Dogs brought out by a male dairy farmer to be sterilized are seen in Saroma, Hokkaido, on June 27, 2023. The dog that caused the latest incident is not in the photo. (Mainichi/Takeshi Honda)
KITAMI, Hokkaido — Some 208 chickens were found dead after a dog attacked them at a poultry farm in Abashiri, Hokkaido, sources close to the case told the Mainichi Shimbun Feb. 20.
According to the Okhotsk General Subprefectural Bureau and other sources, the dog had escaped from a dairy farmer in the prefecture town of Saroma, who used to keep over 200 dogs.
Abashiri Public Health Center said it detained the canine after receiving a call from the owner of the poultry farm who had seized the wild dog that was running amok in the chicken coop Jan. 28. The keeper of the dog was identified by its collar, and the animal was handed over to the dairy farmer on Feb. 14. The poultry farm owner was apparently injured when securing the dog.
At one time, the man in the dairy business kept more than 200 dogs and was hoarding the animals. To improve the environment, 76 dogs were sterilized in June 2023 by an organization in Hyogo Prefecture. According to the Saroma Municipal Government, most of the sterilized dogs were taken in by an animal shelter group in Osaka Prefecture, but several had escaped in Hokkaido. It was one of these dogs that caused the incident this time.
The large dog had escaped from its enclosure by digging a hole around July 2023. Until recently, it had been seen near the dairy farm.
The dog is currently leashed up in an enclosure. The dairy farmer said he took the dog in to avoid having to kill it, and reportedly said, “I’m sorry. I would like to pay damages.”
(Japanese original by Takeshi Honda, Kitami Bureau)
AloJapan.com