- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
Wild dogs menace deer in Carnarvon
Bryn Weese
Local news - Thursday, March 30, 2006 @ 07:00
A trio of wild dogs has been repeatedly sighted in the Carnarvon area, harassing, killing and eating deer along the way.
All winter long, sightings have been reported north of Carnarvon along the Highway 35 corridor as well on Highway 118 east of the crossroads. The numerous reports describe the large animals as two black dogs and a brown, short-haired terrier-like dog with an orange or red collar. The latter could be the very same dog, reported in last week’s Times, that was seen eating a deer alive on Highway 118 by Marylou Packard.
Another resident of Stanhope, Ralph Johnson, has also seen the dogs. Reporting yet another gruesome scene, Johnson says he found the dogs mauling a deer while it was still alive near his property on Peterson Road.
Johnson’s report confirms what others have described: wo big black dogs and one brownish dog with a collar.
“I saw them across from my property eating a deer,” he says about the incident that happened almost a month ago. “I drove up to them and saw that, the same as was in the paper last week, the deer was still alive.
They had eaten the butt out of it.”
Johnson returned to his house to get a gun to put the deer out of its misery and by the time he returned to the scene, the deer was dead and the dogs were gone.
Johnson insists the dogs he saw were not coyotes. Johnson thought that the two black dogs might be wolves but is unsure given the way the black dogs bark and the fact that he understands it is rare for wolves and dogs to socialize.
But at least one individual thinks otherwise.
Dave Cober is a Carnarvon resident who came within 20 feet of the beasts about six weeks ago when they were eating a live deer on the side of Highway 35 and Anglesey Road in broad daylight. He says two of the three dogs may in fact be wolves.
“There were two black ones and one beige and tan dog with a collar,” he says. “I wouldn’t know if the two black ones were wolves or not, but they didn’t look like domesticated dogs. They were definitely wild. I would say they were wolves, the two black ones.”
In May of last year, Cober had seen wolves feeding on a deer in the same spot.
Admittedly, the brown-coloured dog with the orange collar was at one point a domesticated dog, but because of the orange collar, Cober thinks it was likely a hunting dog that has taken to the wild and joined the wolves for food.
Whatever the species, wild dogs, wolves, or a combination thereof, there remains the question about what, if anything, should be done about them or who should do it.
Mitch O’Grady, a bylaw enforcement officer with Algonquin Highlands, says that there is a municipal bylaw for dogs running at large. The owner, if found, can be charged with a $125 fine for a first offence. The fine, says O’Grady, can rise to $5,000 for additional offences that need to be tried in a court of law. Dogs caught running at large without a collar are taken to the pound in Huntsville.
Despite the dog bylaw, however, O’Grady is quick to point out that dogs harassing deer are a Ministry of Natural Resources responsibility and people who witness the latter should call the MNR directly.
“Why would I go out there with a pen when they the conservation officers go out there with a gun,” says O’Grady.
And guns are one way the MNR deals with dogs on the loose.
Mike Ladouceur of the MNR recently told the Times that dogs caught harassing deer outside of deer season could be shot by conservation officers.
If two of the three dogs are wolves, it is unknown what will happen to them. However, although Ralph Johnson is reluctant to say what he’ll do if he sees them again, his silence says it all. Especially considering Johnson lost a cat to a coyote last year.
The MNR could not be reached for comment about what actions, if any, they will take concerning the three dogs in Carnarvon.
To report dogs on the loose, call the MNR Minden office at 286-1521.
Bryn Weese
Local news - Thursday, March 30, 2006 @ 07:00
A trio of wild dogs has been repeatedly sighted in the Carnarvon area, harassing, killing and eating deer along the way.
All winter long, sightings have been reported north of Carnarvon along the Highway 35 corridor as well on Highway 118 east of the crossroads. The numerous reports describe the large animals as two black dogs and a brown, short-haired terrier-like dog with an orange or red collar. The latter could be the very same dog, reported in last week’s Times, that was seen eating a deer alive on Highway 118 by Marylou Packard.
Another resident of Stanhope, Ralph Johnson, has also seen the dogs. Reporting yet another gruesome scene, Johnson says he found the dogs mauling a deer while it was still alive near his property on Peterson Road.
Johnson’s report confirms what others have described: wo big black dogs and one brownish dog with a collar.
“I saw them across from my property eating a deer,” he says about the incident that happened almost a month ago. “I drove up to them and saw that, the same as was in the paper last week, the deer was still alive.
They had eaten the butt out of it.”
Johnson returned to his house to get a gun to put the deer out of its misery and by the time he returned to the scene, the deer was dead and the dogs were gone.
Johnson insists the dogs he saw were not coyotes. Johnson thought that the two black dogs might be wolves but is unsure given the way the black dogs bark and the fact that he understands it is rare for wolves and dogs to socialize.
But at least one individual thinks otherwise.
Dave Cober is a Carnarvon resident who came within 20 feet of the beasts about six weeks ago when they were eating a live deer on the side of Highway 35 and Anglesey Road in broad daylight. He says two of the three dogs may in fact be wolves.
“There were two black ones and one beige and tan dog with a collar,” he says. “I wouldn’t know if the two black ones were wolves or not, but they didn’t look like domesticated dogs. They were definitely wild. I would say they were wolves, the two black ones.”
In May of last year, Cober had seen wolves feeding on a deer in the same spot.
Admittedly, the brown-coloured dog with the orange collar was at one point a domesticated dog, but because of the orange collar, Cober thinks it was likely a hunting dog that has taken to the wild and joined the wolves for food.
Whatever the species, wild dogs, wolves, or a combination thereof, there remains the question about what, if anything, should be done about them or who should do it.
Mitch O’Grady, a bylaw enforcement officer with Algonquin Highlands, says that there is a municipal bylaw for dogs running at large. The owner, if found, can be charged with a $125 fine for a first offence. The fine, says O’Grady, can rise to $5,000 for additional offences that need to be tried in a court of law. Dogs caught running at large without a collar are taken to the pound in Huntsville.
Despite the dog bylaw, however, O’Grady is quick to point out that dogs harassing deer are a Ministry of Natural Resources responsibility and people who witness the latter should call the MNR directly.
“Why would I go out there with a pen when they the conservation officers go out there with a gun,” says O’Grady.
And guns are one way the MNR deals with dogs on the loose.
Mike Ladouceur of the MNR recently told the Times that dogs caught harassing deer outside of deer season could be shot by conservation officers.
If two of the three dogs are wolves, it is unknown what will happen to them. However, although Ralph Johnson is reluctant to say what he’ll do if he sees them again, his silence says it all. Especially considering Johnson lost a cat to a coyote last year.
The MNR could not be reached for comment about what actions, if any, they will take concerning the three dogs in Carnarvon.
To report dogs on the loose, call the MNR Minden office at 286-1521.
