Not quite an accident. :!:
When someone sets snares within sight of a farmyard, they have a moral responsibility to inform the neighbours. If we'd known there were snares she wouldn't have been allowed out of sight. When this happened, we had been working in the pasture and the dogs were with us. We went home, they followed, but got distracted and took the scenic route by the creek. She was headed home when it caught her.
This guy has been dodging us ever since. The neighbour is playing stupid too. Says he doesn't know the guy's name. Doesn't know what kind of truck he drives, and doesn't know how to find him. Right.
We saw the truck, and so did some hunters just over the fence line from him. We also know where the guy lives, and have put the word out on the jungle grapevine to get his name. We've reported him to the Conservation officers and the RCMP (who have a real soft spot for dogs like Zelda). Once we get his name, he's being investigated.
I also called the neighbour today and set the rules for the future. He tells me he will not put up with these coyotes killing HIS deer, and that he is going to get this bozo back to set up more snares as soon as hunting season is over. I countered with letting him know that if the guy wants coyotes, then he should bring a gun and not snares. I explained to him what Zelda is going through right now, and how cruel a way to die this is. Wouldn't it be ironic if one of HIS deer stepped in a snare?
I also told him that HIS deer have been living the good life in our corn field and hay fields for thirty years and we have never complained. Not once. We've never let hunters in, and never given him a hard time for feeding the deer and letting the herd grow so big. Last winter, in the middle of the afternoon, we had deer laying right out in the open field chewing their cuds like cows! In broad daylight with not a care in the world!! At least three or four get hit by cars every year within a half a mile of our house.
I told him that the reason the coyotes are there is that he has drawn them in by giving them a huge food source and that this is nature. They are not domestic animals. I finished off by telling him that if I find out he has snares on his land, that permission will be given to everyone who asks to hunt deer on our land. No more Mr. Nice Guy. You can literally sit in a lawn chair by our bale stack and pick which one you want, they are that numerous. And tame.. thanks to him. He hasn't done them any favours by domesticating them.
This is escalating, but it didn't have to be this way. If the guy had just come to us and apologized, shown some remorse, this wouldn't get so far. Instead he skulks around and shows us what a lack of character he has.
As for Zelda, it's not looking so good. She had X-rays today and they show she has developed an enlarged non-functioning esophagus. This is from damage to the vagus nerve that controls it. This is the same damage you sometimes see in chronic bloating calves after they've had pneumonia. In a dog it means they can't swallow properly, and food comes back out of their stomach causing aspiration pneumonia. She has already developed pneumonia even without having food. The million dollar question is whether the nerve is not functioning because of the inflammation or whether it's permanent damage. I'm not ready to give up on her yet though. They've upped the antibiotics and once we get the swelling down everywhere, and hopefully the pneumonia cured, then we'll decide what to do. For now she's staying on an IV.
This dog is too special to just give up on yet. I'll keep everyone posted. Thanks for caring. We really appreciate it.
