Eight sheep killed, two dogs injured in wolf attacks

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has confirmed that wolves from the Mt. Emily pack were responsible for back-to-back attacks on livestock on Sept. 15 and 16 in Umatilla County.

The two incidents happened in the same area and left eight sheep dead, two livestock-protection dogs injured and another dog missing, according to Fish and Wildlife investigation reports.

Three sheep were killed in the Sept. 15 attack on a public-land grazing allotment near Ruckle Junction north of La Grande.

There were five livestock guard dogs at the scene, a female and four pups. The female and one of the pups were injured, and another pup was missing.

Radio-collared Mt. Emily Pack wolf OR28 was documented by GPS four times to have been within a quarter-mile to a mile from the dead sheep the night of the attack.

Four sheep – two rams and two ewes – were found dead by a sheepherder on Sept. 16 near the site of the earlier attack. And a lamb that was attacked had to be killed because of its injuries.

OR28 was documented by GPS to have been 39 yards from the location of one of the dead sheep six hours before the sheepherder's discovery, according to the report from Fish and Wildlife.

The Sept. 15 attack was the first recorded incident of a livestock-protection dog being injured by wolves.

You can read the full reports for all of the incidents and sign up to get updates of future incidents online at http://stjr.nl/Wolf_reports