If that was me, I would be pulling out the old 12 gauge and 3 pooches would be now terrorizing the Bridge. That what it is going to take.

 

Same thing happened to a dear friend. Dogs raided her farm and killed some of her pet goats. Her llamas kicked the dogs out of there though before they killed more of her goats.

Poor sweet horsey. I'm surprised they're not blaming it on wolves though.

Oh I hate to hear stuff like this.

 

Originally Posted By: flyinghayden If that was me, I would be pulling out the old 12 gauge and 3 pooches would be now terrorizing the Bridge. That what it is going to take.

This is really sad. Normally I'm not prone to people using deadly measures to resolve problems, but you have to protect yourself and your animals and it looks like this may be the only solution unless A/C can take control of the dogs in question.

 

It is sad and the owners screwed up by not taking controlling their dogs seriously. Or else the dogs just got loose. (It happens sometimes.) But please step back a bit folks - this isn't directed specifically at Arycrest but at several posts in this thread.

1. Depending upon WHERE in Boulder this happened, it could have been impossible for the owner to responsibly use a gun to stop the attack. There is a lot of development around Boulder & he could have put a lot more at risk by shooting unless the situation was right, he could also have shot the horse by accident.

2. Hard to blame it on wolves in Colorado. Although the reintroduced wolves (Yellowstone, Grand Teton) in the west have spread quite a bit, Boulder Colorado is quite the stretch for them. Really really really hard to try to make that case - Bob cats, coyotes, bears but not wolves.

3. As I understand it, A/C has the dogs in question.

Realistically, a 32 yo horse probably will not recover from a serious trauma. That's one reason I'm insisting that my 31 yo horse not be moved from the turnout she's in. Some of the others have bad fences and I know what a bad fence can do to a horse.

 

My uncle shot a dog of mine years ago when it went after a newborn calf. He couldn't call it off. This was on a 350 acre farm so the dog was running loose. She never bothered the animals in the years before but went after the calf with a vengeance.

It was a 5 year old chocolate lab. Luckily the kids weren't there to see it.

 

A few years back we had to redo our horse fence, went from the boards to the no climb type fence. It was done to protect my old horses, ages 31 & 26. Sad thing is, our guys didn't need protection from four legged preditors.... it was for 2 legged ones that were bringing their "young ones" in to pet the horses and feed them grass. Can't shoot them..... The historical society up the road from us opened a new museum and that brought in all sorts of folks, including ones that were from the city who never had the chance to be up close to a horse. But excuse me, please don't go into my fenced in area with your 3 year old daughter. This happened more than once, guess people can't read. Hence different fencing and larger signs.
I didn't read the above article, I wouldn't be able to stomach it.I don't understand people who let their dogs run. my heart goes out to the horse and her owners.

 

I lived in Norco, Ca. several years ago, it's rural, but also heavily populated, I had neighbors behind me with 2 large Akitas that would come into my yard from the back of their property over the fence. In the course of a year and a half they decimated my chickens, killed 2 barn cats and severely injured my brave little Corgi who tried to protect her yard from them. I don't know how many times I threatened the owners with every imaginable scenario, and Animal Control just dragged their feet just leaving little notices on their gate. These people were low class pieces of crap who could care less what they're dogs were doing, the final straw was when they attacked my 3 day old foal, the mare was trying to protect her and in the course of charging them kept knocking the terrified baby down and stepping on her. I'm telling you, after spending a fortune in stud fees ( the sire a National Champion Arabian Stallion), medications, mare care etc.... I had just had enough, I grabbed the metal pitchfork, and with every thing I had stabbed it into the side of one of the dogs, the other dog I bashed over the head with it literally knocking it unconscious, I dragged both injured dogs off my property to the front of the house and called the police, who told me I was within my rights to shoot both dogs. The a-hole owners were notified and took their dogs, one I'm sorry to say didn't make it, he probably never took them to the vet and it died from infection from the puncture wounds, one did survive..... BUT, I told the owner if I ever saw it on my property again, I would kill it, no questions asked. I had had ENOUGH of the

!!!

The foal was not badly injured and in fact my screen name is her, she went on to be a multiple halter/performance champion, and is currently the apple of my eye, living the life of a pasture ornament with me waiting on her hand and foot.

I have had several German Shepherds, and there is one unforgiveable vice in my eyes, aggression to horses, I have bred and raised horses for over 30 years and they are as dear to me as any of my dogs, if the dogs cannot live with them, than they have to live somewhere else, I spend A LOT of time with my new dogs training them to respect and accept them, through the years I have seen some horrific dog attacks on horses, and I simply will not tolerate it. The only dog I had to rehome for horse aggression was a Doberman bitch, she just could not be trusted , one day I came home and one of the yearlings had a torn top lip from where it must have tried to sniff at her , it needed several stitches and that was the last blow for her. I found her a nice suburban home with a friend from work.

 

I wonder if these 2 guys just open the door and let the dogs wander free. But very sad for a horse that has lived such a long life...32 years! Didn't even know horses lived that long!

LARHAGE - very thought provoking story. Right now, I'm thinking I can never hurt an animal that can be someone's pet, but I don't know what will happen if one attacked my own. Not sure if I have it in me until the situation calls for it. I'm very concerned when a pitbull comes near my boy.

 

Trust me on this, you watch two dogs attacking and trying to kill a foal that you have been waiting for with hopes and dreams for 11 long months, the third generation of your breeding, and the first filly out of your all time favorite old mare, and believe me, the Tasmanian Devil in you would be easily released, at that point the two worthless bully dogs feelings, or their inconsiderate owners were the last things on my mind. I don't regret the decision one iota, and every morning when I walk out to the barn and see my Rhage nickering at me, especially now that her dam, my heart horse, is no longer living, well... it was MORE than worth it.

 

How incredibly sad.

 

Originally Posted By: LARHAGETrust me on this, you watch two dogs attacking and trying to kill a foal that you have been waiting for with hopes and dreams for 11 long months, the third generation of your breeding, and the first filly out of your all time favorite old mare, and believe me, the Tasmanian Devil in you would be easily released, at that point the two worthless bully dogs feelings, or their inconsiderate owners were the last things on my mind.

I grew up in the country, strange dogs on your farm/ranch were just shot as standard practice usually. People's dogs ran free all the time, the bad ones that went to others property and caused trouble weren't around long. The good ones lived long happy lives.

I would have zero tolerance for a loose dog coming on my property attacking anything.