A rash of attacks on livestock by dogs in the Western Grove area has been reported over the last few days.
The Harrison Daily Times reports an investigator with the Newton County Sheriffs Office says a local farmer started finding dead calves with their noses, lips and ears missing. At first, the farmer believed the calves were dying of blackleg or some other disease and the missing ears, lips and noses were just due to scavengers finding the calves before he did.
The deaths continued intermittently over a few weeks until someone saw a pack of dogs in a paddock containing several recently weaned calves. The dogs were chasing the calves and catching them by the nose and killing them.
The investigator says the calves ranged in weight from 300 to nearly 600 pounds.
Men shot at the dogs, believing they hit one. The other dogs ran away, but not before doing great damage. The death toll in the paddock that morning was nine calves.
When the calves were inspected they were missing their noses, lips and ears just as the earlier calves had been. The investigator says thats when he called the Sheriffs Office and law enforcement got involved.
Deputies and investigators began checking the area for dogs fitting the description, visiting with neighbors and residents around the area. They began searching for an owner of the dogs, which appeared to be well kept and not strays, but no owners were initially located.
The Newton County investigator says the attacks stopped for nearly three weeks. But then the dogs started up again, killing several more calves in Newton County and at least two pigs just over into Boone County. On other farms just over the county line, the dogs have apparently chased cattle through fences as well. One family alone has lost 31 calves. The officer noted this is a huge financial blow.
Over the weekend, the dogs were discovered to be back chasing calves and a farmer was able to shoot at least one of the dogs, but it ran away and they were unable to find it. The Sheriffs Office was called back and, with the help of the farmers and several local residents of both Newton and Boone counties, were able to find the owner of the dog that had been shot and the likely owner of another one.
The investigator says there are different dogs seen in the pack, but a couple is always there, as if they recruit other dogs.
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