Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Well, it looks like it was a pack ( or at least 1 ) of dogs that got into the pastures and ran the sheep to death.
A friend and I went out last Thursday,7/17, to put down the last surviving ewe from the attack ( the other Shetland ewe and the border Leicester wether are still fine, but continue to look for the rest of the flock ), but we found her dead ( the last time I'd seen her was around 10 am and she looked bad then ). So we dragged her to the edge of the front pasture and the woods and " dressed " her for her killer(s). Can't say what type of " spices " were used as it's not exactly legal what we did but it's my property and my sheep and since the Indiana DNR is useless, it doesn't matter what we did.
After we took care of the ewe, we walked the fence row looking for ways the killer(s) could have gotten in. My friend had 2 rifles with him and had me carry 1 as he went across the back fence where we found a hole dug underneath it ( this hole was about 4-5 inches deep and had markings showing that the killer(s) had slid underneath the fence to get to the sheep ).
I walked the interior of the fence line and my friend walked the exterior and into the creek bed and found 2 foot prints that looked kind of like dog but the rain had washed part of 1 away and the other was on hard-pack and couldn't make a positive ID ( he decided that with everything else we found, there was a good likelihood that it was dogs that got the sheep ).
We found all of the missing sheep. One was a surprize, tho.
When I came out the backdoor to get things ready to go out back I heard a familiar voice calling from the neighbor's drive way. I looked over to the neighbor's and saw Lacie, my favorite Shetland ewe, standing there calling to me. I called her name and she ran to the gate and thru it , paused long enough to get a cookie/ handful of dog chow and then went to greet the other 2 sheep left. I just stood and cried because I thought I'd lost her in the killing spree and now she was home. Since that day, she comes into the backyard withthe other 2 every night and expects to have a cup of dog food or a cookie waiting for her - yes, she has always been spoiled and now even more so. I can hardly wait to breed her and Wen again to get more of their babies, but that won't happen until I get at least 1 Pyr to protect them - something I will be doing next spring sionce I won't breed them unti I graduate in the fall of 2010 from college.
As I have always said, I don't mind as much if a wild aminal kills one of my sheep as that's Mother Nature's way of keeping the species going BUT I do mind it my animals are killed by someone's pet dog - that's just pure laziness on the pet owner's side. My dogs are not allowed to run loose ( even tho Vinnie does like to get out and hunt along the creek bed for wood chucks and rabbits ), I expect others to keep their dogs under control or face the fact that if I catch them in my pasture chasing/killing my sheep, they will get their pet back with a bullet in the head ( I will let the state police do the delivering ).
Now, I can get off my soap box and just enjoy the sheep again.
Thanks for all the caring I received from everyone during this stressful time, I hope to never have to go thru this type of thing again.
Benita

1 comment:

Nancy K. said...

Oh, Benita! I'm so glad that Lacie is OK and came home!! The horrors that poor, sweet girl must have witnessed! Maybe now, the real healing can begin...