Chesco sheep owner charged in killing of two dogs

[auburngrad82]

80. Said no person familiar with dogs or the breed

You do understand that some people don't see a big goofy, fun loving dog when a Bernese wanders up. They see a very large, potentially dangerous dog.

My best dog ever was a 90 pound lab chow mix. The sweetest dog in the world, she would never hurt anyone. But people backed off when they saw her because 1) she was black and 2) she was huge.

Black dogs are the last dogs to be adopted. Why? Appearance. People do judge books by their cover, so to say.

I'm not defending the guy, but I will say it's up to us as dog owners to do everything we can to protect our animals. We fenced in two acres of land and we padlock their kennels if we put them outside and leave, even for an hour. Accidents happen and animals, including mine, get out.

It looks like there'll be a trial. If he killed them out of meanness or spite or just because he could it will come out. Unfortunately it will probably be a misdemeanor or a low cost penalty since most states see pets as property and not family members. Animal abuse laws are too soft and there's not much deterrent to stop people from doing this.

On the other hand, if the dogs were running his sheep, (even if they weren't technically attacking them it just takes the appearance of aggression to the owner of the sheep) he was within his rights to protect the animals, just as we're within our rights to protect ours. I have herding dogs and I know how aggressive they can be when herding and to the owner of the sheep it is possible that it appeared they were attacking the sheep.

The story has already changed considerably since the first article was posted. I think it will probably change before there's a resolution. I wouldn't be surprised if there was bad blood between the "farmer" and the dogs' owners. But I'll wait to pass judgment until I see more details.