The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-06-10
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORM ALTON
BUREAU
FREDERIC ]. HAsKIN. Director.
Washington. D. c.
THE sHEEP.KIIIING DOG.
Washington. D. c.

Washington, D. c., June 5.-That
dogs have killed over 100000 sheep
during the past year in tho eastern
United States is an estimate recently
made by the department Of agricul-
ture, which has instituted a campaign
to rid the country of sheep-killing
dogs.
1t is further stated that the loss of
this number of sheep is the least part
Of the damage done, for the depreda-
lions of these canine freebooters have
discouraged farmers and checked the
spread CT the industry. 1t is esti-
mated that at this time, when wool
and meat are SO greatly needed, east
ern farms might support 100000
sheep more than they now do sup
port. A questionable was addressed
are not raised at this time, when
prices are soaring, and two-thirds of
the answers could be summarized in
one word: "Dogs!"
The sheep-killing dog is the GRIM
inal of his kind. He is a farm dog
desires Of his wild ancestors, and who
uses the confidence OF men and his
knowledge of their ways to satisfy his
blood lust. He is sometimes a wan
dering, neglected cur who has to kill
in order to eat, but as often as not
he is trusted watchdog who
snoozes innocently on the doorstep all
day long. and at night becomes
bloodthirsty hunter. He nearly always
develops a surprising cunning in con-
cealing his crimes. Sometimes he is
a dog used for herding sheep or cat
tie who faithfully serves his master
by day and kills the neighbors' stock
demoralizesz community, for the
wolfish instinct to hunt in packs as
serts itself. and he leads other dogs
astray, until sometimes quite band
is formed The lone sheep-killer is
rather rare and most of the damage
is done by groups Of two to four or
five dogs.
That stray. dogs should have been
allowed to cripple an industry in
which millions are invested, and
which is vital to the welfare of the
nation. seems strange to the point Of
incredibility. 1t is due to a combina-
ton of circumstances. Many years
ago nearly all the wool produced in
this country was raised on farms east
of the Mississippi, and in those days
the sheep-killing dog was rigidly
suppressed. Any dog upon whom
the faintest suspicion fell was killed
on general principles. and so were
stray dogs.
Then the gre: t arid ranges of the
west took the sheep business away
from the east. because sheep could be
raised so much more cheaply on the
open range. Farm sheep-raising no
longer paid, and the flocks dwindled
and disappeared. At the same time,
dogs multiplied. and both law and
public opinion became lax with re-
gard to them. Now, owing to rising
prices. 1t is again profitable to raise
sheep in the farm country of the east,
n f1n
it. The department of agriculture
has special agents in the field to
instruct farmers in sheep raising But
the doc, II. many regions, presents an
almost insurmountable difficulty.
Many of the Gtate laws with regard to
dogs are lax, so hat it is hard to pro-
ceed against the owner of a sheep
killer. Then. too. many regions ere
full of sheep-killing stray dogs, which
must be hunted like wild animals.
The ep trtment of agriculture rec
ommen Is the passage of stringent
state laws. regulat-ng the use and
ownership of logs, the killing of
stray dogs. and the building of dog
proof <ences This latter expedient
Is the only way to make sheep raising
profitable in some regions until the
sheep-killing dogs have been de-
stroyed. A dog-proof fence must be
about five feet high. ,of woven wire
mesh. witt a barbed wire stretched
along the ground. and with three
strands of barbed wire about TX
inches apart above the woven wire.
The building of such a fence is of
course. expensive. The farmer who
cannot afford to fence a pasture in
this way may protect his sheep by
making a small paddock or enclosure
into which they are driven at night
For nearly all the depredations of
the sheep-killer are nocturnal. Some
dogs merely steal out and kill a sim
gle sheep at night for food, while 9TH
ers will not stop until the flock has
been destroyed. Often dogs have kill
ed an entire flock by simply running
them until the sheep dropped dead
from exhaustion. OFTEN. too, sheep
are cruelty MANNED by the dogs so
once the dog has tasted the blood of
mania with him. He is seldom If ever
broken of the habit
Dog lovers should not interpret this
against the sheep-kfllers as
a campaign against dogs in general.
The rightfu1 place of the dog is recog-
niZed everywhere. Dogs used for man.
aging livestock. for hunting and for
premises serve valuable and
legitimate purposes in every commun-
Ity. The owners of such dogs can CO.
operate with the department of agri-
culture by keeping their animals free
from suspicion. The surest-way to do |
this Is to have the dog chained or
confined when he is not in use, and