Dog Put to Death After Sheep Attack

Bear had been like a member of Javit Carmona’s family since he found the husky and his female companion, Cheyenne, a year ago during a family vacation to Oregon.

“He was really smart and playful with me all the time,” Carmona said. “He was always trying to be close to me.”

But this week, Carmona had to make a difficult choice. He said he was no longer able to deal with the pain of knowing that his pet was one of the two dogs believed responsible for killing and maiming a neighbor’s sheep last month.

Before Bear was put to sleep at the Camarillo Animal Shelter Monday afternoon, the dog and its owner spent a few final moments together.

“I said, ‘Adios, Bear,’ and ‘I’m sorry I’m doing this,’ ” Carmona recalled Tuesday.

And while the mutilated sheep’s owners say they too are saddened by Bear’s death, they agree with the outcome.

“I feel really bad, and I cried for that dog. But if it was my dog, I would put it down. And I mean that,” said Laurie Reyes, whose teenage daughter tended the sheep. “As much as I love my animals, that’s what has to be done.”

As Carmona and his family grieve the loss of their pet, they must face another painful decision: what to do with Cheyenne, the husky mix, also suspected in mutilating four sheep--three of whom died--being raised for the Ventura County Fair in a 4-H program.

“She’s such an excessively intelligent animal that it just seems a real shame that somebody can’t do something with her,” said Joan Lemper, Carmona’s mother-in-law, who is Cheyenne’s owner. “With the problems that we have had, no one’s willing to come forward.”

Although the family is aggressively looking for a rescue group to adopt Cheyenne so she might be spared, chances are slim that they will be able to place her soon, Lemper said.

“Cheyenne is suffering. She is sitting in the corner of her cage. I can’t leave her there much longer,” said Lemper, adding that she gets updates from Carmona because it is too painful for her to visit her dog at the shelter. “I can’t stand it.”

Reyes said her family continues to mourn their loss too.

“I feel sorry for the dogs and I cried yesterday when I found out about Bear,” Reyes said. “But I also have a lamb that is still trying to live.”

The family is actively nursing Sweet Pea, the only survivor of the July 19 mauling incident. The 90-pound lamb was not initially expected to live after suffering cuts to her hind legs, ears and neck.

Reyes’ 15-year-old daughter, Nicole, had been raising the four sheep herself but will only be able to watch her 4-H peers show their livestock when the county fair opens today.

“It’s a real disappointing thing for our family,” Reyes said. “This is a big part of what we do every year.”

Despite evidence that linked Bear and Cheyenne to the Ojai animal pen where the sheep were killed, it has not been proved that they are responsible for the deaths, said Michael Adams, who supervises the Ventura County Animal Regulation Department.

“I have yet to personally read any statement from anyone who saw those dogs killing that livestock,” he said.

But the dogs, who match a description of two huskies seen in the area that day, remain the most likely suspects.

Adams said both families have been cooperative and practical in dealing with the incident. “I’m really relieved that they were able to put the community’s concerns ahead of their own,” he said.

Trying to decide whether to euthanize a dog linked to killing livestock requires the owner to weigh the dog’s behavior against the victim’s feelings, along with trying to ensure the behavior does not repeat itself, said Deena Case-Pall, a Camarillo psychologist who is also an animal behavior consultant.

“There are two responsibilities for every pet owner. One is to protect the pet from the world,” Case-Pall said. “The second obligation is to protect the world from the pet, so that every person can feel safe.”

But such a decision is never easy.

“This is a terribly painful situation for everyone involved,” she said. “There are no winners at all.”