Protect People and Livestock, Not Feral Dogs

[dianahsieh]

By Diana Hsieh from NoodleFood,cross-posted by MetaBlog

On Wednesday, I received the following e-mail from Mary Fries, the owner of Isle Farms with her husband Rod. I own a cowshare and a half with them, so that I can drink a gallon and a half of their clean, safe, and delicious raw milk each week.

I decided to post it here, with permission, because it highlights the very real evil of blind sympathy for wild animals fostered by animal rights activists. Plus, given how much I love my raw milk, I'd be delighted if others would write a supportive e-mail to the County Commissioner.

Here's the letter from Mary:

Dear Shareholders,

I realized last night that this issue pertains as much to you as it does me, so I wanted to include you and ask for your help.

Yesterday, I was out on the land, checking in on a new calf that was born this weekend. As I was standing in front of the herd, they all started running-straight towards me!-and it was all I could do to spin around one, step, spin again, and end up leaning up again the barb-wired fence. Right behind the cows, at full run, were a pack of wild dogs. One was a pit bull-who headed straight for me. I grabbed an old fence post that was by my feet, and that detoured him from coming closer. He and the other dogs left without further prodding.

This is a good summary

of what the news was talking about a few weeks ago, about the dogs here in Ellicott. We personally have been fighting this problem from the get-go. The law regarding wild dogs is this -- you can only shoot them if they are in the midst of attacking your livestock. Many times Rod has gone out there with the shotgun, while the dogs were in the midst of chasing the cows, but by the time he gets in range, the dogs see him coming, and run off.

I phoned Amy Lathen (County Commissioner) almost immediately yesterday. She headed up the plan to finally get these dogs under control, after years of complaints from residents. When I explained what happened, she said she had a contract ready to go with the USDA for the trapping, but they were dragging their feet. Apparently, after the news ran the segment, they got so many emails from not just Colorado Springs residents, but throughout the country, and all the way from INDIA!!, with people berating their efforts as inhumane.

I'm all for animals, but the people emailing do not have any idea of what the farmers and ranchers face when these things happen. For our farm, and many others in the area, this is part of our livelihood. These dogs are WILD, and the situations that are arising, are downright dangerous for both livestock and humans. And humane -- what about the cows? They stress from being chased, and having to fight them off!

I'm asking that all of you take a second and email Amy, let her know that you are behind her effort to help our community keep ourselves and our livestock safe. You can say anything -- a short "we are behind you in your efforts" to "I have ownership in livestock in Ellicott, and support you in helping keep them safe". Whatever you can do, I think she was pretty beat up over this whole thing.

Although -- her final words to me were "That's it. We are going to do this." Here is her email -- [email protected]

Huge thanks to you all, from me AND the cows

)

One more thing -- after the cows stampeded past me yesterday, they ran in a U shape, and I was trying to figure out why they didn't run VERY far away. Then I happened to notice, surrounded by 18 pairs of hooves, a little head popping up out of the grass -- Baby Dolla

) They weren't going anywhere with that baby unprotected... what good cows

)

Mary

Here's the letter that I wrote to the County Commissioner:

Dear Ms Lathen,

I'm a resident of Douglas County, but I have livestock in Ellicott. (I have shares in Mary and Rod Fries' herd.)

I'm very concerned to hear of the wild dogs that have been periodically terrorizing their farm, putting people and livestock at risk. So I wish to express my wholehearted support for the county doing whatever is necessary to neutralize the threat posed by these wild dogs.

Human lives and property should not be at the mercy of dangerous feral dogs due to misplaced public sympathy for them. Human beings and human concerns should come first!

Thank you for your efforts to take care of the problem.

(Please feel free to forward this letter to whomever you please, if that would be helpful to you.)

-- DMH

Please feel free to write your own letter of support to the County Commissioner ([email protected]). She needs some moral support for her totally just decision to prioritize humans and livestock over dangerous feral dogs. Basically, it's a good opportunity for a wee bit of activism against the animal rights activists. And it could make a great deal of difference to the safety and welfare of the people and livestock terrorized by these dogs.

http://ObjectivismOnline.com/archives/003969.html

[themadkat]

Mmm, raw milk. I can't possibly understand why anyone has much sympathy for wild dogs. They're not even legitimately in the ecosystem - they were introduced and now they've gotten out of control. I think people hear "dog" and they think of shooting Rover. But these things are not domestic, and may have never been, and they will kill and eat anything they could get their hands on. Honestly I think there are times when one can legitimately shoot a pet as well. One of my fiancee's friends said his parents had lost three cats to a neighbor's roaming dog and when confronted about it the neighbor simply said, "Not my dog." Well, my fiancee's friend is off to his parents' house to shoot that dog if it comes on the property again. How can the neighbor complain? He claimed himself it was not his dog! How can anyone be disallowed from taking action to protect animals under their ownership and care? Or worse, taking action to protect THEMSELVES?

[Thales]

Mmm, raw milk. I can't possibly understand why anyone has much sympathy for wild dogs. They're not even legitimately in the ecosystem - they were introduced and now they've gotten out of control. I think people hear "dog" and they think of shooting Rover. But these things are not domestic, and may have never been, and they will kill and eat anything they could get their hands on.

"Hands", interesting dogs.

[Rearden_Steel]

Why don't they just get a rifle with scope and shoot'em! If I was in the area I would even volunteer .

[dianahsieh]

Why don't they just get a rifle with scope and shoot'em! If I was in the area I would even volunteer .

I imagine that's not possible because, given the layout of the farm, the cows are likely to be between the humans and the dogs. In any case, the point is that the county can and ought to trap these dogs.

[K-Mac]

That was my thought, why not just shoot them anyway? When/if the authorities come out, "they were actively chasing me and my livestock."

Also, I think it's kinda silly, especially in Colorado where there are coyotes, wolves, bears, mountain lions and bobcats (oh my!), to be out on rural property without a gun for protection.

Don't get me wrong though, I am totally on the side of the property owner, not animal rights activists, I just don't think this is a problem for government to solve.

[dianahsieh]

That was my thought, why not just shoot them anyway? When/if the authorities come out, "they were actively chasing me and my livestock."

Also, I think it's kinda silly, especially in Colorado where there are coyotes, wolves, bears, mountain lions and bobcats (oh my!), to be out on rural property without a gun for protection.

Don't get me wrong though, I am totally on the side of the property owner, not animal rights activists, I just don't think this is a problem for government to solve.

The government is obliged to protect them from these feral dogs because it forbids them from doing so themselves.

Moreover, Mary and Rod understand their own situation well -- and that's why they've asked for the kind of help they've asked for. It's grossly unrealistic to think that they should flout the law and take matters into their own hands.

(1) They live in a rural area -- but on a relatively small acreage with plenty of neighbors nearby. They cannot simply chase after these dogs without anyone else noticing (and possibly reporting them). In fact, the dogs would probably be off their property pretty quickly. (Under good laws, they could get permission to cross into their neighbor's land to kill them -- or they could lay traps for the dogs themselves, but that's not possible under the current laws.)

(2) The government HATES raw milk producers -- with an unfathomable fury. So raw milk producers like the Fries have to be very careful about remaining within the letter of the law, or their farm could be shut down.

[Tenure]

I wrote off my letter.

[K-Mac]

In response to Diana's above post, Tenure snuck in there on me...

I agree with everything you've said. And the part about the raw milk producers being harassed by government is just annoying. I have never had raw milk, but I certainly don't see why anyone should be given a hard time for producing or drinking it. That's ridiculous!

Anyway, I agree that the government should not be putting the ranchers in this situation in the first place. I also don't think it's generally a good idea for people to flout the law and take matters into their own hands; however, when something is threatening my life, I will take action and worry about the consequences later. At least I will be alive and unharmed to deal with the consequences. If that pit bull would've gotten a hold of the rancher, she could've been killed or seriously maimed for life.

I also think private pest/animal removal services are just as well equipped to handle the situation as the government, if not better. The neighborhood, community, town or whatever should be allowed to organize and determine how to best deal with their situation.

As you state, the real problem with this whole situation, is the government. I was just making the case that you can't wait for someone else to protect you and your property in an emergency situation, especially in a rural area where it could take authorities quite a bit of time to arrive and act on your behalf.

Edited August 29, 2008 by K-Mac

[themadkat]

I agree with everything you've said. And the part about the raw milk producers being harassed by government is just annoying. I have never had raw milk, but I certainly don't see why anyone should be given a hard time for producing or drinking it. That's ridiculous!

Oh, yeah. Raw milk producers are constantly in danger of being shut down. The sterilization nazis constantly accuse raw milk of being dirty and dangerous, but the things you have to do to regular milk in order to keep it safe for, say, grocery store distribution make it almost not even worth drinking as milk. It's just like white opaque water. I still drink grocery store milk myself, but if I could buy some raw milk instead I gladly would. Only catch is, it won't keep for more than a couple days.

[dianahsieh]

I still drink grocery store milk myself, but if I could buy some raw milk instead I gladly would. Only catch is, it won't keep for more than a couple days.

Raw milk keeps for up to two weeks -- and then it turns sour, not rancid like pasteurized milk.

For anyone interested in raw milk, you can find out whether and where you can obtain it here:

http://www.realmilk.com/where2.html

[themadkat]

Raw milk keeps for up to two weeks -- and then it turns sour, not rancid like pasteurized milk.

For anyone interested in raw milk, you can find out whether and where you can obtain it here:

http://www.realmilk.com/where2.html

Oh, I stand corrected! Thank you.

[Scott_Connery]

I think the ideal solution is just for the government to get out of the way and let the farmers deal with their own problems. I can empathize with this, because nearby urbanites view my area as "the country" and so set their beloved fido "free to live in the wild" near me. The dogs of course end up getting hit by cars or starving.

In the mean time, it sounds like the Fries need to learn the 3 S rule.

Shoot

Shovel

Shut up

It is a simple formula to fix problems and not have to deal with pesky government interference.

[dianahsieh]

In the mean time, it sounds like the Fries need to learn the 3 S rule.

Shoot

Shovel

Shut up

It is a simple formula to fix problems and not have to deal with pesky government interference.

Yeah, and risk losing their farm. Good idea.