Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1918-06-08
The Sheep
Killing Dog

J uthIf ty Gte lVtjDtf VI RAfIftftfHf
| which has instituted campaign 10 rid
the country Of sheep-kiIling dogs
| II is further stated that the loss of this
number Of sheep u the least part Of the
! damage done, for the depretlations Of these
| canine freehooters have discouraged farm
ers and checked the spread Of the industry
| II il estimated that ut this time, when
| wool and meat are 40 greatly needed,
e;lstern farms might support 1900 600
| sheep more than they nov do A ques-
| tionnaire WIS addressed 90 farmers 10
learn why more sheep arc not raised at
| this time, when prices are soaring, and
two-thirds 81 the answers could be SUM
marized in ono word Dogs"
The sheep-klling dog il the criminal Of
| his kind He is farm dog who has revert
| I'd To the habits and desires of his Wild
| an ccstorH. and who uses the confidence of
| men and his knowledge Of their ways tn
| satisfy bic blood-lust He Ia sometimes a
| wandering, neglected cur who has 10 XIII
| in order to rat, but as often as not he is a
| trusted watchdog who snoozes innooently
on the doorstep all day long, and at night
| becomes n bloorithirsty hunter lie
| nearly always develops surprising caln-
| ming IN concealIng his crimes,
AN ouT~hTD ouT rRkTTon-
Sometimes he is dog used for heding
sheep or cattle who faithfully serves his
rnaster by dav and kills the neighbors
stock at night One sheep-killing dog
| often denorslI1es a community, for the
volfeh instinct To hunt IN packs aesnrts
| itself and he leads other dogs astray,
until sometimes quite a bnnd u formed
| The lone sheep killer W rather rare, and
most Of the damage ~ done by groups ~
| two tn four or FIVE dogs
That stray dogs should have been allow
| cd tn cripple an industry in which millions
are invested, and which is vital To tho
| welfare 1T the nation, seems strange 70 tho
point Of ncrcdhility. II IL due To com
| bination Of circumstances. Many years
ago nearly All the wool produced "a this
country was raised on farms east N the
Missi -sipri. and in those days the sheep
killing dog was rigidly Suppressed. ANY
dog upon whom tn. fsintest suspicion
fell was killed ION general principles
and 40 were stray dogs
Then the great arid ranges ~ tho West
took the sheep business away from The
East, because sheep oould DO raised much
more oheapIy on the open range. Farm
sheep-rai.ing no longer paid, and the
focks fvindled and disappeared Al the
same time, dogs multiplied, and both law
and public opinion became lsx with re-
gard 10 them Now, owing 10 rising
prlces, 1t ia again profitable TO ra,se sheep
in the farm country Of the Fast, and the
nations wool supply demands 1t. The
Department of Agriculture has special
agents IN tho field 10 instruct farmers n
shes raising But the dog, N many
regions, PRESENTS an almost lnsurnonnt-
able difficulty Many Of the State laws
with regard 10 dogs are AK, - that Il -
hard 20 proceed against the owner 1T q
sheep killer Then too, many regions are
fuIl of sheep-killng stray dogs, which
must be hunted like wild animais
sTRIsoENr STATE LAWS.
The Department of Agriculture rec
ommends the passage Of stringent State
laws regulating the Use and ownership
OF dogH, the killing of stray dogs, and the
building of dog-proOf fences. This latter
expedlcnt is the only way TO make sheep-
raising profitable III some regions until
the aheep-killing dogs have been de
struyed. A dog-proof fence must be about
FIVE feet high, of woven wire mean. with a
barted wire stretched along the ground,
and with three strands OF oaroed wire
about six inches apart above the woven
wire The building OF such a fence Is, Of
course, expensive. The farmer VINO can
DOk A4AOl4 W ArA4Nf . R1GLNlC Ia NAA-c
may protect his sheep by making a small
paddock or enclosure INTO which they are
driven at night.
For nearly oil the depredatlons of the
sheep-k killer are nocturnal. Some dogs
merely steal out and kill a single sheep 81
night for food, while others viii not stop
until the flock has been destroyed. Often
dogs have killed an entire flock by simply
running them until the sheep dropped
dead from exhaustion. Often, too, sheep
are cruelty manned by the dogs, 80 that
they have to be killed. When once the
dog has tasted the blood Of sheep, killing
them seems to become q mania with him
He Is seldom if ever broken OF the habit.
Dog lovers should not interpret this
campaign against the sheep-killers as
campaign against dogs in general. The
rIghtful place OF the dog IS recognized
everywhere. Dogs used for managing
livestock, for hunting and for guarding
premises serve valuable and legitimate
purpose III every community. The owners
of such dogs can cooperate with the
Department OF Agriculture BY keeping
their animals free from suspicion.
THE ONE SURE WAY
The surest way 20 do this IS 70 have
the dog chained or confined when he Is
not in use, and especially at night. Some
of the State laws which are endorsed by
the department make it lawful to kill any
dog when found at large and unattended
between sunset and sunrise on a farm
where sheep are kept Others provide
that the dogs may be killed when found
at large and unattended without collar
bearing a registry number. Many State
laws now make 1t a mlsdemeanor punish
able by fine and Imprisonment 20 keep q
dog which is known 10 have killed sheep.
All over the country, the sheep-kIler and
the stray dog are bang outlawed.
The dog laws of Pennsylvania and
Vest Virginia are cited as models by the
Department OF Agriculture The Penn
sylvania law of this year provides that all
dogs must be licensed, and that unlicensed
dogs shall be killed by county officers
Licensed dogs are held for ten days when
caught at large and then killed All dogs
are required to be kept either confined
or chained when not in use and accom-
panied by their owners between sunset
and sunrise Any unlicensed dog that
enters a held may be killed by the owner
OF the field, and even licensed dogs may
be- killed il found worrying livestock.
This law is much more stringent than
those OF most States, but is not unfair
when the amount of damage done by
stray dogs Is taken into consideration.
Not only are sheep destroyed, but also
poultry and wild game. and gardens are
often scratched up and otherwise injured
by dogs. Then, too, dogs consume much
food, and rigidly enforced license law
II