Keith Roysdon

kroysdon@muncie.gannett.com

MUNCIE, Ind. — A Delaware County sheriff's deputy's dogs were shot and killed by a neighbor in recent days after the dogs attacked the neighbor's goats.

The violent encounter — following an incident months ago when the dogs killed one of the neighbor's sheep — brought into sharp focus the conflict between family pets and livestock in rural areas as well as the Indiana law that allows farmers to kill, if necessary, to defend their animals from predators.

"We are devastated by the loss," county police Capt. John Holding told The Star Press on Tuesday about the deaths of Hurley, a seven-year-old pit bull, and Della, a year-old blond border collie. "It hurts just as bad as losing a family member."

Holding's neighbor, Jeff Clawson, said he regretted he had to shoot Holding's dogs with a .22 rifle. Clawson's 18-year-old nephew then finished the grim task, shooting the wounded dogs to death with a shotgun.

"I feel bad it had to come to that," Clawson said. "But it's the second time it happened. I can't continue on, continue replacing livestock. No one is a winner."

The city-county animal control board has reviewed incidents involving pets and violence, but such a review has not been proposed in this case. Muncie Animal Shelter director Phil Peckinpaugh said the latest incident was clear-cut.

"The law protects farmers, and this gentleman is a farmer," Peckinpaugh said. "If a farmer believes even a domesticated animal can endanger their livestock, that is their legal right to take the action he took. Whether I ethically or morally agree with that, the law is clear."

The incident occurred Aug. 24 outside the town of Eaton, north of Muncie. Holding and Clawson are neighbors and each has some livestock. Holding has chickens, and Lawson has goats.

In December, Holding's dogs got under a fence and onto Clawson's property, killing a sheep and injuring two others.

"I took full responsibility," Holding said. "I paid to replace the sheep that was killed and paid medical bills for the others.

"He said then, 'If they come again, I'll put them down,'" Holding remembered.

"I warned him, please keep them down there," Clawson said. "Once an animal gets a taste for blood, they'll be back."

The fence that separates Clawson's livestock from Holding's dogs belongs to Clawson. Since the December encounter, Holding's dogs have strayed from their property a few times. Holding usually notified Clawson, who put his livestock in his barn for safekeeping until the dogs were rounded up.

Last Wednesday, as a thunderstorm moved through the area and storms were severe in other parts of the state, Holding was out of the area for police training and his dogs got out and went to Clawson's property.

A neighbor passing by saw the dogs chasing the goats and stopped and alerted Clawson. Clawson came outside and shot the dogs once each with his .22. While Clawson got two pregnant goats into his barn and carried two other, bloodied goats into the barn, his nephew followed the dogs to a fenced corner of his property, where he shot each with a shotgun. Clawson said one dog was already dead before the final round of shooting and one was injured.

"I told my nephew it was not right for that dog to suffer and wait to die," Clawson said. "'We need to go put that one down, too.'"

Holding said he believed only one of the dogs, Hurley the pit bull, was seriously injured.

Holding said that he didn't blame Clawson for shooting the dogs while they were attacking his goats, but he added that the later, fatal shooting of the dogs was too much.

"The minute the threat was over, I felt like he didn't have the right to shoot them," Holding said. "I told him legally he was justified but morally it was wrong."

Clawson notified Holding's wife, Alison, to come get the dogs. Holding said his wife didn't know the dogs were dead until she went to Clawson's property and saw them.

Holding said Tuesday that, aside from the emotional after-effects of the incident, "There's nothing else to be done."

Holding's boss, Sheriff Ray Dudley, said there was no police report about the incident and no investigation. Dudley indicated he agreed with his captain, however, that the final shots came when "there was no threat to the animals."

Peckinpaugh said he didn't know "any of the players involved," adding, "I don't think any law was broken."

"This is a really unfortunate incident," Peckinpaugh added.

Contact Keith Roysdon at 765-213-5828 and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.