The wild beagles of Long Island
BY NICK BARNETTThe other day I wrote about the train-riding stray dogs of Moscow. Well, here's another example of abandoned dogs making their way without human guidance - but it's a sadder and probably more violent tale. Some beagles have gone wild in a district of New York state.
There's been at least one attempted attack on a person - news stories here and here, TV report here - and staff at local dog pounds are familiar with the beagles. Some of the dogs are held in shelters right now, with the hope that they can be rehabilitated for living in a household.
Let's hope so, because they've suffered.
Here's the story, according to animal shelter manager Pam Green: the dogs started out as part of hunting packs kept for chasing down rabbits in the woods of Long Island; they were kept in crates and, to keep them hunting-keen, have not been neutered; when the hunter decided that a dog was underperforming in its role, the dog would just be freed in the forest to make its own way - or die.
So these dogs were raised roughly, and spent much of their lives hungry and cold. Hence the troubles with residents - though these may have been exaggerated. I can't see any consistent estimates of how many of these dogs there are.
However many they are, can you believe that a person would treat dogs in that way? Raise them as unsocialised hunters, then abandon them? There is just no respect here for the dogs and how they'll end up, to say nothing of the possible human victims of the dogs' desperation-fired aggression.
I know little about hunting culture in New Zealand. How do owners treat their dogs? Is it a matter of "keep 'em lean, keep 'em mean" or are they more valued than that? Are hunting dogs integrated with their human household?
And it'd be good to hear some positive beagle stories!
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we have a hugarian Viszla who my husband uses for deer hunting. He is very much part of our family going to work with my husband eveyday, sleeping in a nice warm bed in our laundry at night and in the meantime lounging around on the couch or going for walks with me. I think he has a really good life with us, i do know of a few people with pig dogs and while they spend their life outside they have a decent yard to run around in and a nice kennel to keep them warm.
What a horrible way to treat a dog! We have 6 hunting pig hunting dogs and they are all well loved and cared for - kennels and plenty of exercise etc. The hounds used in NZ are also in general very well cared for and love their work.
my aunty takes her Chocolate lab as a gun dog. Turns out hes good at it! All my friends who hunt use the family dog as the hunting dog - its a game of fetch. Pig dogs are a little different sometimes as they have to be a tad more vicious... Farm dogs arent one of the family of course, they are working dogs, but usually still get treated quite well, because you dont want them disobeying you or harrassing the sheep!
My brother has hunting dogs, they are well cared for and part of the family, thye coem form good lines and are well trained an as such are worth a lot of money if he were to sell them, but I do know hunters mostly pig hunters who treat their dogs badly along the lines of treat them mean keep them keen, and if they don't perform just shoot them...........the majority of hunting and farming franterities do value their dogs for the jobs they do but some don't I do know one farmer who refused to get one of his bitches spayed every time she had a litter he drowned the litter, he refused all offers to take the puppies...........
Most pig dogs I know are kept very lean, some are fed only once or twice a week, it's gross! On the other hand I do know a guy who thinks the world of his pig dogs and takes them out for a lot of exercise and say 10years ago his pig dogs saved a child's life from a dog mauling. Great story, great dogs, they've never put a foot wrong for him.
my brother in law and i have battled for the last 15 years about the state he kept his hunting dogs in. And i am sad to say that he was by no means an isolated case. All his family and hunting friends have treated their dogs like absolute crap and if they disobey him, he will shoot them in the forest and leave them there.
It took for me to threaten to call the spca on him and now he doesnt keep dogs anymore.
I am disgusted how he kept them and how people still keep them...
dogs should be loved and respected family members, regardless of their function - they arent tools to be left in the shed and replaced at the drop of a hat.
Yes we should definitley stop the Beagle vivisection going on at Palmerston North. Whats wrong with the council up there? Its sick and wrong.. If your product requires toxicity testing on animals you can shove your product up your %$^#$%
I have two beagles and they are my family members. I love them to bits, they often sleep in my bed and I hate putting them in kennels when I go away. They don't hunt - they are purely pets. I can't believe hunters would have such disregard for their animals.
Not all farmers are very caring. My dog sister has just been sent back to our breeder because she was taking to long to learn how to be a farm dog.
She is only 14 months old not really much more than a puppy. She is lucky our breeder cares for her dogs and is going to bring her up to a healthy weight and re home her as a pet.
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This is very sad and not how any dog should be treated! I have 18 beagles, although not for hunting purposes. Beagles in NZ are not used for hunting much, but there are several packs of their bigger cousins the Harrier Hound. They are bred for hunting but do NOT get dumped if they prove unsuitable as a hunting hound. Dumping of beagles in NZ could become a problem if the research facility keep breeding them at their current quantity and quality and selling them to people with no dog knowledge. Failing to provide any back up if the new owners experience any problems (health or temperament) has already resulted in many, many beagles being re-homed. It will only get worse :(