Farm Journal: Stray Dogs
That was two hours out of my day.
Two stray dogs just went wild on my chickens. I heard chickens making a huge racket and looked out my office window to see two dogs playing tug o' war with one of the white leghorns.
By the time I made it outside, they were well into it, trying to flay the thing alive. It was pretty nasty. The neighbor had already beaten me there and was chasing them off with a broom. I ran after the two and caught up with them as they ran across the street into the woods behind the horse farm.
They were nice dogs. Very friendly. And they came when called. A black lab mutt and a yellow lab mutt. The yellow lab looked like it had had a litter at some point. Both had collars with no tags. No rabies tags, either.
With the help of my neighbor, I got them back to the house and tied them up by the greenhouse. Then I did the right thing, even though I really wanted to take care of them myself: We called animal control. It took about an hour and a half, but animal control eventually arrived and took them away. I really doubt those owners will actually come get their dogs. Maybe they will. But I suspect they had not been vetted in a while and were not current on their rabies shots, which is a pretty hefty fine in this area.
It turns out the dogs had caught one of the leghorn roosters that I had planned on butchering soon anyway. It was alive, but beaten up pretty badly. I ended up putting it out of its misery, because it didn't look like it was going to make it. I processed the carcass and will likely use it for stew as the meat was too bruised to actually cook and serve up whole.
I'm not mad at the dogs; they were doing what dogs do. I can't say I'll be unhappy if I never see them again, though. The animal control officer said I could be reimbursed for my loss if the owners come to get the dogs. The rooster was free, so I should bill them for my time.
Two stray dogs just went wild on my chickens. I heard chickens making a huge racket and looked out my office window to see two dogs playing tug o' war with one of the white leghorns.
By the time I made it outside, they were well into it, trying to flay the thing alive. It was pretty nasty. The neighbor had already beaten me there and was chasing them off with a broom. I ran after the two and caught up with them as they ran across the street into the woods behind the horse farm.
They were nice dogs. Very friendly. And they came when called. A black lab mutt and a yellow lab mutt. The yellow lab looked like it had had a litter at some point. Both had collars with no tags. No rabies tags, either.
With the help of my neighbor, I got them back to the house and tied them up by the greenhouse. Then I did the right thing, even though I really wanted to take care of them myself: We called animal control. It took about an hour and a half, but animal control eventually arrived and took them away. I really doubt those owners will actually come get their dogs. Maybe they will. But I suspect they had not been vetted in a while and were not current on their rabies shots, which is a pretty hefty fine in this area.
It turns out the dogs had caught one of the leghorn roosters that I had planned on butchering soon anyway. It was alive, but beaten up pretty badly. I ended up putting it out of its misery, because it didn't look like it was going to make it. I processed the carcass and will likely use it for stew as the meat was too bruised to actually cook and serve up whole.
I'm not mad at the dogs; they were doing what dogs do. I can't say I'll be unhappy if I never see them again, though. The animal control officer said I could be reimbursed for my loss if the owners come to get the dogs. The rooster was free, so I should bill them for my time.