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WEDNESDAY
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Serving the Cowichan Valley
www.cowichanvalleycitizen.com
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Marauding dogs feast on fowl
CVRD lauds province’s weir move
CVRD: Search intensifies after
decline year after year
rogue animals strike again
MIKE D’AMOUR CITIZEN
WATER: Inflows on the
MIKE D’AMOUR CITIZEN
They’ve killed five goats, several cats, and — just two nights ago — several sheep and roosting chickens. Now the pair of dogs suspected in the attacks are firmly in the sights of authorities, and hopes were high Tuesday the pet killers will soon be caught. “We have no idea where they came from, but we’re tracking them right now,” said Brian Duncan, manager of the inspections and enforcement division of the Cowichan Valley Regional District. The dogs — both described as rottweilercrosses — have been wreaking havoc on domesticated animals in the Cowichan Bay area for more than two weeks. They struck again Monday when they somehow managed to get at a flock of chickens. As many as three sheep also died as a result of the attacks. The dogs are known to return to the scenes of their crimes, and Duncan said this time his people are ready for them. “When the dogs attacked the goats, we didn’t have traps at the ready for the next day — we do now.” The CVRD and SPCA are using live traps, the same as those used by the BC Conservation Officers Service for trapping wolves and cougars. While Duncan said he doesn’t believe the dogs are a danger to humans, there’s no need to take unnecessary risks. “I don’t think they’ll be chasing down chil-
Jesyka Clarkson, of the Cowichan and District SPCA, shows off a trap that is expected to capture at least one of two wild dogs believed responsible for killing much livestock in the Cowichan Bay area. [MIKE D’AMOUR/CITIZEN]
dren or anything like that, but when they get in the pack mentality, who knows?” Still, Duncan said it’s vital to trap the dogs as quickly as possible to stop more domesticated animals from perishing between their jaws. “It’s not about killing for food, for the two
dogs it’s a pack mentality, the thrill of the kill,” he said. “It’s like mink or martens, they’ll do the same thing. They’ll go after chickens and kill as many as they can in five minutes.”
Let the good times flow. Well, for an extra few weeks at least. Catalyst Paper announced yesterday it received a decision from the province on the day-to-day management of the weir that controls water levels in Lake Cowichan and the Cowichan River. The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations agreed to delay the implementation of the lake draw by 22 days, from July 9 to July 31, but rejected the Cowichan Watershed Board’s request for temporary storage of up to 20 centimetres of water until July 9. The decision reduces the possibility of having to reduce summer flows because of drought. “This is a step in the right direction to protect the river and its fish,” said Rob Belanger, GM of Catalyst’s Crofton paper mill. A 2012 engineering study of the weir reviewed performance back to 1955, and showed lake summer inflows dropped by 35 per cent since the late 1950s due to climate change. The previous water management regime — known as the rule curve — called for lowering the lake level from full storage to start no later than July 9 each year.
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