Farmer who shot dogs in feedlot gets earful from city slickers
UXBRIDGE — Urbanites who moved to the country in 1999 got a taste of the harsh reality of rural life when their pet dogs were shot by a farmer.
The two golden retrievers were running loose and began to spook the livestock in a farmer’s feeding area when they were shot Oct. 24.
The grieving Jenkins family said their dogs wouldn’t "hurt a fly" and consulted a lawyer. They were told that a farmer has the right to kill a dog that is attacking his livestock or even straying on property where animals are kept. Helen Jenkins said she hopes the law can be changed to find an alternative solution to killing.
The urban meets rural incident appeared in The Toronto Star and National Post newspapers. Here’s The National Post story lead: "The news out of Uxbridge, Ont., today is distressing to dog lovers. The small Ontario community located north-east of Toronto, a mixture of farms, an old town main street and new subdivisions, is abuzz about the death of two family pets…"
The Toronto Star story noted that dogs can spook cows and chickens to death and that a dog owner can be sued for chasing a cow into a fence and it breaks its neck and some prize cows are valued at $250,000.
The incident created a flurry of website responses to The National Post. Here are a few of them:
• "I commend the farmer for the action and the animal control officer for supporting it."
• "They say their dogs wouldn’t hurt a fly. I’ve heard that one before."
• "If the dogs are in the feeding area, warning shots, calling animal control or saying "nice doggie, go home" are not options."
• "Instead of explaining to their little Yuppies to be that the mean, mean man killed their doggies, maybe Mom and Pop Jenkins should explain that the world is rough place and that there are consequences to irresponsible actions."
• "I realize it’s much easier for a farmer to pull out a gun and shoot somebody’s pet than call the humane society to pick them up and farmers being generally lazy they will always do the easiest thing."
• "Who cares if what he did was legal, it was highly unethical. Why is there such a huge gulf between the laws for humans and the laws for animals."