Sheep-Killing Habit Among Dogs 



3S3 



of land in farms. The British farmer 

 handles his land on an intensive farm- 

 ing basis, and forage-crop pasturages 

 have been highly developed. In that 

 country the special advantage of this 

 system of pasturage for sheep is gen- 

 erally recognized. 



"Forage-crop pastures not only aug- 

 ment intensified farming and increase 

 the fertility of the land, but also free 

 the sheep from many internal parasites 

 contracted through grazing upon perma- 

 nent pastures. Of such parasites stom- 

 ach worms are most prevalent and dis- 

 astrous with young stock. Methods of 

 preventing infection through the use of 

 a succession of forage-crop pastures 

 are understood and successfully fol- 

 lowed by many farmers. In flocks han- 

 dled under such conditions lambs born 

 in the late winter or early spring are 

 kept free from infection and finished 

 for the market by the latter part of 

 June or the 1st of July, at which time 

 market prices are generally highest. It 

 is essential that the American farmer 

 recognize the small flock of sheep, han- 

 dled under forage-crop conditions, as a 

 factor in the economic handling of high- 

 priced farm lands. 



"As compared with the census of 

 1900, that of 1910 shows an increased 

 valuation of 20%, or approximately 

 $19,000,000, in the total value of sheep 

 in the United States, exclusive of the 

 western division. Notwithstanding this 

 marked increase in value, there was a 

 decrease in numbers of 14%, or over 

 3,900,000 head, for the same period of 

 time. It seems that an industry so 

 favored by market conditions and so 

 well adapted to the area in question 

 should flourish rather than decline. 



DOGS THE DIFFICULTY 



"Sheep-killing dogs are not only rec- 

 ognized as the worst enemy of eastern 

 flockmasters at the present time, but 

 are known to be the principal cause of 

 so marked a decrease in the numbers 

 of sheep kept on farms. The moral ef- 

 fect upon all persons who have seen 



sheep killed, injured, or frightened by 

 dogs is far more destructive to the in- 

 dustry than the actual damage sus- 

 tained. No farmer contemplating the 

 raising of sheep is likely to venture on 

 the enterprise while the flocks of his 

 neighbors are continually meeting re- 

 verses through the attacks of dogs, as 

 the ultimate financial losses following 

 such reverses are incalculable. Dog de- 

 predations to flocks are not only dis- 

 heartening and discouraging to the 

 flockniaster, but they also break up 

 breeding plans and render flocks rest- 

 less and non-productive. 



USUALLY WORK IN GROUPS 



"Sheep-killing dogs work both singly 

 and in groups, but usually in twos or 

 threes. They do not limit their attacks 

 to the flocks of the immediate vicinity 

 in which they are kept, but travel for 

 miles in all directions, spreading de- 

 struction in the flocks with which they 

 come in contact. Because their work 

 is so often done under the cover of 

 darkness it is almost impossible to catch 

 them in the act of worrying the sheep, 

 and hence they can seldom be positively 

 identified. 



"The ways in which dififerent dogs 

 attack and destroy sheep vary greatly. 

 Some dogs simply kill one or two sheep 

 in a flock, while others continue the 

 attack until all the sheep are either de- 

 stroyed or crippled. In many cases 

 where large numbers are killed they are 

 neither bitten nor wounded, but simply 

 chased until they die from exhaustion. 



"After a dog has once formed the 

 habit of killing sheep, it seemingly be- 

 comes a mania with him, and he is sel- 

 dom, if ever, broken of it. He not only 

 destroys sheep himself, fcut leads other 

 dogs to the work. No consideration 

 should be given such dogs; if additional 

 losses to flocks from this source are to 

 be avoided, they should be dispatched 

 as soon as their habits are known." — 

 V. O. McWhorter, Animal Hus- 

 bandry Division, U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture. 



