skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Playing in the Backcountry? Caution: Dogs at Work

play audio
Play

Thursday, July 19, 2012   

HAILEY, Idaho - If you see sheep while in the backcountry, officials say, slow down and go around - whether you're on foot, horseback, bike or all-terrain vehicle.

That message is aimed at people enjoying public lands, in order to reduce conflicts with "dogs at work." Livestock-protection dogs are used to keep predators at bay and sound alarms, but they might see you as a danger if they don't have time to check you out first.

Michael Marlow, a wildlife biologist with U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, says it's also important to note that the dogs are not pets.

"Once people realize the dogs are there to protect the sheep from predation - a form of non-lethal predation management - people embrace that idea. They realize that allows wildlife and livestock to coexist."

Livestock protection dogs are usually white, and common breeds are Pyrenees, Akbash, Komondor and Anatolian shepherds. Predator threats to sheep in Idaho include coyotes, mountain lions, bears, wolves and domestic dogs.

Marlow says livestock-protection dogs often appear shaggy, but that's normal and not a situation indicating the dog needs to be rescued.

"A person may attempt to feed those dogs and may not understand the concept of what that dog's job is. We've even had situations where people have assumed that the dog's lost, and several times have been gathered up and taken to local humane shelters and rescue operations."

If you have a pet dog with you, Marlow says, keep it on a leash.

Livestock-protection dogs have been used around the world for centuries because they're so effective.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021