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| May 15, 1975 Shelton Mason County Journal |  |
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May 15, 1975 |
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i'larstine Island fl)r 38
I don't want the
iled with traps and
dogs are with me
first experience with
Occurred four years
~ays. "I was working in
and suddenly tound
by four dogs
g Small brown Labs.
Circled me," she
bared teeth. I
and chased them,
away."
since encountered the
a different pack three
on the south part of
she says. "These dogs
she adds, "to
to walk in
Frances Bacon have
residents on the
two years, and
vacationed there.
In early January they saw dogs
eating'a deer on the beach.
"I investigated," says AI, "and
six dogs ran off. One was almost
white, but the rest were brownish
gold and all had white tips on
their tails."
AI Bacon states that a deer
was killed near their beach home
last summer, and that in the fall
of the year a pack was in action
just beyond their doorstep with
one dog actually under the deck.
He reports that raccoons, tame as
pets, have been killed.
Bacon, president of Harstine
Community Club, has continued
procedures instigated under the
direction of outgoing president
Wayne Browning, who headed a
committee to draft a letter to the
state department of game.
"A meeting held by the club
last spring," says Bacon, "was
attended by State Senator
Gordon Sandison, County
Commissioner Martin Auseth,
State Wildlife Agent Dennis •hide
and Sheriff Dan McNair.
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"Senator Sandison agreed to
introduce legislation designed to
specifically protect game animals
in the same manner as domestic
animals are now protected.
However, this has not yet been
accomplished.
"It is my idea," Bacon
emphasizes, "that the game
department should have more
authority to act."
Frances Bacon laments the
fact the beautiful island now hgr
home should be unsafe for a
woodland walk.
"It has often been discussed
at Community Club meetings,"
she announces. "We're afraid that
someday the dogs will kill a
child."
John and P. J. Dunlap, at
approximately 10:30 one night
were walking along the beach near
their Harstine Art Gallery when
five dogs sprang out of the brush.
John describes them as very
threatening and told of their
movements as a pack.
"There was a raccoon on our
beach," he says. "She had babies
and we were feeding her. The
dogs got her."
On two occasions last summer
Mrs. John Laubach drove away
dogs that had encircled the tent in
which her children Were sleeping
at night on the beach.
"I've seen dogs running deer
on the road," she says. "Many of
them look like they're crossed
with coyotes. These are Labrador
types. Dogs in the other pack are
more like shepherds.
"Wild dogs are constantly
increasing in number," she
declares. ''There are no predators
to control them. They look very
well-fed."
Three weeks ago her
13-year-old son was chased
through the woods by three dogs.
Another son, while riding his
bike, encountered a pack of five
dogs on the road.
Ray Stevens, who picks brush,
declares that there are as many
deer-running dogs around Agate
as on the island.
"Most of these dogs are
apparently uncontrolled pets," he
advises. "Lots of them are
wearing collars.
• "On Harstine," he continues,
"I've usually seen the wild dogs at
the center of the island. I once
saw a female with six pups, all
gold-color with white-tipped tails.
"Two dogs I saw running deer
were close enough that I could see
Tacoma identification on their
collars. They were real skinny."
Other Harstine Island
i'esidents narrating experiences
with wild dogs are John Trauba,
Dot Smith and Beth Minor. All
agree that at least two packs exist
on the island and that they subsist
mainly on deer.
According to many witnesses,
the dogs kill and feed, to then
leave the site of the slaughter.
They do not return to the carcass
for a second meal, but kill again
in a distant area.
Wildlife Agent Dennis •hide
maintains that while the problem
is of long standing, it has become
more serious in the last three
years.
"In the case of feral dogs on
Harstine Island," he explains,
"there are no owners to
prosecute. If there were in
existence a state law or a county
ordinance authorizing an agency
to confiscate or to destroy such
unlicensed, uncontrolled and
unowned animals, some control
might be affected.
"We need a county.
ordinance," he continues, "that
can control dogs by imposing
some sort of licensing system to
be enforceable under the
jurisdiction of a humane
organization.
"For game management
purposes we must have,
ultimately, the same law now in
effect in certain other states
which makes it legal for law
enforcement officers to destroy
Wayne Roberts
on the scene any uncontrolled
dog wearing no collar or tag and
pursuing or killing wildlife.
"Dogs are meant for domestic
purposes, and when they revert to
chasing and killing deer for their
subsistence they are no longer of
value to man and are a menace to
wildlife."
State Wildlife Agent Wayne
Roberts attributes to boredom
much of the deer-chasing done by
the domestic dog.
"People acquire pets," he
comments, "and then give them
very little attention. Many owners
don't even know what their dogs
do or where they are most of the
time.
"The dumping of unwanted
dogs has contributed a lot to the
problem, too," he adds. "Those
that survive are the fittest, and
soon learn to kill in order to eat."
The wild dogs of Harstine
Island, according to persons
interviewed, have probably
descended from animals left years
ago to fend for themselves by
summer people returning to their
city homes and from dogs
dumped by unconscientious
owners. These canines have long
interbred to produce many
generations of dogs born in the
wild who have never known a
friendship with mankind.
It is rumored that in the past
persons hunting illegally on
of Shelton
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Squaxin Island brought with them
expendable dogs to run deer.
When the hunters departed with
their poached deer, the dogs were
left as founders of the present
packs.
"Let's face facts," demands
Tom Nelson of Shelton, an
oysterman and fisherman who
often works on Little Skookum
Bay. "Wild dogs may kill deer on
Harstine Island, but the same
thing goes on every day all over
Mason County, and the dogs
doing the damage are domestic
ones.
"I've seen as many as 25 of
them congregating around the
slaughterhouse on Kamilche
Point. Then they take off for the
hunt. A confirmed runner finds
himself a partner. This goes on
until a pack is formed.
"I'd swear that 99 and 44/100
percent of the deer-chasers are
domestic dogs. They are the same
gentle "or Sheps" that lie in
front of fireplaces at the feet of
their unsuspecting masters at
night. And don't think they're
not as vicious as any so-called
wild dog when you meet them in
the woods. It's a Jekyll and Hyde
af&ir."
Nelson can cite dozens of
incidents in which deer have been
chased into waters to die of shock
and exhaustion, and dozens more
wherein ihe deer have been
brought down to be devoured
alive.
"The dogs start eating on the
haunches," he says, "while the
deer is still living.
"Size makes no difference,
either," he insists. "In the
depression of the '30s poaching
was accomplished with the aid of
a "jump dog," preferably a small
pocket-sized terrier. When
released the dog would start a
deer and give chase for a few
hundred feet, then return to his
owner's pocket."
Nelson is still highly incensed
over the killing of a deer by a pet
dog on a Hood Canal beach a year
ago.
"There were plenty of
witnesses," he maintains. "The
case went to court and the owner
of the dog received only a
minimal fine.
"The problem defies solution.
No ordinance is going to help.
What good has the city ordinance
done?"
Tufts of hair marked a~trail in
the Grapeview area where a deer
was brought down by dogs on
April 14. Witnesses notified
Dennis •hide, who humanely
destroyed the still-living doe with
tattered throat and mangled
haunches, her tag torn from her
bleeding body. Her abdomen was
opened to prove her pregnant
with two tiny fawns. Three deer
were needlessly lost.
In this case witnesses
recognized the cull;rits who were
traced to their owner. He
exterminated the animals,
eliminating the need for court
procedures.
"One of our biggest
frustrations," the wildlife agents
agree, "is the fact that people
refuse to believe that their own
dogs could be guilty. Absolutely
any dog is a potential deer-chaser.
"Most of Mason County is
deer habitat, and much of our
population lives in the middle of
such areas. When dogs are allowed
to run free during either day or
night, and when they stay away
for long periods, owners should
be concerned."
Dennis •hide announces that
a dog may run his first deer in a
playful mood, but when the
mischievous nip draws blood, the
deer suddenly becomes food and
the dog becomes a predator.
"Once they start," •hide
vows, "it's impossible to break
Fireworks can start forest
fire~ l
them of the habit. Don't let it
begin."
The wild dog and the
deer-chasing domestic dog share a
common problem caused not
initially by themselves but by
irresponsible human beings. This
fact emerges in steadfast
regularity from numerous
interviews. From these same
interviews arises the question:
What can responsible persons do
to alleviate this situation?
"With authority to act and
with plenty of volunteer help,"
states Dennis •hide, "we might
have hopes of coping with the
problem."
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Thursday, May 15, 1975 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page I1