Be Responsible for your dogs:
- Fence your dogs
- Vaccinate your dogs
- Keep them quiet and under control
- Pickup after your dogs
Fence Your Dogs:
Dogs can pose a serious problem for a multitude of wild creatures while wildlife can cause devastating problems for dogs.
Bearwatch recommends invisible fencing - an electric underground cable
transmitting to a dog collar. It is aesthetically pleasing to the eye
and it really works!
The following are the reasons you should fence your dogs:
- It is the county law that all pets be fenced.
- When left to roam freely, dogs can often form packs and harass or
kill wildlife. This is especially true in mountain and foothill
subdivisions. A pack of dogs… well fed or not… will often kill or
mutilate deer and domestic livestock (as we have recently read about in
the East Mountain Telegraph). Lone dogs also, when not fenced, can kill
an enormous variety of wildlife.
- Unfenced dogs can spread diseases to wildlife especially if the
dog’s vaccinations are not up to date. Even if the dog’s vaccinations
are up to date, a dog could infect wildlife with diseases that are not
covered with vaccinations.
- When left unattended, dogs can be potential food for coyote,
bobcat and mountain lion. The East Mountains are mountain lion country.
Your dog should be kept in a sturdy, covered kennel or inside your home.
- Dogs that are not fenced can pick up fleas from wild animals.
These fleas could infect the dog with bubonic plague. If
the dog comes into human contact, the fleas could infect the person
with the plague, or if the dog is infected with the plague, the dog
could give it directly to the person.
Vaccinate Your Dogs:
- Dogs can spread rabies, distemper, mange and other canine diseases to wildlife.
- Likewise, wildlife can infect dogs with these diseases and the dogs could then infect you with these same diseases.
Other Responsibilities You Have For Your Dogs:
- Respect nature and your neighbor’s space by keeping your dogs quiet and under control.
- Dispose of dog droppings to prevent infections.
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