to be attacked in this manner by a dog. The only dogs she had known in her short life were good to her. She was still curious about them and would turn and look at them, which, I believe made her an easy target.
After the vet arrived, he shaved her neck. The wound was devastating. The teeth had punctured her trachea, air was flowing through the wound in her neck. The vet believed she had a chance and we decided to give it our best shot.
Below you can see a picture shot the day following the attack. Hot compresses, antibiotics and pain relievers on board.
The days following, she was improving. I would find her standing in front of the water drinking and attempting to eat. We decided to enclose the both of the them to make treatments easier and reduce their activity.
Over the past 24 hours she has declined. Today she stopped drinking. She has not been chewing cud, only gritting her teeth. I found green coming from the wound in her neck, I believe her esophagus was also punctured - which is not a recoverable wound.
Today discouraged me. I decided to turn her out with her mother and twin. She simply went to the side of the pasture and stood alone. We put her back into the enclosure, this time with her twin as the katahdin was well enough to be released.
We will see what tomorrow brings.
The neighbor and her f*cking dog were evicted and have left the house next door. Hopefully to never be seen again. I have her forwarding address and contact information and plan on pursuing her for damages. Although I am not sure it is even worth it, she is on disability (psychiatric), might be like getting blood from a stone.
I have never wanted to kill a dog before, but it crossed my mind when I saw the carnage she left behind. But the truly guilty party, was her owner.
Alas there is not cure for stupid.
The past few days have been difficult. Last weekend the neighbor's Shiba Inu/German Shepherd mix dog breached the fence and attacked our sheep.
The first night (Thursday) the sheep were chased around. The land owner called me late in the evening to come out and check on one of my clun's that was down. When I arrived she was up and moving about, thankfully.
At this time I had no idea what caused the ruckus, fearing it was coyote's I prayed the llama would be able to protect them.
The next morning the land owner found the neighbor's dog in the small pasture, chasing the sheep. He went after her with a log and by the time he went back for his shotgun she was back over the fence.
Unfortunately one of Monique's katahdins was injured. The dog got her by the leg.
Being that we just got done treating my ewe Maimie for a bite wound, we were prepared. Monique arranged for a prescription of antibiotics to be waiting for me at our local vet and we started treatment.
That afternoon I made a visit to the neighbor's house. To make a long story short, she was being evicted. She didnt think her dog would hurt sheep, since it often chases the other neighbors goats, and really enjoyed it. I told her it was doubtful the goats found it enjoyable. Regardless I had chased her dog away from our fence-line a few times through the summer and knew that dog had the potential to injure my sheep. At the time I had spoken to the woman clearing the pasture and told her my concerns. She promised me the dog would stay confined and away from the sheep.
The lady who owned the dog was full of excuses and blame for everyone else, no accountability. Since she was being evicted and her mother was dying of cancer she was so very sorry and felt terrible....blah blah blah.
I explained to her that the dog had the potential to kill and stressed in no uncertain terms that she needed to keep her dog safe and restrained. If the dog was seen on our side of the fence again, our state laws allow us to shoot the dog. She promised me she would keep the dog tied up.
She didn't.
The next morning the dog got into the pasture...again. This time her intent was to kill. Monique found the damage when she arrived, likely just in time. The sheep were all panting, fences were down and the llama was frantic.
Monique found this. The dog viciously took down one of my new ewe lambs by the neck.
We spent the day waiting for the vet to come. We wanted to give the lamb a fighting chance. If she could survive she deserved the opportunity to live. She did not ask to be attacked in this manner by a dog. The only dogs she had known in her short life were good to her. She was still curious about them and would turn and look at them, which, I believe made her an easy target.
After the vet arrived, he shaved her neck. The wound was devastating. The teeth had punctured her trachea, air was flowing through the wound in her neck. The vet believed she had a chance and we decided to give it our best shot.
Below you can see a picture shot the day following the attack. Hot compresses, antibiotics and pain relievers on board.
The days following, she was improving. I would find her standing in front of the water drinking and attempting to eat. We decided to enclose the both of the them to make treatments easier and reduce their activity.
Over the past 24 hours she has declined. Today she stopped drinking. She has not been chewing cud, only gritting her teeth. I found green coming from the wound in her neck, I believe her esophagus was also punctured - which is not a recoverable wound.
Today discouraged me. I decided to turn her out with her mother and twin. She simply went to the side of the pasture and stood alone. We put her back into the enclosure, this time with her twin as the katahdin was well enough to be released.
We will see what tomorrow brings.
The neighbor and her f*cking dog were evicted and have left the house next door. Hopefully to never be seen again. I have her forwarding address and contact information and plan on pursuing her for damages. Although I am not sure it is even worth it, she is on disability (psychiatric), might be like getting blood from a stone.
I have never wanted to kill a dog before, but it crossed my mind when I saw the carnage she left behind. But the truly guilty party, was her owner.
Alas there is not cure for stupid.
13 comments:
Man, that is awful. My dogs once ran into a field of sheep (we were out on a walk in the woods, didn't remember there being sheep pasture anywhere near there, and my mom's dog took off after them, leading my two away with her). One I managed to call off right away, leash up, and hand to the person with me. The other two I immediately chased down and caught, then untangled a sheep caught in the fence.
When we got home I called the owners of the sheep, who went down to check on them (none were bit, and the one in the fence had been scared, not hurt). I would have been heartbroken had my dog been shot in this situation, but I also know that it would have been the landowner's right to do so.
My mom ended up finding a new home for her dog after she slipped the fence another time and went after the neighbor's sheep. She wanted to chase, not bite or kill, but you can't have a livestock chasing dog in the country and expect it to last long. (Lola is now the pampered pet of a city dweller who is retired and spends all day with her beloved dog, so best ending for everyone).
Hope you end up with a good ending with your sheep.
I grew up on a farm down the road from a lady that trialed BC's and raised show sheep. For a while she battled a pack of wild dogs that tore off ears and made her show sheep un-showable as well as killing them. She went to six strand, knock you on your ass, electric fence that finally ended the carnage.
Very sad when animals are senselessly hurt!
Did that dog get in with your breeding ewes? If so, be prepared for less lambs in spring. I would keep a running tally of the costs you have incurred. I feel very bad for your sheep.
Awful. Glad to hear the dog is gone, at least.
Oh, my goodness - that's just awful. So sorry for the poor sheep and lamb. Sorry for the dog, frankly, too - as you said, the real blame rests at the feet of the human, who is supposed to know better.
It seems to be happening more often. 2 months ago I had 3 pregnant ewes and my ram killed by a person who lives 2 miles away that "lets her dogs out to play". Who wants to play with 2 full grown Rotts? My sheep didn't
I made her pay but she still doesn't understand what her dogs did and the threat that they are. The last thing she said to me was "they learned a lesson and understand that when they are let out they can't come back to your house".
I'm so sorry for your sheep!
This is absolutely horrible. And as a dog owner is makes me so made when people are not responsible. I just don't understand some people. And it is so horrible that an animal was attacked and hurt like that. I will keep my fingers crossed for a good ending with your sheep.
@Kelpie and Collie - yes the dog chased the whole group including the breeding ewes. I am hoping they will still settle but worried they won't :( The one with the leg wound was about 1 month bred so I am assuming she will not lamb :(
@sclmarm - yep, we have 7 strand electric on about 2/3 of the perimeter, the rest is field fence topped with barbed wire. The dog was jumping clean over the top, or digging under the field fence. It broke the electric wire during the second attack. Hopefully we are all done with this :(
I hope your sheep make it thru...we had a similar problem but never knew exactly what was causing the problem (or more than one predator). We had several sheep badly injured over a period of time, but pulled most of them thru even though they looked really bad. Sheep can be really resilient if they want to be. Some of the worst looking ones healed up and a few months later you could not even tell where they had been attacked - even when freshly shorn. It's an old horseman's remedy -- but we used a lot of scarlet oil on them among other things. Hoping for the best for you...
one thing I might suggest, being that the sheep are at someone's farm, is putting bells on a few of them. If the landowner hears bells clanging, that's a good heads up.
Glad to see on Monique's blog that the lamb had made it through another day (yesterday). Hope she is still around and doing a bit better today.
Gotta say, sure don't think much of your animal control:(
The whole thing really sucks though.
Considering a LGD?
All the best to you and your sheep.
I lost a horse to a dog bite - shredded his tendon so badly there wasn't enough left to surgically attach. The vet recommended putting him down as he'd just break the leg with nothing left to hold the joints together. He was irreplaceable.
Best wishes.
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