Notice of Hearing on the Application to Use Sodium Fluoroacetate ...

es4;ina%d ancuai food costs ar approximatsly 52CO. Ze indicattc
USSES had lost 11 dogs to various causes including disease and :hat
five had been shot, thre maliciousiy by anknown persons, and -,:do by
a cooperating rancher who was loaned the d~gs for test purposes. k'e
s~atzd that ncighbcrs and adjoining ranchers shou;b be inforneb :hat
guard dogs 3rz beicg used so 3s z3 ? assen the chams they wi? 1 be
shot as narauaers if they scray inta a neighbor's ?as:sr?.
153. As indicated (finding 11 7), Hr. Pfaif~,r conducsd a survey g i Nortn
Dakota ranchers using guard dogs for predator control. Of 30 rancngrs
known to be utilizing guard dogs, data Iftas col locted from 33, :he
other three having ?ups which wer2 not yat beqng ils2d. Tke r~s~lt <strong>of</strong>
the survey i nd.jcat2d a 93 p2rcenr reduction in predation, This
reduction was csrzpu~ed bas2d on the ranchers ' menory <strong>of</strong> :he exT2nt 37
losses. The dogs (d? 6rea~ Pyrenees and 2 Komondorok) here uti 1 iz2d
in fenczd pastures in W2stern North gakoxa, an arga 07 rolling
hills, brush,. wetlands and a large coyote population. The Great
Pyrenees work~d i n pascurzs <strong>of</strong> 10 to 1200 acrss guarding flocks <strong>of</strong>
10 to 1300 animals, with the typical Greac Pyrenees guarding an
average flock <strong>of</strong> 590 sheep in a 250 acro pasture. Larger flocks
and pastures were generally guarded by two or more dogs. Ranchers
- testifying at the hearing, who tried using guard dogs, did not nave
good results, indicating thax it was difficult to keep the dogs
with the sheep, that the dags became sheep killers, or
that the dogs wandered onto neighboring pastares and were shot.