Feral and Stray Dogs and our Wild Game Natural Resources

Let me start this off saying that I have nothing against dogs.  I happen to love well mannered, well trained dogs.  My family has always owned them and I have even owned a few wonderful Labradors from puppy through old age in my adult life.  One even passed away in my arms as she took her last breaths at almost 14 years old, so don't think I don't understand the bond a man and his dog can have.

In my quests for information on what I hunt I picked up a book written by Dr. Leonard Rue III called The Deer of North America.  Dr. Rue published this book back in 1978 and it is a thorough account of all things "deer" that could almost be a textbook used in Deer 101, if that course existed back then.  Most of the information still is spot on today but in the book, statistics are sited and references where made that have become outdated through time.  At a certain point in the book, Dr. Rue discusses predation of deer by feral and stray dog and suggests that the damage dogs do to deer is significant and says

"Dogs probably take a greater toll of deer than all other the predators combined."  Leonard Rue III, The Deer of North America, 1978

Now, don't go yelling at me for that statement, it is not mine, you can go read it yourself in the book, page 210, 4th paragraph down.  Now, just because it says that, it doesn't mean it is true for today, perhaps 40 years ago there were many more stray and feral dogs running around.  Makes sense, I remember a time when letting the dog out was opening the door, the dog goes about it's business without a fence or leash and then when it wanted back in, it barked or scratched at the door.  That was in the 70's and 80's and since then leash laws have become more of the norm in local municipal code cutting back on the number of unleashed, feral and stray dogs we see on a day to day basis.

For clarification, a feral dog is a dog that lives completely without human help, basically a wild domestic dog. A stray dog, often depends on humans for food and shelter but routinely and/or randomly is left to roam.

Dr. Rue makes reference to wild dogs he came across around 1940 about 80 years ago that wiped out the nucleus of deer and then turned to sheep and cattle.  This caused an urgency to remove the dogs, and once the dogs were killed, it took more than two years for the deer to repopulate.  Other studies he references compares stress on deer by dogs due to longer chases, the numbers of dogs by comparison to other predators, various other studies and he also shares a number of statements by Fish and Game professionals pertaining to wild and feral dog predation.

This however is not a book report, the book is greatly educational and you should read it for yourself. The reason I reference this now is because of personal experience.  When I read this information, I said 'hmmm' and moved on.

I did contact Dr. Rue and asked if he knew of any feral dog predation. His response to me was that he was not aware of any feral dog packs in his area and stated that when it was a problem it was due to the great depression and city folk dropping their pets off in the rural areas because they could not fed them anymore thus feral dog packs were formed. And I agree, I think most dog kills would be stray dogs and that of the feral dogs we do have in this country, strays probably outnumber them tremendously.

Now we get to personal experience.

This past 2018 hunting season brought this information out of the back of my mind and had me start asking questions.  Several things occurred to do this and I will share a few.

Back in September as bow season was beginning, I had hunted the morning and was heading back to the house for a few hours before an afternoon hunt.  The house is nestled in the middle of a few hundred acres of deer habitat in a rural setting.  As I approached the house I was told that a herd of about 6 or 7 deer just passed by the back of the house and they seemed to be frantically calling for another deer left behind.  We assumed a coyote had taken down a fawn and the rest of the herd had left it behind to save their own hides.  A few phone calls were made and it was soon found out that several dogs had taken down a fawn.  The deer were seen eating fallen fruit from some fruit trees when these dogs gave chase and took down a fawn, ripping it to pieces in seconds as the herd dispersed.

We also found out that these dogs had also killed another fawn just a few weeks earlier near the same location. The local wildlife officer was called but we did not know where the dogs came from for any action to be taken other than to ask around.

This got my hackles up and I began looking for them on my game cameras while wondering what the current numbers are for feral and stray dog kills of deer in my area, in the state and beyond.  For the rest of the season saw them on camera but it didn't occur to me to start counting their appearances and intervals, nor did I save many of the photos since I was only interested in long term photo storage of true wildlife species not and not feral or stray animals. This makes my own quantification difficult leaving me cursing myself.

Stray Dog Captured on Trail Cam in 2017

While looking to see if I did save any, I found a photo of one of the dogs last year by itself shown here.  This was a 2017 photo of a single stray however, this year, I saw this dog, or it's mother running behind two deer with two others that looked genetically related.  This time however, she appeared to have teats as though she had recently had puppies.  They were no doubt chasing the deer and it was the third time I directly saw this small pack chasing deer in our woods in 2018 while I was in a tree stand.

During another dog chasing incidence, again from my tree stand, witnessed 3 deer quickly make their way up a small ravine while 2 dogs crossed in front of them about 100 yards away (one of the dogs being the black one photographed, or a related pack member), then, several minutes later, I saw the dogs circle around following the scent trail of those same deer, right up that same ravine. This makes me think it occurs regularly.

I began asking questions.  Do wildlife departments quantify this number? Do they get any number of calls worth counting? Does it affect the herd at all? Should we as hunters make a point to bring this to light or "protect" out natural resources ourselves?

Stray Captured on Trail Cam in 2018

I began contacting wildlife resources from the Midwest to the North East to the South and a very similar answer was given and I will paraphrase, 'We do not have any numbers on dog predation of deer or fawns'.  I think this answer is backed by scientific data, that is, there is no scientific data to support a number however they admit it "does occur".  I know that it occurs, and perhaps you do, but at what scale and does it really matter in the grand scheme of wildlife management.  I began asking myself, "Am I digging for information that isn't there, and if it is, was it quantifiable, would it really make any difference?

Let me pose a couple theories as to why numbers aren't available.

1. Dogs are a familiar animal to us, they live with us and are even believed to have crossed the Barring Straight with us so that familiarity goes back quite a ways. Feral and stray dogs live on the fringes of our communities in rural, suburban and even urban landscapes.  Therefore, a random sighting of a dog doesn't activate our sensors as much as a native wild animal does.  When I am not in the woods, I live in suburbia where we have leash laws, but even so I do see loose dogs on occasion and know I have deer here, I see them occasionally in yards in my own neighborhood and see track in parks and moist or muddy ground and even have captured them on camera. I know a loose dog will seize an opportunity to chase a deer and if it happens upon a fawn in those chases, I think instincts would take over and the fawn would be killed even though food is not needed.  I think we are not alarmed enough to pay dogs attention.

Dog deep on private property caught on camera.

2. Deer kills by dogs, when known, go unreported.  The reason for this is that it is because I think when we do know about it, it is our own dog (I say "our" collectively as a society).  Again, I know this has happened on several occasions near me and I know that it went unreported.  So, how often does something like that happen? And why would a dog owner report that his or her own dogs killed a deer? They just won't, so that number will be and will remain completely unavailable.

Studies - Some but not much

If you start searching for studies on deer predation by feral or stray dogs, you just wont find much but if you dig hard enough you will find a an article published by the USDA National Wildlife Research Center - Staff Publications in 2009 titled "Dogs Gone Wild: Feral Dog Damage in the United States".  It contains some good information aggregated from a number of wildlife studies around the country over the last few decades and some of the numbers might make you wonder why we don't have some type of estimated numbers on wildlife mortality by feral or stray dogs.

Numbers - Not All or Complete

Let me rattle of some numbers you can sink your teeth into from the above mentioned USDA Publication and a few other statistical reports.  If you wish to see the whole article from the USDA, I will place a link to it at the bottom of this post.

In 2017 the number of dogs living in households was estimated to be almost 90 Million.  This is estimated in household, there are no known estimates on the number of feral or stray dogs in the US but it is estimated that of that unknown number, 3.3 million of them enter shelters each year.

A 2005 estimate of monetary damage done by feral dogs, across the board in the US, that is threats to human health and safety, agriculture, natural resources, and property, was $620 million.

In 1990 it was estimated that feral dogs imposed 5 million in damage to livestock in Texas alone.

From 1994 to 1999 there was a 36% increase nationally in sheep loss to feral dogs resulting in $3 million in damages.

In 2005, a review of cattle operations showed that of animals lost, 12-17% were lost to feral dogs. That same year 24 states reported calf losses and 20 states reported cattle losses due to feral dogs.

No year is given in the article but it states that of farmed game species, whitetail deer were the most lost to feral dogs, followed by fallow deer, axis deer and blackbuck antelope.

USDA Wildlife Services annual tables from 1998-2006 contain reports of dog kills on elk, white-tail deer, mules deer and antelope also noting that waterbirds and wild turkey are also affected. No quantifying number was given in this statement.

Absence of Current Statistics

It seems deer predation by feral or stray dog has happened in the past, has it stopped or so little that there are no longer strong enough numbers for our wildlife agencies to pay it any attention?  I am only asking and not trying to say someone is not doing their job.  These agencies do wonderful jobs and I thank them for all they do to protect our natural resources but is Fido getting a pass or am I digging for numbers that just aren't there?

Stray dogs running by a trail cam, I watched them chase deer minutes later.

Questions - I would like to hear from you (rationally)

Have you seen feral or stray dogs chase or kill deer?  I know that in this new year I will make more of an effort to quantify and report the stray and possibly feral dogs that I see.

Do you think some sort of anonymous reporting system would work for an owner reporting a kill by their own dogs?  Not sure that anyone would ever use this but worth a thought.  I know that dog owners that also love wildlife may report a kill made by their own dog if it is a rare, one time accident. I have low hope for anything like this working.

As for predator management, most everyone thinks it is okay to kill coyotes, but again why does a stray or feral dog get a pass.  Should predator management to protect wildlife include stray and feral dogs, I know what cattle ranchers would say, but what if you are just a guy that owns some land and you love spending your time making quality wildlife habitat and hunting your own property?  I think I would view it just like the cattle ranchers.

Elimination

So what is the moral and ethical move?  If you have stray or feral dogs on your hunting land and you know they are chasing and probably killing deer, turkey, rabbits, etc, what do you do?  I think dogs with collars deserve some research to determine who the owner is and even dogs without collars may have escaped their fence or yard for a one time romp so a first sighting is not a reason for elimination.  I would want to give a dog owner and dog the benefit of the doubt as I would want them to do for my dogs.  However, if routine dog pack hunting is occurring and owners are unknown after a reasonable effort to locate them has been performed with coordination from your local wildlife resources, elimination while in the act of perceived predation may be the only action to prevent undocumented deer kills by a non-native animal.

My thanks to all the wildlife officers and biologist that helped gather information for me even though there was not much to gather.  Your services are greatly appreciated! State Wildlife Offices providing information were: Iowa, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

Dogs Gone Wild: Feral Dog Damage in the United States can be found here.

Information on Leonard Rue III can be found here.