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Trouble with Chickens...

1/22/2015

4 Comments

 
I am frustrated this morning, with the members of our community who do not take responsibility for their dogs.  A couple weeks ago I was writing about the horrific attacks on some friends' alpacas(you can check it out here), and last week caught a dog chasing our chickens.  In light of the recent events, I debated about what to do at the time.  My anger was still quite fresh from the alpaca incident, but I decided to take the dog to work and try to find the owner.  It was an intact male Husky.  I was lucky to have run home in the middle of the afternoon to pick up a forgotten item, and upon leaving noticed the chickens running madly through the cow pen.  Otherwise who knows what would have transpired.  Two chickens were injured, one seriously enough to warrant anesthesia, wound cleaning and stitches (she is still at the clinic recovering). The next day the owner was located and came to pick up the dog.  I spoke with her about the seriousness of harassing livestock, and the fact that the dog was not welcome on my property.  I thought it made an impression.  Evidently I was wrong.  Yesterday evening I was coming home with the kids around 5 pm, and we saw the same dog running down our driveway.  We arrived home to find feathers everywhere, and after some searching, started finding chicken carcasses.   As a mother, I have a really hard time seeing my children sad.  As parents, we do all we can to protect our children.  So imagine the scene... my children were sobbing as they walked through the trees finding and collecting the bodies of their dead pets.  As a mother, I was not only sad but incredibly angry at the irresponsibility and stupidity of the dog owners.  I won't write all that went through my mind, much of it is not fit for print.  Just sitting here writing this I can feel my blood pressure rise and my teeth clench. 
    As a pet owner, your responsibility is to keep your pet safe, and others safe from your pet.  If you can't do that, you do not deserve to have animals.  I have dedicated my life to serving animals and the owners who have them.  It's not like I don't know what I am talking about.  The majority of pet owners are good people and do their best.  The minority give the rest a bad name.  Unfortunately it is the minority who stand out in my mind this morning, and leave a very bad taste in my mouth.

 
4 Comments

    Author

    Susie (and sometimes Jeff) Hirsch, parents, vets, small scale ranchers, and regular people, who must have a sense of humor to survive!

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