Dead Sheep Are Airlifted Out : Carcasses From Porter Ranch Area May Be Made Into Fertilizer

The carcasses of nearly 200 sheep killed Friday when two dogs chased them off a 200-foot cliff in the Porter Ranch area were airlifted from a dry creek bed and transported by truck to a rendering plant Saturday, officials said.

The sheep will be “reduced to their lowest common denominator” at the Vernon plant, said Paul C. Blount, a superintendent with the Los Angeles City Bureau of Sanitation who supervised the 3 1/2-hour cleanup. Blount said the sheep probably would be turned into fertilizer.

Dogs Are Sought

Authorities continued to search for the dogs that attacked and frightened the sheep as they were grazing on the hilly Santa Susana Mountains above Chatsworth.

Sheepherder Enrique Garcia, who lives in a trailer on top of a ridge, told officials he was minding a 1,000-head flock about 7:30 a.m. Friday when the dogs attacked the sheep. Although he was able to steer 800 sheep away from the dogs, the rest panicked and stampeded off the cliff, Garcia said.

All but two of the sheep were killed instantly. The two that remained alive were so severely injured that they had to be injected with a lethal dose of barbiturates, officials said.

Lt. Linda Gordon of the Los Angeles City Animal Regulations Department said the dogs, described as one black and one brown, probably mixed-breed shepherds, may have been pets of residents in the rugged area.

Penalties Involved

She said that, if the dogs and owners are identified, they will be charged with misdemeanor violations of city leash laws and state animal-regulation codes prohibiting the harassment of livestock by dogs. She said the owners could be penalized with up to six months in jail and $500 fines for each violation.

The owner of the sheep, Jack Izogo of Santa Rita, Calif., was notified of the incident and was on his way to Los Angeles on Saturday.

Six city sanitation workers spent Saturday morning down in the creek bed, loading as many as 10 sheep at a time onto a net. The sheep were then lifted out by helicopter in repeated trips and were flown 1 1/2 miles to a dump truck. All of the sheep fit in one truck.

Officials said they had considered burying the sheep in the creek bed, but, Blount said, it would have been necessary to bury the animals three feet deep, and it would have been too difficult to get equipment to the site. He added that the city did not have authorization to bury the sheep on private property.

The property, west of Porter Ranch, has been used for years by sheepherders who bring their sheep from Newhall and Saugus over the mountain to graze, officials said.