A Most Frightening Roaming Dog Pack Story

[spiritdance]

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Looks like it's got a lot of coyote in it to me ...

 

[country freedom]

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EXACTLY!!!!

 

[Hoss1975]

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Looks part wolf to me.

 

[speckledhen]

That does look sort of "wolfy", doesn't it? Then, double what I said before-take no chances. Shoot to kill.



ETA: by "wolfy", I mean hybrid, wolf, coyote, coy-dog, whatever, but wolf-looking animal.

 

[calista]

If the alpha male of this rogue pack is a wolf hybrid...

I realize that this lawyer makes his living suing dog owners on the behalf of bite victims and is thus suspect in what he posted about wolf hybrids, but it makes for sobering reading anyway:

The population of wolf hybrid dogs has increased significantly in recent years, with experts estimating that over one million of the pets are living in the United States currently. But are wolf hybrids safe? Many think that the wolf-dog mixes are more prone to dog bites, dog attacks, and dog maulings than other types of more domesticated animals.

Research done on wolf hybrids have concluded that no amount of socialization or training may be sufficient to make all of wolf hybrids safe to keep as pets. While some wolf hybrids are docile and non-aggressive, a higher percentage of wolf hybrids are likely to be dangerous and prone to attack humans and other animals. In fact, dog bite statistics show that wolf-dogs hold the sixth position in dog bite fatalities by breed.

http://www.2keller.com/library/dangerous-dog-alert-wolf-hybrids-more-likely-to-bite.cfm

Free-range and even caged chickens in non-Fort-Knox coops in that area wouldn't stand a chance against this pack. I sure hope the Sheriff's Department can utilize night vision equipment to figure out where they're hunting, quarantine the pack, and get some answers as to whether the dogs are hybrids/feral/pets, etc. before making decisions to eliminate the threat. Maybe it would be a good object lesson for those owners who let their dogs roam.

 

[dainerra]

could be part wolf, could be part coyote. could be 100% dog; I get the "wolf" comment all the time on my sable boy. So does his grandfather

Ghost

my boy Singe

either way, once a dog has a habit of attacking livestock, it can be next to impossible to break. doubly so if there is pack behavior involved

 

[dacjohns]

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Do you have any ideas on how to effectively and efficiently do this?

 

[Meghalu]

I live in southern BC where the main industry is orchards/vineyards. Every summer there is a huge influx of young transient Quebecois who come to make money picking fruit. Alot of them are doing this to pay for college, but an equal amount of them are just here to make money so they can party all summer. A large population of the partiers bring dogs with them, or acquire them along the way. As these kids are living in tents all summer and aren't particularly responsible dog owners,a fair quantity of these dogs are either lost or abandoned by the end of the summer. The result is large packs of roaming unvaccinated feral dogs, who typically move into the hills and live off of cattle they take down in the mountain ranges. The ranchers lose calves and full grown cattle every year to these dogs. I agree that they have to be put down on sight as they are dangerous and often diseased, but I certainly can't blame the dogs.

 

[drumstick diva]

dainerra your beautiful boy looks 100% German Shepherd to me. But then alot of folks don't know the difference a ball of cotton and a bichon.

 

[calista]

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I dated a wildlife biologist a long time ago who darted wolves on foot in Alaska and he said the anaesthetic used worked within four minutes. I presented the idea of quarantining for testing and identification, but my sympathies would go with any law enforcement decisions to simply kill the whole pack, to be safe. That doesn't mean the whole community up there would be on board with shooting the dogs on sight and it's just another management option.

Obviously, if some members of the pack are wearing collars and I.D./rabies tags, then there's your method of determining whether pets are involved in this situation. If they are, then the owners can be held liable for the stock losses.