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Yesterday around 9 in the morning, a big yellow dog, apparently belonging to one of my neighbors, trespassed once again this time attacking and killing two of my chickens, a very productive egg laying bantam hen and my big black La Fleche cock. The dog seeing me approach, ran off as fast as it could - to the west and past the forested windbreak. When I arrived on the scene, it was already too late - feathers everywhere and two feathered carcasses was all that remained. Unfortunately, I never got around to breeding the black cock to the several La Fleche hens that the dog spared...

I called up Adams County Animal Control. They sent out an officer, I told him what happened and showed some of the damage. He said that he would return today with a humane trap and catch the culprit. I am OK with a humane trap for the dog, but how about a human trap for its owner?!

This vicious animal has caused enough damage around here already. Among the dog's other suspected deeds over the past couple of months are the eating of our barn cat's litter of kittens, giving heart attacks to two other laying hens, terrorizing the rest of them to the point of immense drop in egg production and the digging up of several rather large holes around the property, in multiple attempts to get at rabbits and other hidden treasures.

I believe this is one of the two dogs that originally showed up here in September 2009. That original appearance was on a weekend, animal control was closed and a local sheriff's deputy came to our rescue. That time, it took him several hours and pepper spray to dissuade the dogs from digging under the wood pile to get to a cottontail rabbit.

If I can ever identify the neighbor whose dogs these are, I would really like to feed him to them. I hope that animal control and the various law enforcement officials agree that this is the only just punishment for the owner of a dog that is apparently unfed and let to run loose around the neighborhood.

P.S. If you have not done so already, please read my original post about my black cock here.