Dog Killings in Idaho.

[toad]

It is up to 30 dogs now. WTF?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/ ... 7D20130411

[PawPaw]

That is strange. Somewhere, some poor detective is scratching his head.

[Netpackrat]

Trostel said pet owners in the area are in a state of "constant concern". He said residents were being urged to report any stalking or disappearance of pets and to prevent their dogs from roaming.

Is this not already the law in Idaho? One of the reasons I dislike dogs as much as I do, is that the local leash law where I grew up was seldom enforced, thus the need for always carrying a big stick or similar in the neighborhood.

[toad]

Serial killer in training, Ayup.
In the not too distant past farmers/ranchers would periodicaly get to together and hunt down feral dog packs when they got dangerous. People had a habit of dumping their unwanted animals in the countryside and the animals that survived would form packs.
This is not the case though because everybody would know about cleaning out the packs and they didn't beat the dogs. They'd just shoot them.

[Termite]

People had a habit of dumping their unwanted animals in the countryside......

Years ago Pawpaw broke a fellow from dumping dogs out by his house. Maybe he'll tell the story. It's funny.

[toad]

It is not practical to leash most farm/ranch working dogs. IIRC they have sheep in Southern Idaho so they have both herding dogs and probably some flocks will have protection dogs that live full time with the flock. Then there are various kinds of "working" ranch/farm dogs that are off leash also.
The cities and towns will have leash laws and severe dangerous animal laws.

[Aglifter]

None of our ranch dogs were leashed - but they would have been killed, in most circumstances, if they got out - feral dogs are a serious danger in areas with livestock. (My cousins have lost 6 foals, a mare and several calves this year to some kind of really large coyote dog hybrid which has moved in.)

But, that does sound like someone who needs to be put in a box, whether padded or otherwise.

[arctictom]

None of our ranch dogs were leashed - but they would have been killed, in most circumstances, if they got out - feral dogs are a serious danger in areas with livestock. (My cousins have lost 6 foals, a mare and several calves this year to some kind of really large coyote dog hybrid which has moved in.)

But, that does sound like someone who needs to be put in a box, whether padded or otherwise.

Yup, we used to have a shoot loose dogs on sight philosophy here, after 2 children were killed by loose dogs. Now its call the animal control folks , loose dogs are still a potential hazard to sled dog teams ( when chained up in their yard ) and can and will eat other dogs.
This sounds like a serious problem building.

[Netpackrat]

That makes sense. I've got no problem with trained, working dogs running loose doing the job they are bred and trained to do. That's not generally a common thing in AK. Mostly it's people letting their minimally trained pets run free. The only type of working dog we really have up here in quantity are sled dogs, and as arctictom noted, they are generally kept chained and/or penned up.

But yeah, this doesn't sound like the work of the Committee of Concerned Citizens Against Stray Dogs; it sounds like the work of a nut.

[PawPaw]

Years ago Pawpaw broke a fellow from dumping dogs out by his house. Maybe he'll tell the story. It's funny.

Well, since you asked. Back about '83 or '84 it became Father's Day and my kids presented me with a set of binoculars. Nothing expensive, but yet binocs. We lived way out in the country, so far down a bad road that all the neighbors knew each other's vehicles and we had a pretty good "nosy-neighbor neighborhood watch". We also had a problem with city folks dumping unwanted dogs in our area. We mostly adopted the good ones and buried the others. However, it was a problem.

Anyway, that beautiful Sunday afternoon, I'm sitting on the front porch, playing with my new binocs and I notice a strange car driving slowly down the road. He passes the house and goes down the road about 100 yards, then stops and a dog falls out of the passenger side. I get his plate with my brand-new binocs. Then I walk inside and call the Sheriff's Office, where my buddy is working the desk. He runs the plate for me. Cool. Now I've got a vehicle description and an address.

I go outside, catch the dog and put him in the kennel. Water him, a little feed. Poor mutt's confused as hell. But PawPaw has a plan.

The next morning I get up and load that confused mutt, then head to the local dog pound, run by a curmudgeonly woman named Bobbi. "Bobbi", says I, "I need to borrow some dogs."

"Borrow?" she asks, so I explain my plan. Before long we're loading about a half-dozen dogs in my pickup, all strung on one piece of clothesline. I drive to the address, and sure enough, there's the car I saw yesterday, parked in the garage. NIce house, nice car, nice neighborhood. At that time, lots better than I can afford. So, I unload the dogs, take them to the front door, and tie that clothesline to the doorknob. And ring the bell.

A man comes to the door. Khaki pants and white button down. He opens the door and the clothesline dogs surge in to the house. "What the hell is going on?" He's tangled up in the dogs, confused, and one big cur has squatted and is taking a dump in his foyer.

"Mister" says I, "where I live we've got a huge problem with people dumping dogs they don't want. I don't know if all these dogs are yours, but I know for damned sure that your car (I point at the car) dumped that dog (I point at the first dog) on my road yesterday. I figure that all these dogs are yours. You have a nice day."

I checked with Bobbi later and asked her if her dogs had come back to the pound. "Yes indeed, she says, and I charged that asshole a $10.00 adoption fee for each and every one."