The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1898-07-14
SHEEP KILLED BY DOGS.
Facts Ascertained Through OFF,
cial Census Figures.
The Damage Done by. Worthless Ours
Exceeds That Resulting from the
Fury of the Elements
Showing by States.

tistics in regard to the fiochs were gath |
cred. The damage done by them is !
greater than that from any other cause
except unexpected storms, in which |
whole tlocks of sheep are killed, and dis
ease. In six states more damage was
done to the f1ocks Of sheep by dogs
than by anything else. In Florida 1888
sheep were killed by dogs. and only
1850 by the weather and disease. The
number killed by dogs was about nine
per cent of the total number of sheepin
the state. The Florida sheep are not
exposed to such changes in temperature
as those on the farms in Nevada, where
12s.s5O died of cold and disease. Only
1872 sheep were killed by dogs in Ne
vada in the census year. The enormous
number of deaths from changes in the
weather was due to unprecedented
storms, which caught the breeders I'M
prepared and almost halVed their locks
In South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama,
Louisiana and Arkansas dogs do more
damage to sheep than anything else,
and more than weather conditions and
disease combined. In Massachusetts,
Rhode Island and Connecticut the num-
Der of deaths in the fiocks due to dogs
IS almost the same as that due 20 disease
ard the weather. This is true in Mis-
sissippi, too. N this state, Maine, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Ari-
zona and the Dakotas, one-ffth as much
damage is charged to dogs as TO the
other chief causes Of loss.
10 +T,, +cf,o IN,
Vermont, where they killed 5000 sheep,
against 5000 which died from disease
and exposure in an average winter.
The Ohio and Michigan dogs have good
records. too, for they killed only one
sixth as many sheep as storms and dis
ease. North Carolina and Tennessee
dogs are red with the blood of sheep.
They killed four-ffths as many as
the other causes OF death combined.
In Kentucky, Texas, West Virginia, In
diana, Minnesota and Iowa the dogs did
one-half as much damage as other
causes conlbined; in Virginia, Missouri
! and Oklahoma, twc-thirds as much; in
| Illinois and Wisconsin, one-third as
much, and in Delaware, Mary land, ha1r-
sas, California and New Hampshire,
| one-Guarter as much.
II the winter of 1SS9-00 had not been
q bad one for sheep in Nevada, Oregon.
Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah,
Washington and Wyoming, the dogs
would make worse showing in the GEN.
sus tables than they do. In these states
whole Aocks on certain ranges were ex-
terminated, and thus the percentage
! of deaths due to exposure and disease
was raised to COS for the whole coun-
try. The dogs killed nearly two per
cent. of the total sheep population.
The sheep raisers don't like dogs
as general thing. Many states use
the money received from dog taxes to
pay for the damage they do. In these
states some of the farmers are not I'M
friendly to the dogs. If sheep dies or
is killed by a wildcat or falls from a
ledge Of rock, the thrifty farmer re
turns it to the proper officers as sheep
killed by dogs. Then he gets paid for
it. Sometimes a New England farm
er, when he loses a sheep, will collect
the value of it from the county and from
the owner of the dog that killed it.
Sheep-killing dogs become well-known
in the community where their masters
live. Sometimes the dogs are such
good hunters that their masters refuse
to allow them to be killed, and try tC
keep them from doing any damage
Such a dog owner is AL easy mark fol-
the INSCRIPTIONS sheep breeders. Every
time sheep is killed, dies or disappears
the owner will 60 to the dogs master
and demand pay for the dead animal
threatening to have the dog killed il
its owner does not pay up. The dos
may be innocent, but because it bears {
bad reputation its owner submits. Il
there are more owners of sheep killers
than one, the farmer may collect from
each and make a good thing of hi:
: sheep. He may collect from the coun
ty, too. - -,-'
} Most dogs that kill sheep are bat
dogs all the way through, and sports
men and farmers unite in trying to ge
rid of them. A sheep-k:lling dog i
| usually o tramp, unframed and worth
less for hunting. Many Of the dog
. that kill sheep are ownerless. Tn
: farmers shoot them when they can, AM
: sportsrnen, anxious that their dog
d. shall not be accounted bad because O
Y the nisdeeds OF cwnerless ours, hel
| them. Some farmers set traps for shee'
killers. The traps are like wolf traps
and are set where a sheep is killed. tn
body Of the sheep being used for bal
- Sheep-killing dogs usually visit tn
scenes of their depredations as a mul
} derer is said to haunt the spot wher
s he commits crime. The farmers an
breeders count on this, and set thei
traps accordingly. Sometimes the
put arsenic in the carcass to make SUI
that the guilty dog shall not escap'
J. When a real sheep-killing dog get
:, into a flock of sheep he kills as man
S as he can. He does not kill for foot
>, but for fun, apparently, and he finds b
I. prey easy, for the sheep cant figf
!; back, and don't know enough to rul
- They don't run fast enough to escap
- anyway, and their only hope of salv
ton lies in scattering. This the shee
won't do, but persist obstinately in fo
foxyin {, 4ba he'll wet her while the dr.