A dog died

[Bill_Ryan]

Dr. Dan may be right...

If they were barking all night, your neighbor may have come out to quiet them down with a louisville slugger (pretty sick).

Bill

Bill Ryan
EnDeering Acres Farm
Deering, NH

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

Oops! Didn't think about "signs of a fight". Dr Dan just is right. A Baseball bat or 2x4 to the skull would do the job and not leave a lot of mess about. Or, maybe a hammer? Hate to think anybody would do something like that, but I've seen worse. Back when I thought I still wanted to be a landlord, I found and awful lot of frozen puppies and kittens when people moved out in the winter. (Usually in the crawl spaces so the place would smell real good in spring). The law wouldn't do anything about it because I couldn't prove that the animal hadn't "just died".

One question about the garbage though, would the authorities make them clean it up, or just enclose it so the bears can't get at it? Again, Dr Dan's idea of buying them out is right. It's the American way!

SHF

 

[RichZ]

Rick, I just started reading this thread this morning, but as soon as I read your description, I knew the killer was a human animal, just as Dan said. I'm a wildlife biologist by education, and as has been said earlier, a cat kill would have been very messy, and bears have no reason to kill a dog who is chained up.
I am an animal lover. My two dogs might as well be my kids. They live in the house, and have free run of the house. Even though I live in farm country, my dogs are only outside when they are on a leash. No matter how well trained, something could distract any dog enough for them to chase something in a road and get hit by a car. My house is maybe 1000 ft from the road, and the dogs could cover that distance in seconds and be hit.
I just contracted to fence a large area for them to play in outside. Even then, they will only be outside in their pen when someone is home, and then only for short times. My dogs weigh about 170 lbs each, so their pen will let them roughhouse all they want without wrecking the house.
I think you're right about neglect, and I agree with the earlier ideas of either trying to get a fenced area put in, or better yet trying to get the remaining dogs away from them and finding them the loving homes they deserve!
So many families in my area let their dogs run free, and they all eventually end up getting hit by cars or getting shot when they chase deer. Owning an animal is a responsibility, and it really burns me up when people don't take care of their animals.
In this case though, there is a real case of animal abuse, but it will be hard to prove who killed the dog, although I'm sure you have your suspisions. It's nice to see how concerned you, and everyone else in this thread, about animals!
Rich

 

[DrDan]

A bear could not cover it's tracks and they are fearful animals unless it is a grizley. Once again I vote for "Papa Bear" and the Lousville Slugger! Buy em out and get the dozer started.
Probably enough fertilizer in the ground to make a nice garden area.

Dr Dan

 

[RAllen]

First, thanks to all for the suggestions. As to the possibility of a human killer, I don't know. The father of the clan was out of town over 100 miles away. The childred would never do this. The mother, its a possibility. This family lives on 7 acres. Their nearest nieghbor would not do this and is a friend of theirs. The next nearest nieghbor is about a 1/2 mile away. Thier property is surrounded by national forest on two sides.
So I don't think this is a noise issue. The dogs will bark at deer and bear or people in the yard but are not chronic barkers. The mother stated she was awakened at 3am and the dogs barked like crazy until 5am.

There has been a young cat, puma, around for several weeks. Other nieghbors have seen it and it shows no fear. One lady had to wait 30 minutes before she dared exit her car and enter her home because the cat sat watching her on her driveway. No amount of horn honking or yelling had any effect. So the cat is on everyone's mind.

Additionally, a black bear has already raided the neighbors with the dead dog and the outside trash pile 2 weeks ago.
This bear ignored the dogs who were only 20 yards away from the trash.

I talked with fish & game concerning the attack. On the next sighting, they will respond with dogs and track the cat. They gave me permission to shoot it if on my property and a threat to life or property. The tracker did not think the killer of the dog was a puma. As others have said, too clean. This cat expert thought the bear might have done it but said an adult cat would have the strength to break the dogs skull although that is not a typical kill. He stated if the cat had done it would have taken the carcass. The chain and collar would not stop it. Indeed the collar almost slipped off the dog while I was burying it.

So its probably the bear or a sick human stranger. Most of our bears are black bears but grizs. are common just 15 miles away and there have been griz sightings around here from time to time.

Rick

 

[Wingnut]

Rick ... doesn't sound like a cat ... first off that's not the way they kill ... nor are they likely to attack another predator unless they're mighty hungry ... and certainly wouldn't leave the body there ... chained or not.
Doesn't really sound like a bear either ... if they "swiped" the door ... there'd be a lot of claw damage ... they don't retract their claws when they swing ...
I'd go along with the kick guess ...
Nature isn't the most pleasant girl ...
What should you do about the neighbors? well ... hard to say ... I've had similar problems and it just depends on how much you care about what they think of you ... you know that you won't remain anonymous ... being a former law enforcement officer.
I'd consider it highly unlikely something similar could happen to the girl ... unless they chain her out at night ...
The garbage is something else ... but darned hard to tackle ... yeah, they might let you clean it up ... but would start filling the trailer again immediately ... if they cared, it wouldn't be like that.
And, IMHO, the financial situation has nothiung to do with it ... I grew up dirt poor ... but we knew where the garbage was supposed to go and didn't think that abandoned cars and assorted "art" were appropriate yard decorations.


too bad that common sense ain't

 

[RAllen]

Thought I would post a follow up. Some of you might be interested. The father was out of town at the time of the attack and pronounced it to be a cat attack over the phone.

Seems he took exception to my opinion it was not a cat but a bear. I even passed along the idea [expressed on this site] it may have been a human.

This guy dug up the dog, carried it around in his car for two days, contacted the mountain lion control officer[ same guy I talked with] and took the dog to his office. They did find bite marks on the head, nothing anywhere else. He got the control officer to admit it could be a cat.

He then brings the dog to my house and and invites me to look at the bite marks. I told him: "I have seen enough dead bodies in my life and that if you think it was a cat, that is good enough for me and, by the way, clean up your trash or I am going to call fish and wildlife."

I bought up the issue of his dogs. He has moved one of the surviving two to the back yard, keeping the other survivor in the front. Apparently the dogs are an "early warning system" for his kids playing in the yard and nothing else.

See what happens when you try to help folks.

Rick

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by RAllen on 06/19/01 01:32 PM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

Bite marks are hard to argue with. Otherwise I'd suggest that while Poppa Bear was away, the Big Bad Wolf came to visit Goldilocks, smacking the poor pooch to shut him up. Poppa Bear, of course, might not want to believe such a thing and might want the Forest Feds to help validate his fantasy.

Either way, are they cleaning up?

SHF