Wild Packs of Dogs Are Attacking Covelo Residents and Killing Livestock
Mario Montes in the hospital. [All photos provided by Mario Montes]
![Dog bites on legs [Photo provided by Mario Montes]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/331569666_620915546512352_2245157662132938544_n.jpg)
Dog bites cover Mario Montes’ legs.
He addressed the jurisdictional question saying, “Round Valley has an animal control ordinance that their Police Officers enforce.”
Montes is the second victim of a dog attack in as many months. On January 19, 2023, a man was airlifted to Howard Hospital after one of the animal’s bit and damaged his hand.
Covelo has a wild dog problem and many community members do not feel safe. These dogs are reportedly roaming throughout Round Valley, some docile and others hostile, and despite these attacks, the problem persists.
These dogs are not only attacking humans but livestock in the valley. Round Valley Indian Tribe Vice President Lewis Whipple told us he had lost four goats to a pack of dogs, but he could not say whether they were the same ones that attacked Montes.
Dog bites on legs [Photo provided by Mario Montes]
Many in the community have looked to Mendocino County, both law enforcement and animal control for solutions. Whipple explained the county has told tribal leaders “they have no jurisdiction on tribal lands. It’s been an ongoing dispute for years, basically, they wanted us to give up sovereign immunity in order for them to come onto tribal lands.”
With the increase in attacks and the community’s concern, Whipple told us the tribal government has “directed tribal police to find an officer dedicated to animal control, figure out a dog or animal shelter, get traps, etc.”
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2A is not always about defense from government tyranny … it’s about defense against any tyranny …
The 2nd amendment is going to become real important if they keep defunding police, and police keep quiting from being disrespected.
Like the man said, it ain’t just the government that we need protection from.
Defund the Police is a right-wing talking point. It’s never been seriously proposed by any mainstream progressive organization.
No “mainstream progressive organization”? Except it’s been done New York City, Minneapolis, Chicago, Austin, Portland, Seattle, and various other city councils. We can search the interwebs and find many, MANY Democrat elected representatives pushing it as well after George Floyd’s death.
Let’s find a way to help the people of Covelo instead of fighting other keyboard warriors?
I looked up some of the cities you mentioned. Cuts to their police budgets in 2020 were reported to be pandemic-related, were consitant with budget cuts to other city services, and seem to have been largely restored to pr-pandemic levels. Some cities have even increased their police budgets since 2019: LA 9.4%, SF 4%, Chicago 15%. https://abcnews.go.com/US/defunding-claims-police-funding-increased-us-cities/story?id=91511971#:~:text=Dr.
For cities that have not fully restored their police budgets, the main reason sems to be that they have shifted some services (911, parking, etc) and their associated budgets outside of Police Department jurisdiction.
What police-reform activists have been calling for could have more accurately been labeled “Let the Police be Police.” Cops are stretched too thin- being asked to cover services such as child-custody order disputes, petty-crime reports, homeless-related issues, and (pertinant to this article) animal control. Outsourcing these things to agencies better suited to these things would benefit both the police and the communities they serve.
D’
Bullshit, nuff said.
Please read about what Ithaca NY is doing regarding public safety …for the betterment of conditions for police and others. “Defund” often means only Re prioritize/redirect. Police quoting out of disrespect? Stats for that claim? Also, bad cops (and packs of them) make it dangerous for all other LEO. I know someone who went through training and passed however disgusted at some of it regarding how they are “Trained” to handle vulnerable people so though a tough person they chose another profession.
Go ahead and defund them they weren’t helping anyway. They would just end up shooting the wrong dogs anyway
Well I know what I would do if there were packs of dogs roaming my neighborhood biting people…
That’s part of the problem. You can’t just go around shooting dogs. I keep my dogs in my yard but accidents do happen.
Rural property owners can legally shoot loose dogs that come onto their property and cause problems. In fact, the threshold for behavior that can get a loose dog shot is mostly up to the discretion of the person who is being intruded upon. I knew a dog owner who had a dog killed that way and was convinced that he was the wronged party, but the law did not support his position.
Yes they can, it’s the law.
Sure you can.
Sorry, but if your dogs in a pack of other dogs biting people it needs to be put down and you would be responsible for any medical bills and civil lawsuits. This is why California has a leash law…
My big brother and I got treed by a pack of feral dogs when I was about 8. We were up there for awhile before the dogs took off.
No doubt that packs of feral dogs have to be put down.
You’d put their back legs in your work boots huh
Pop, pop pop pop.
Geez, ammunition can’t be that expensive.
Centerfire ‘hunting cartridges’ (copper bullets in California)… mostly $2 – $4 per round. Lead bullets… about $1 a round. Lead is only supposed to be used on a range.
Dunno if the CDFW goes in the Covelo valley anyway, so they may not object to using lead bullets on dogs.
LEAD is a BAD idea. Condors and other scavengers feed on the carcasses, the lead will kill those further down the food chain. Same goes for POISON.
Condors are wonderful; but not more than people. Even those we don’t like are more valuable. But he was ambushed by nine… hard to hit that many when they’re biting you.
You should look into the study that made that law come to fruition. Highly unlikely the lead poisoning came from bullets..
Feel free to comment with particulars.
Yo Dan O, when you left the message my phone didn’t pick up your number because I didn’t have service.
Call me back homie! Miss you and wish I could call.1
We have 2 different packs chasing deer at our place in SoHum. I missed once, but won’t miss again. Not going to let them attack our small dog or elder family members.
Use an AR-15 or better yet AR-10. They won’t bite ever again.
Living in the country people let there dogs run free. Please remember these are some little boy or little girl pet. It would be devastating to them if some thing happened to them.
Are u fucking kidding?
Are YOU fucking kidding? People are going to read this article and a few might go shoot dogs. It’s not unreasonable to remind people that not all loose dogs are deserving of death.
However, until they clamp their Jaws on someone, it’s hard to tell which is which. And then it’s too late.
People aren’t going to shoot random dogs.. you can tell if a dog Is friendly or not. A pack of dogs is trouble waiting to happen.. especially if they are starving… no livestock should have to be slowly eaten by a pack of wild mutts.. it’s all fault of humans.. these poor dogs were probably once guard dogs and left behind by idiots who don’t need them any longer.
About a month ago a tragic story in the news told of the death of a dog walker in Surrey, England. This 28-year-old woman had several dogs on leashes, the leashes became tangled, the dogs panicked and attacked and killed her. A dachshund was mentioned as one of the perps. The point is, dogs pack up. Period. Your sweet family pooch under the right circumstances (or rather, wrong circumstances) might join in the fun attacking some kid on the street. A friend in here Covelo lost his left hand a few years back after TWO – just two – dogs attacked him on a busy street corner in broad daylight. The owner fled the country overnight. One of the U.S. Army’s first orders in a SHTF event is to shoot all dogs, as they will surely pack up and become a real threat. If you walk several dogs or walk where there are homeless, abandoned or just plain loose dogs, I say get a concealed carry permit. Your life may depend on it.
People in areas as “Rural” as Fortuna too often think they are dog whisperers but living back when there was more space, less congested areas and let their dogs off leash. 10 years with zero attacks anywhere else (Houston, Arcata, Eureka, SF Bay Area) then in Fortuna my dogs attacked twice in a year and a half while on leash and not even looking at the attacking dogs who were not in a pack and with a human but off leash.
Too bad too. I might have gotten one of them from the pound. But now, no way. No way after they’ve been running loose.
I’m guessing these are NOT little boys or girls dogs. They sound aggressive and need to be put down. #Sorry not sorry. If they’re killing livestock then they really need to be put down.
THINK IT IS HARD TO RETRAIN AFTER THEY RUN IN PACK AND KILL..THESE ARE NOT CHIWAWA’S..LOOK AT THE SEVERITY AND AMT OF BITES ON HIS LEGGS..WHAT IF IT WAS A KID..
You would be surprised how dogs act when they get in a pack, much like humans. I spent many Summers on a local Ranch and saw the devastation a small pack of dogs could do to cows and especially sheep. You see they don’t usually kill them they just disembowel them and go on to the next one. Every time the ranch owner got a dog with a collar and a name and contacted the owners the owner sweared up and down what a good dog their dog was. Never once did an owner of a dog say oh yeah, that dog has always been a problem I’m glad it got shot. They were even more pissed when they got the bill for thousands of dollars of killed livestock..
No
Kill them
THEN KEEP THEM UP..YOU KNOW THERE IS A PROBLEM.PACKS CAN KILL
You may want to rethink that, Your dog is not going to be my problem, keep your dog at your house. Dogs that run free cause everyone problems.
“Living in the country people let there dogs run free.”
And their dogs run wild killing deer. You think it doesn’t happen ’cause you don’t see it, but they are off somewhere running down deer.
Yep. 10 years with zero attacks anywhere else (Houston, Arcata, Eureka, SF Bay Area) then in Fortuna my dogs attacked twice in a year and a half while on leash and not even looking at the attacking dogs who were not in a pack and with a human but off leash
It would be even more devastating if mommy and daddy lost everything they owned in a lawsuit.
If you allow your dog to run unsupervised off your own property then you are a poor pet owner and an even worse neighbor.
22 cartridges are effective and still relatively cheap.
I have two pups which have gotten loose a few times and though I’d be devastated if someone shot them I’d understand even though in some cases people are just being jerks. Look at those bite marks. Your comment in another context would be more appropriate..like the other Kym Kemp article with video merely showing a dog barking at a fence (though the time of early morning is clearly and especially not acceptable for a dog to be out there was no attack on other dogs nor humans in that article).
You gave up sovereign immunity when you allowed aztec grill to be built on tribal land jast saying
Who says they ‘allowed’ them to build on tribal land? Is that how everything got built in Covelo? The tribes just ‘allowed’ them?
Call Cesar Millan
Lol, someone’s going to pipe in “they’re misunderstood! They just need all positive reinforcement!”.
Cesar is much kinder than a bullet..
Both are true. We must euthanize some dogs. Rehabilitation in many cases is also absolutely possible and the dog whisperer focuses on prevention, not letting dogs get in the red zone in the first place. So many dog owner around here let their dogs off leash and also even leashed let their dogs stare at other dogs aggressively. Some dog (aka human) trainers are genius and meanwhile just like gun ownership not something the average person should be trusted with.
Sovereign immunity means the tribe needs to take care of their own wild dogs. It’s not a pick and choose thing. Either you are a “sovereign” tribe or you are just racist bullies [edit].
Ignorant comment of the day award.
Dude America is made up of all kinds of people of all sort of colors and cultures. That is America, that is what we are. The tribes don’t consider themselves part of that.
Because they are Nations. Nations that we conquered in war and signed peace treaties with and took their land, and tried to destroy their culture. This was genocidal and a significant difference from Immigration.
I wonder what would have happened if the tribe had never been discovered at all and they continued on in isolated from the rest of humanity?
Oh if only everything was so simple. Wow, who knew? Yet another good reason not to promote “ethnic cleansing” or abuse any vulnerable people even just for selfish reasons cause it will come back to bite us and/or our grandchildren in the arse.
As an animal lover, this breaks my heart. Pepper spray or tazer would be a better way to cull the dogs than shooting at them. It’s not the dogs fault that their owners abandoned them.
Pepper spray? Really? You think an individual dog, much less a pack, is going to be deterred from attacking a child or a herd of goats who happens to be even have a can of pepper spray? Fault is not the issue here. It’s life and death. Beside the real problem is people who so ” love” dogs that they want them to enjoy running free. And the he’ll with anyone else. Or more like have no intend to bother being responsible for their dogs, just like they are not responsible for everything.
Are you implying that we should go around and shoot the homeless? Packs of them attack children, sell them drugs, which kill them. They also attack and kill adults and steal land, food, money, and sometimes even livestock. They are “running free” because we love them so much we don’t bother being “responsible” for them. On top of that , most of them own dogs.
Packs of homeless attacking children?
Please link to your source.
On Cannibal Island. 🙂
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9911941/amp/Seattle-couple-young-child-car-attacked-mob-homeless-camp-fatal-hit-run.html
This was a quick search . If you want to see more, Google “homeless attacking children”
San Diego, Venice, and San Francisco seem to have very violent homeless people
The link you posted to was about someone who intentionally drove their car to a homeless campo to confront the people who lived there and, for some reason, brought their two-week old with them. Nowhere is it even alledged that anyone attacked the baby.
FYI, the Daily Mail is the National Enquirer of Britain; it’s a rag and should never be relied on for accurate information. It’s highest use is inside a birdcage.
Most perpetrators of crime, including against children, are housed…and have jobs. Also your source is not credible and as other commenters mentioned doesn’t even site what you claim it does. Man you must be scared all day every day just stepping outside your door. Sorry.
He maybe got confused with the “Resident Evil” movies?
Shooting at them is not the right solution. Shooting them is.
Sometimes it is no longer a matter of fault but life and limb. Look at those pictures! Got to say I’d rather people carry, instead of guns, tazers and pepper spray. in the wind though pepper spray not such a good idea and good luck tazing 1 little alone a pack of dogs who had already started attacking before you got a chance to pull out your weapon.
It’s like up on Murder Hill. You hate outside law enforcement, until you need outside law enforcement. Doesn’t work that way.
Yes it does. We need military and we put limits. Wish it were so simple as either or but we grown ups so we can manage complexities, right?
Destroy the dogs on sight.
SOS. Shoot On Sight
When we were at the garden project in Covelo in the 70s, abandoned dogs got into the chicken yard – maimed and killed hundreds of chickens. The next day, my brother found the dogs and shot them. Loose dogs are a danger to everyone and this pack obviously needs to be hunted down. Either tranquilize them, or kill them. Shame on the people who neglected them in the first place.
EDIT: I hope Mario heals swiftly. Must have been scary as hell to be attacked by a pack of dogs.
I HAVE BEEN SURROUNDED BY A PACK..YOU CANNOT JUST SCATTER THEM…IT DEPENDS ON THE PACK LEADER,THE MORE AGGRESIVE HE IS…THE MORE DANGEROUS THEY ARE. LUCKILY THE OWNER HEARD THE COMMOTION AND CAME OUT OF BARN TO CALL THEM OFF..THERE WERE 6..MY REPLY TO HIM.., I WAS PISSED::IT WAS A PUBLIC BOARDING BARN ….YUR DOG BITES ME,HE’ S DEAD ..AND THESE WERE FED ,OWNED DOGS,..PACKS DON’T HAVE TO BE HUNGRY TO ATTACK…AND A HUNGRY PACK IS MORE DANGEROUS….
Don’t advise that.. You can legally shoot the dogs on your property if you are afraid of harm. You can also legally shoot the dogs if you are on public property or a publically used space and they are coming after you, your pet, your livestock or your family. You can’t legally hunt the dogs down unless authorized to do so.
That said, I personally wouldn’t blame anyone for doing so. And these dogs do need to be put down.
I so hope the county doesn’t try to adopt them to some inexperienced unsuspecting person through the shelters.
I do wish the Tribes would accept help from County animal control. Form a partnership, for everyone’s sake. It is scary to walk here and I live off the Rez. The dogs are everywhere and are a menace to all humans and animals. Either solve the problem now or ask for help in this ONE matter. Is a child going to lose their life because of “sovereign immunity?”
I wish the tribes would just be part of America the big melting pot. Then dealing with dog packs attacking citizens would be a thing we could legally work on. But it isn’t.
I suggest using the freely shared writing to post warnings around town about the wild dogs. I also suggest using the new technologies like guns and steel traps to deal with the dogs.
Another snide, sly racist comment.
It isn’t I assure you.
They should widely publicize that there is going to be a dog roundup, so people can keep their dogs inside, then shoot all the rest. Do this for about a week.
As someone said, suppose it had been a child. Bad enough what this poor guy had to go through.
The picture of the dogs in this article did not wonder on to the porch they live there. My son was attacked by them. And where’s the news about that. And this happend right in the town of Covelo. The picture was taken by the hero right after he helped get those dogs off of my son and they ran directly back to THEIR porch. The dogs or house is not on reservation land. Animal Control only told us that they THOUGHT 1 of the dogs was kiled but never ever got back to us regarding the other dog.
You can certainly sue the dog’s owners..
This has been an issue in Covelo for years. At least 10 years running. People can’t afford to get their dogs fixed and then they have a s*** ton of puppies. The cost of having your dog spayed or neutered can exceed $1000 if they’re over a year old. And then add into the pandemic shut downs, the SNAP van was not running. Now the person that ran that program just passed away. There’s going to be another COVELI puppy explosion in the springtime. Saw some feral dogs on the side of 162 the other day feeding on a carcass. Looked like it was actually a bear thrown out in a black trash bag and they were dragging the parts out. The level of making excuses so nobody can get anything done is pretty disgusting. Set up some traps. At least that way Animal Control can come and pick them up. Everybody should be ashamed of themselves for shifting blame to someone else. I guess when somebody gets killed by the dog packs besides an animal then maybe somebody will pay attention! Remember the toddler that got bit in the face a while back airlifted out. No we don’t have a problem.
You don’t have a discount spay neuter program down there? In Humboldt anyone who is low income can get help with that through several organizations. Same in Sonoma county. AFAIK even without that it only costs close to $1000 if a female is very pregnant or has some kind of bad infection.
I kind of suspect it’s more about some people not wanting to change or control their animals. Like my neighbor who won’t fix her cat. Even though it would be free for her. The cat that keeps having litters of kittens under my porch.
Yes, there is a discount program the SNAP program. They have limited availability and they go to several sites around the county. During the pandemic they were shut down. They have not gotten back up to full speed again. The person that ran the program just passed away so that’s going to severely impact it as well. That leaves the $1,000 vet bill for many as an only choice. That’s why we have a problem with too many dogs and s*** tons of puppies in Covelo.
Oh. So sad. I guess the Care-a-Van is also backed up for months as well. And it looks like the Mendocino Humane society charges $300 – 350 for a spay for a large female. $250 for a male. Yeah, it’s far less than $1,000 but still quite a lot. Yeah, they’re in Ukiah, but I’d guess a lot of people go grocery shopping in Ukiah anyway.
Shame on whoever is charging $1,000, that is price gouging. I had a bad experience with price gouging vets in Mendo. I don’t even know if I want to get another dog. I’m afraid my vet in Garberville might retire at some point.
Although.. if I saw the right half grown puppy.. If you have anything to do with the puppies.. I have to wait several months, but I’m looking for a specific sort of dog personality. You could contact me from my website; https://serendipity123.smugmug.com/
EDIT: Oops, Crap.. That’s the coast humane society in fort bragg.. The inland one doesn’t mention a spay program. IDK, maybe they can help? They seem to get the most donations and thrift store proceeds.. 707-485-0123
From the look of those bites he was getting aggressively nipped by the dogs, if they had put those jaws to work, he would be dead.
Most dogs don’t know how to bite like an effective predator. They haven’t had the experience of hunting their whole lives. They haven’t had their parents teach them like wolf pack would.
There are no modern feral dogs in the world who have survive as a pack by themselves for generations without direct or inadvertent help from humans. I looked as I wondered what true feral dog behavior would be like. Unless there is a dump or garbage nearby the dogs usually only survive a skinny 4 years, tops. Not long enough to pass down true family knowledge. Their jaws have also changed over the centuries by domestication. And most importantly most breed’s teeth have evolved to deal with a mixed diet of animal protein PLUS grains and vegetables. They’re usually different from wild canine teeth. They also tend to stay in adolescent social development, unlike wild canines. They don’t have a well defined social structure.
Yeah, there are dogs who bite and shake, like rat terriers, or dogs trained to fight, but on the whole they don’t really know what they are doing. Those are serious bites. If the dogs get more experience, yeah, eventually, someone will be dead.
The entire reality of it, every facet of feral dog behavior and survival, and of domestication – by itself, is sad, really..
Better call in Deaddog!
Keep it with you and when you encounter the dog problem. Pop…pop, pop pop pop, no more wild dog problem.
People become strangely defensive about their dogs. The idea that they are actually responsible for their dog’s behavior doesn’t cross their minds. I had horses. I’ve never had to kill a dog, but I’ve come close. I can’t tell you how much I don’t want to kill someone’s innocent dog. But if it comes down to my horse or the dog… I would bury the dog, and if someone came asking about him I’d say “what dog?”. People need to understand that they are responsible for their dog’s behavior. Dogs can’t be allowed to roam free on other people’s property, or on public property. Some people just shouldn’t own dogs. This is a huge problem.
There is definitely a nuisance livestock ordinance well and alive in Mendocino County that you can abate dogs that are threatening or on your property that are inappropriately harassing livestock.
That is awful Mario. Sorry that happened. I hope you continue to get care. Must have been terrifying. Weird how we show it sometimes and lots of care in the comments even if it looks mostly like arguing. LOL?