Gentle German Shepherds killed; owners say they were shot by hunters

[BowWowMeow]

This is a very sad situation but way too common. I lived many years out in the country and I was very careful where my dog(s) and I walked during hunting season. It is absolutely not safe anywhere near the woods during deer rifle season. Dogs get shot all of the time. I remember one year someone's great dane got shot when the dog was in the owner's back yard.

I remember another year when a woman waving a white mitten to signal to the hunters to get off of her property was shot in her own yard. It goes on and on and on. While there are many responsible hunters who hunt for food, there are others who have a very cavalier attitude (and are often drunk while hunting).

The moral of this story is if you live near legal hunting areas, be sure to wear brightly colored clothing and put a vest on your dog and keep her/him on a leash at all times. I would avoid the woods altogether.

Here are two recent cases where gsds were mistaken for coyotes and killed by hunters. In one case the gsd had orange flagging on his collar.
Dixfield hunter charged with shooting dog | Sun Journal

And here's a case where a guy mistook his hunting buddy for a deer and shot and critically wounded him. Hunter Mistakes Friend For Deer In Shooting - Baltimore News Story - WBAL Baltimore

And here's one where a hunter mistook a labrador retriever for a deer and shot the dog's owner. The Argus-Press - Google News Archive Search

[x0emiroxy0x]

Paddy D--

I have a 3.9 GPA, scored a 2090 on the SAT, am in the honors association of my college, and I HUNT!

I can out shoot you (bow/rifle/or pistol), and out think you as well! So much for your IGNORANT assumption about hunters...

[x0emiroxy0x]

And please....double check my spelling. Because on a dog forum, the world might END if I spelled a word wrong in my post!

[Dainerra]

BowWow, all those are very good points, but still pretty far from the situation admitted by the owners of these dogs. These dogs were on the hunters property, no owners or leashes, "exploring". Some hunters are idiots and some are jerks, just like every walk of life. Most of them are good conscientious people who are doing something they enjoy or trying to provide food for their families.
How many times do you hear (at least every state I've lived in) announcements and reminders that hunting season is upon us? To be safe and always wear orange in the woods. Leaving your dogs out to roam at this time of year borders on criminal. It's just pure common sense, like playing on thin ice. Sure, you might be ok, but why take extra chances?

There are two options, once you read between the lines of the story, 1 - the dogs saw something exciting and sped off into the woods or 2 - the dogs were left outside alone (or not a close watch) and wandered off exploring far enough that the owners had to hunt for them when they realized they were gone.

Dogs just don't "wander" off and explore while ignoring their owners. Especially dogs that are "going to be therapy" dogs. At that age, they should be pretty solid in at least the basics, including a good recall. Of course, "gentle dogs that are going to do therapy work" gets a lot more sympathy from the public than "out of control untrained dogs racing through the woods barking and causing a ruckus."

Remember, there are 2 sides to every story, his, hers, and the truth. In this case, there is only the owners, who have an obvious bias since they know and love their dogs.

[Caitydid255]

When I read the article my first thought was "did the dogs get confused with coyotes?" Freyja has been called a coyote several times, and even Angus, our black & tan, has been called a coyote. Further, at even 100 yards it can be difficult to differentiate a GSD from a coyote. This is why we put their orange capes on when we let them out from October through March. My husband's family has a farm not too far away, and even though the property is fenced in, we don't let the dogs wander more than 15 feet from us, as you never know whether they will spook up a deer or we may come upon a poacher.

Last year the coyotes in our area decimated the spring fawn population, which in turn drove the deer from the area. As a result people were shooting coyotes on sight. I can easily see someone thinking that two large coyotes have walked in front of them, and are more than willing to #1 reduce the coyote population and #2 get a nice set of pelts. It would only be after they went up to the animal that they would have discovered that they made a mistake. Additionally, Connecticut has a law in which hunters are to shoot a dog on sight if it is "worrying a deer", and people have full rights to shoot a dog or any other animal that is "worrying livestock". With this article we only have the story of the owners, not the hunters. Judging from my own experience and from reading the article, I would say that the blame lies solely upon the owners of the dogs.

[Caledon]

I understand that a dog can be shot for chacing a deer because that is the law in many areas. I just can't figure out the original reason behind the law.

Many references has been that hunters can shoot a dog for chacing and now "worriying a deer". Is the law there for the hunters? I originally thought it was to protect wildlife, but there is not a law that says a dog can be shot for chacing a squirerrel/fox/rabbit/racoon/etc. But there is a death sentence for doing so to a deer.

[krystyne73]

See this is the concern I have with the new house we just bought. We have property in back that goes down a bluff to land owned by some one else. I want to fence off the area that is actually ours because I have found other people on the land hunting, I am not sure exactly what part of the woods we own.
My neighbor was complaining about me saying I would fence it off, but I said I hike down there with my dogs so I don't want any of us to get shot. No one around here seems to fence their land off but I am not so inviting lol
We hear gun shots night and day, plus the deer are coming up the bluff now.

[GSDElsa]

I find it intersting that most people are believing the one-sided sob story of the dogs' owner.

[Caitydid255]

Originally Posted by Caledon

I understand that a dog can be shot for chacing a deer because that is the law in many areas. I just can't figure out the original reason behind the law.

I know in New England, whitetail deer were on the endangered species list for quite a while due to the deforestation and farming across the region. Their numbers started growing in the 70's with the loss of farmlands to residential development and their population has exploded until they are the "rats with hooves" that are overly abundant everywhere.

[Jax08]

You do NOT let your dogs leave the yard or leave them unattended during deer season. It's a horrible loss, and a horribly learned lesson. If this story is factual, then the hunters are low class scum. ANY dog running deer at any time will be shot. But any dogs running are fair game during hunting season.