I'm Mad About This!

[jdmidwest]

At least he saved the collars, those are getting pretty pricey these days.

[techo]

Woohoo! Get to share some dog pics!

[eric1978]

Is that a Blue Heeler techo? I just read the other day that the oldest dog ever was a 29 1/2 year old Blue Heeler from Australia. Cool dogs.

[techo]

Is that a Blue Heeler techo? I just read the other day that the oldest dog ever was a 29 1/2 year old Blue Heeler from Australia. Cool dogs.

Yepper. Her name is Nikki. The smartest person errr dog I have ever met. She loves to fish, hike camp or do anything her family is doing. She is hard to photograph though as she is seems to be camera shy. A bit of a bed hog though.

[Justin Spencer]

But I highly doubt that the dog would have stopped running the deer in order for him to catch it. Maybe the owner could have called it off the deer, but probably not a stranger. So exactly how else was he going to get the dog off the deer?

If the dog was running a deer how did the ranger get close enough to shoot it. I would guess he shot it with a handgun, unless our rangers now pack rifles with them wherever they go. I agree that dogs loose are a problem, but it seemed as if the owner knew his dog was lost and was trying to find it. Most owners in the Ozarks, including myself just let their dogs live unkenneled. This works as long as they stick around, mine stay right around the house unless I go somewhere with them. When I leave I pen them up. I have a herd of 7 deer that I see in the front yard several times a week. When the dogs see them, they bark, and I have one that always chases them off. They are usually back within 15 minutes. I think deer know when they are really in danger, and I doubt they feel terribly threatened by a beagle.

[Wayne SW/MO]

The dog was running deer and out of control of its owner, 2 faults. What is the problem? Is there more to the story than what I read? Seems like the officer was in his rights to protect the park land.

If you've ever been around Beagles I suspect you would think different. First off, beagles don't "run" they push. I think the guy has a very legitimate point in that a lack of any obstructions would hardly allow a dog with legs that short to harass any grown deer. I suspect that a deer turned to confront the dog because it had no fear of it. I've seen deer do that even with housecats.

I hope he stays after them, because it simply doesn't sound right.

[Gavin]

A sorry situaton all around. There was no good in it.

But just for the sake of argument...How do you know that the dog wasnt trained to chase deer? Deer dogging is a popular activity in some parts of the Ozarks. I hear dogs & ATV's running deer on the Shannon County side of the Current occassionally. I'm sure it occurs elsewhere.

[fozzie.]

That seems like an awful lot of conjecture. I don't mean to sound cold, but:

Will a beagle, even one ten inches high, chase deer? Yes.

Does a dog chasing deer constitute harassment of wildlife? Yes.

Can a ranger destroy a dog for harrassing wildlife? Yes.

I don't necessarily agree with it, and if it had been my dog that was shot I'd be mad too..but I'm not sure the ranger was doing anything more sinister than performing his job.

[fishinwrench]

That seems like an awful lot of conjecture. I don't mean to sound cold, but:

Will a beagle, even one ten inches high, chase deer? Yes.

Does a dog chasing deer constitute harassment of wildlife? Yes.

Can a ranger destroy a dog for harrassing wildlife? Yes.

I don't necessarily agree with it, and if it had been my dog that was shot I'd be mad too..but I'm not sure the ranger was doing anything more sinister than performing his job.

If he HADN'T shot the dog...He would still have his job, right ?

[jdmidwest]

If he HADN'T shot the dog...He would still have his job, right ?

He still has a job, just got transferred for his safety, fearing for his life after the newspaper article came out. At least, that was what I read somewhere.