JACKSON, Wyo. — On April 2, a two-year-old female husky was shot by the Teton County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) after killing a fawn and a doe on High School Butte.
According to the TCSO’s primary report, the husky, called Nova, was at large chasing wildlife for an hour and a half. While the owner said Nova was usually very good with recall, he was unable to capture her or get her to come back to him.
TCSO responded to the scene at 3:54 p.m. after a concerned citizen reported it. TCSO located a mauled deer fawn and shortly after spotted a doe deer bleeding from its neck and being chased by the husky. The owner used a patrol car’s PA system to call again for Nova, who turned and looked in his direction before continuing to chase wildlife.
Wyoming has a state statute that allows for an officer to shoot and kill a dog that is chasing big game. After receiving the go ahead from Nova’s owner, TCSO shot the dog at 5:44 p.m from 270 yards away.
Deputies hiked up the butte to retrieve the husky and bring her back to a WGFD truck. The fawn was also retrieved, but the snow depth was too high to recover the doe.
The owner, who was present, cooperative and apologetic the entire time, was cited by Sergeant Jesse Willcox for dog at large and dog injuring wildlife.
“We don’t typically have a situation that’s quite this egregious,” Mark Gocke, public information specialist at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD), says. “It’s a bad situation all the way around. There’s no good outcome.”
According to Gocke, WGFD has experienced an increase in calls about dogs chasing wildlife in Teton County in the last two weeks. Deep snow levels this winter has forced a lot of wildlife closer to roads and developed areas and caused deer and moose energy levels to become low. Gocke points to how dogs get the upper hand when already-exhausted ungulates have to posthole through crusted snow.
“We as dog owners need to understand that, and have our pets under greater control,” Gocke says. He emphasizes that now is a critical time to have dogs on leashes.
