SPANISH FORK — An owner of more than 100 purebred sheep that were hit and killed by a train was within his right to shoot the dog that chased the flock onto the railroad tracks, a Humane Society of Utah official said.
Under state law, "any person may injure or kill a dog while it is attacking, chasing or worrying any domestic animal having a commercial value," said John Paul Fox, chief investigator for the Humane Society of Utah.
That was the case the night of Dec. 19 in Spanish Fork, said Jim Jensen, part of a group that owned the flock of 132 registered Suffolk and Hampshire sheep.
The sheep were in a fenced area on Jensen's property when a dog harassed them to the point that they knocked down the electric fence and ran onto nearby Union Pacific railroad tracks.
Only eight are alive today, Jensen said.
"One of those really doesn't look good, but she's still alive," he said.
The dog Jensen says is responsible for the animals' death is also dead. He said he shot the dog the following morning when it had returned.
"It was there that night, and then it was there again the next morning chasing the survivors," Jensen said.
Replacing the sheep would cost between $1,000 and $1,300 each, he said.
Jensen said he has obtained claim forms from Union Pacific to find out if the railroad based in Omaha, Neb., is liable. He also has talked to the dog owner, a Spanish Fork resident who Jensen said was "really apologetic." He declined to name him.
As to whether he and the other owners will file a lawsuit seeking damages from the dog's owner, Jensen said, "Anything is a possibility."
Utah law makes the dog owner liable for damages, Fox said.
"State law says that the owner of an animal is responsible for any damage done by the animal — period," he said. "The person at fault in this whole thing is the dog owner because somehow the dog got loose."
Fox said the Humane Society of Utah would prefer that animals involved in such incidents be captured rather than shot at the scene. He calls the state statue allowing for the shooting of dogs "way too broad."
"From a Humane Society standpoint, we would much rather see the animal caught and the owner punished than killing the dog," he said. "Where you've got an animal that has created that kind of problem, the court is probably going to order them to put the dog down eventually. But I would rather see them go through that court process."
Many Utah law enforcement officials have a shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later philosophy when it comes to aggressive dogs, Fox said.
"If the dog is loose and still a threat to sheep or humans, (officers) are going to err on the side of protecting the sheep or protecting the human," he said. "That's why so many dogs get shot by police officers. The police officer doesn't ask questions. He shoots first because the dog is lower on the who-do-I-save totem pole."
Utah County sheriff's deputies who responded to the incident Dec. 19 didn't see any dogs in the area and were not involved in the shooting of the dog, said Sgt. Spencer Cannon.
"If there was a dog shot, it was sometime after our deputies were involved," Cannon said.
Deputies did, however, assist Jensen in putting down approximately 10 to 15 sheep injured beyond the point of possible recovery, he said.
E-mail: jpage@desnews.com