sandgrubber

A Vicious Dog Attack Upends an Elite Westchester Farm

At a farm tied to Blue Hill at Stone Barns, where a meal costs around $400, two dogs killed a poodle and seriously injured its owner. Now the dogs face a possible death sentence.

 

Two large white dogs lay among bushes in a lush green forest behind a small wire fence with a sign that reads: “Guardian dogs on duty please stay back.”

Luna and Owyn, the guardian dogs for Stone Barns Center, in a photograph from 2021.Credit...Charlotte Steiner

Christopher MaagDaniel E. Slotnik

By Christopher Maag and Daniel E. Slotnik

April 19, 2024

On a cool, windy day in February, two big white dogs escaped from a well-known nonprofit farm in Westchester County and ended up on a public footpath deep in a New York State park.

 

They encountered a 10-pound miniature poodle on a leash. The larger dogs attacked, killing the poodle and then severely injuring its owner. Acting on the recommendations of state law, a local judge ordered the dogs to be euthanized.

 

The disturbing encounter’s aftermath has been considerable. The farm, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, which is connected to Blue Hill at Stone Barns, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Pocantico Hills, filed an appeal on Thursday to stay the dogs’ euthanization.

 

A lawyer for the miniature poodle’s owner, Yong Ging Qian, said she was considering a lawsuit against the farm connected to what she said in a hearing in Mount Pleasant Justice Court were her substantial injuries: a mangled hand, several broken ribs, brain hemorrhaging and a mild heart attack.

 

The dogs — Luna, a Great Pyrenees, and Owyn, an Akbash — were guardian dogs, bred and trained to protect livestock. They had escaped on Feb. 6 from the farm in Westchester County, 15 miles north of New York City. The restaurant, where a meal costs in the range of $400 per person, has earned two Michelin stars for its innovations in farm-to-table cuisine as well as a Michelin green star, awarded to restaurants “at the forefront” of sustainable practices.

 

The attack has focused attention on Stone Barns and Blue Hill, as former farm employees, breeders and nearby farmers questioned whether it engaged in practices that created a dangerous situation, an accusation that the farm denies.

 

“That two of our dogs had a first-of-its-kind incident after 20 years does not reflect on the broader safety of our guardian dog and livestock program,” a spokesman for Stone Barns said in an email. “To the contrary, it shows how safe the dogs we put into service are.”

 

How the guardian dogs were able to encounter BaoBao, the poodle, remains in dispute. It seems likely, experts said, that their escape stems from inadequate fencing and the farm’s failure to maintain control of its dogs. According to Bill Costanzo, who leads the livestock guardian dog program at Texas A&M University’s Agrilife Research and Extension Center, livestock guardian dogs naturally roam vast territories. The low fences at Stone Barns aren’t much of a deterrent against that instinct.

“It’s a disaster waiting to happen,” Mr. Costanzo said.

 

The Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture, a massive and elegant structure behind an open gate, where a dozen or so students stand before a tour begins.

The Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture was established by David Rockefeller to pioneer new methods in sustainable agriculture.Credit...Calla Kessler/The New York Times

Stone Barns Center is a unique farm. It is bounded by the Rockefeller State Park Preserve, more than 1,700 acres of forest and pastures crossed by carriage trails that attract more than 350,000 runners, hikers and dog walkers a year. The center was created in the early 2000s by David Rockefeller to pioneer new methods in sustainable agriculture. It opened in 2004 in partnership with Blue Hill at Stone Barns, where the chef, Dan Barber, hoped to model a sustainable food network that is healthy for farmers, animals, restaurants and diners.

 

“It’s about seasonality, locality and direct relationships with your farmer,” Mr. Barber wrote in his book “The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food.”

 

The farm keeps herds of cattle, sheep and goats. Using mobile electrified fencing, it often rotates livestock among temporary paddocks set up on different pastures to improve the health of the animals and the grasslands, a spokesman for the center said.

 

Just beyond the fencing, the state park is a habitat for coyotes and foxes. Rather than use lethal methods including traps and hunting to protect its livestock, Stone Barns Center uses livestock guard dogs — which can grow to 150 pounds — to scare predators away.

 

But the farm’s fencing was often ineffective at containing the livestock, according to three former employees.

 

Goats and pigs have escaped, they said, and in 2018, a herd of cattle stampeded away from the farm, according to reporting by Eater; one steer was recovered six weeks later, following a search that involved a New York State Police helicopter.

 

The cows, the farm’s spokesman said, were sent to the farm by mistake and were too large for the farm’s fencing to hold. “Any suggestion by The Times that this incident had anything to do with our program or practices would be false,” he wrote in an email.

 

Former employees say livestock escapes were a regular occurrence at the farm.

 

“I used to get calls from the park staff once a week” about farm animals found in the preserve, said Mike Peterson, who worked as Stone Barns’ livestock director from 2018 until 2021.

 

“These assertions are false — it has never been common for our livestock to leave their enclosures, and it is not common now,” a spokesman for the farm said.

 

But according to workers and the farm’s spokesman, the farm’s livestock dogs have been known to slip past the fences. That’s a problem, Mr. Costanzo said. If they escape even once, he and other experts agreed, the dogs will consider the state park part of their territory.

 

“You can’t just have guardian dogs roaming the countryside,” he said.

 

Opinions from outside experts are irrelevant in this situation, the farm’s management said.

“An expert could not credibly opine on what led to this incident without having met our dogs, learned their history, walked our pastures and learned the details about how we operate,” the spokesman said in an email.

 

Employees and guardian dog experts described the center’s movable fencing as a primary means of escape. The netting is no taller than three and a half feet.

 

“That is not high enough to keep a livestock guardian dog from just jumping over it,” Mr. Costanzo said.

 

Like many current and former workers at the Stone Barns Center, Mr. Peterson, the former livestock director, grew close to the dogs, calling them “very sweet.” He said his son had played with them when he was a toddler.

 

Late on Thursday afternoon, Stone Barns Center filed an appeal to the judge’s order, which will stay the order to have the dogs put down pending a decision by an appeals court. If a reprieve is granted, several local breeders and farmers offered to take the dogs in.

 

“These are beautiful dogs,” said Georgia Ranney, a farmer near Stone Barns Center who has offered to rehouse the dogs. Euthanizing them would only add to everyone’s grief she said, adding, “They shouldn’t have been running around loose.”

A Vicious Dog Attack Upends an Elite Westchester Farm https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/19/nyregion/dog-attack-blue-hill-stone-barns.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

 

 

My dogs love the postie.  May be a breed thing.  Labs, then springers.  They like almost everyone.

On the subject of letting the dog go....

Years back I was walking my Labs on lead and a neighbour's Shitzu X jumped the fence and attacked.  I let go so as to avoid getting tangled in leashes.  The bloody neighbour called Animal Control ON ME!!!!  Others backed me up and I didn't get fined.  But Animal Control did say it's illegal to let go, EVEN if attacked.  How's that for ridiculous.

APBT is a small subset of pit bull, defined by pedigree.  It's confusing. Definitions of pit bull vary depending on where and who you are.  If I remember correctly, staffies and many cross breeds are legally considered pit bulls in parts of California.  Wisdom Panel claims they can now identify APBTs from DNA.  Presumably that means dogs descended from pedigree APBT lineages.

Like others, I've had much dog exposure with few injuries.  I got bitten in the face twice: first by an Irish setter when I was 4 and inadequately supervised (probably pulling all that pretty hair), and 60-some years later in kennels by a grumpy old fellow who REALLY didn't want a bath.  Neither needed much treatment other than minor bandaging and antibiotics.  Not sure the antibiotics were needed.

 

Of course, puppies have pierced my skin more times than I can count, but that's what puppies do.

It depends.  I live small town, rural.  We have a few off lead walkers, mostly oldies, occasionally puppies.  They're not a problem.  But it's so uncrowded here that encounters between dog walkers almost never happen, and so small town that problem behaviour would get called out in a hurry.

 

p.s. I don't walk mine off lead in town.  We go to the unmanaged local river where off lead is allowed.  They chase cats, hedgehogs and possums, which is applauded in the bush (NZ), but not good in town.

Aren't AmStaffs just rebranded pit bulls?  As I understand Oz laws, legally speaking, an AmStaff without a pedigree is a pit bull in most states.  

Has this dead horse been flogged enough?  I'm pretty sure the OP is long gone.

Here is a more trustworthy study

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-10341-6#Fig2

Jack Russell Terrier had the greatest life expectancy at age 0 at 12.72 (95% CI: 12.53–12.90) years, followed by Yorkshire Terrier (12.54 years; 95% CI: 12.30–12.77), Border Collie (12.10 years; 95% CI: 11.85–12.33) and Springer Spaniel (11.92 years; 95% CI: 11.69–12.13). Compared to other breeds, many brachycephalic breeds (i.e., breeds of dogs with a short, flat face) had a relatively short life expectancy at age 0, with French Bulldog having the shortest at 4.53 (95% CI: 4.14–5.01) years, 2.86 years less than the value for English Bulldog (7.39 years; 95% CI: 7.08–7.69).

Chicken frames are good, too, and usually cheaper.   A meat clever helps if they're too big.

This weird ad appeared when playing games on my phone.  I've never heard of a steam brush and have doubts.  Just wondering if anyone has had experience. 

https://lifelivingors.store/products/steam-pet-brush?ttclid=E.C.P.CsIB9O5mxMDnysGBHiKemFzSLk3MIE0yJI42uCPWh0X1V1vsAWNAEusg5yBf1TifeNFCg-ROrV67QkmI_OjX1Wv-W0s1f1XZ1PxlmSBYUhiS8_qvbGwh9lgScq0nzp9LjWgELEcxox1zNO2DU5uVTJK2o3fHL12_DNsRAr56M_MQ5HD3xed_QM0Dd4wkP8flpjDwzaaj0U42PwWcPwIfEA4LJR16DOOcZy2vdbuejS4yyowBDewRdNuWQQplVU0YPDbgYGYSBHYyLjAaIONTAAozeXYXR7sQr8DB56rTfsU6V_2qeugnzCtN6Olt

[Science, Quickly] The Surprising Health Benefits of Dog Ownership #scienceQuickly
https://podcastaddict.com/science-quickly/episode/169240313 via @PodcastAddict

 

Better than most of its type, I think

Better than "multiple animals killed because driver did not take required sleep breaks"... or multiple fatalities in animal transport van crash.

 

Too many locks and new problems arise. 

 

Glad the pup was recovered.

No rust in first month.  I've used nylon martingales for years.  Never had one get caught. 

My Springers swim a lot.  I don't like wet collars, and metal seems to be a little easier on their coats.  Very pleased with this metal martingale, purchased on Ali Express for around $10.

43 minutes ago, Diva said:

But back to the purebred world, I would like to see more education for show breeders on how to manage genetic diversity and how to best use current science to improve population health - need some genetics educators that can look holistically at all issues and opportunities, not just test by test.

Tests are available for heterozygosity, Ie, the genetic consequences of inbreeding, and for preserving heterozygosity when planning a mating.   Has any club ever recommend these?

This is a Pedigree dog group, and not friendly to cross breeding.

I doubt you will find anything but anecdote evidence to your question (anywhere), and reality is likely to be all over the map.  For example, puggles (pug x beagle) may less brachy and less unhealthy than pugs, while attempts to breed out cancer proneness may not be successful.  Seems likely that breeding giant breeds to smaller breeds will eliminate some of the structural and other problems common to the giants.

 

Second generation crosses will be more variable than first generation.  Careful crossing over many generations, as in the creation of the Cobber dog from selection among labradoodles, will probably have better results than indiscriminate crossing to meet market demand.

It's a question of, say, 95% protection or 99% protection.  Actual figures can't be given, the experiments would be horrific, and it varies between breeds.  Parvo is such an awful disease, I'd go for the 3rd jab.

I wonder if it's fake news.

21 hours ago, moosmum said:

When environment is recognized, problems can be readily addressed as recognized at the individual level.

When Environment is not, problems tend to remain unrecognized until they are near universal to the Standard, and then a universal strategy is employed or imposed across the state, while other problems gain traction.

I think you and I are saying similar things.  One problem is the definition of Environment.  Surely there are multiple environments.  Retrieving shot waterfowl, being a family companion, detecting drugs, and assisting the blind, autistic and PTSD and are all environments for Labradors.  It makes sense for breeders to develop different types better suited to different environments, as does happen with Labradors... but it's under a loose, unofficial system, not the kennel clubs.

Unfortunately, few breeds have the numbers or the apparent flexibility to adapt to diverse environments that have favoured the Labrador.  A population of many tens of millions worldwide can support a lot of variation.

The more I look at it, the more I question even Standards, much less type.  Yes, breeds should have certain characteristics, and it's good to be able to predict what you're getting when you acquire a dog.  Yes, pedigree could be important for improving both health and temperament / working ability.  But I feel something like nostalgia for the late 19th and early 20th century when it was considered laudable to work toward a better adapted gun dog by crossing Springers, St John's Dogs, setters and pointers.  Or the equivalent in other Groups. 

I wish the pedigree world would focus on adaptation to present realities and demands, and less to somewhat revised scripts about what was wanted from a dog in my great grandparents days and before, as decided by a committee of aristocrats or wanna be aristocrats.

11 hours ago, SchnauzerMax said:

Insurance is never good value for money. You are essentially paying an amount each year, so that if your pet has a catastrophic illness / accident you can recoup *some* of the cost of treatment. 

You really don’t want the best financial outcome / value for money because that implies your pet is having major, major health problems and interventions.

And putting $xxx a week into a savings account won’t go any where near covering it for those extreme situations.

 

If catastrophe only happens to one dog in several, and you save the equivalent of insurance cost for each dog, it will, on average more than cover extreme situations.  I've owned 20+ dogs (I used to breed Labbies).  I've never had insurance, but have never had a vet bill over $2000.  There have been two who got cancer and could have gotten very expensive.   But if a dog requires chemo or heroic measures to prolong life and a painful existence for a few months, I will opt for the green dream.

Don't they do DNA testing for dogs?  That would settle it.

Brachy-ness isn't the only worry.  Pugs, bulldogs and Frenchies are near the top of the OFA list for bad hips, elbows and patellas.  Not to mention brain and spinal problems for cavvies, Apple headed chihuahuas etc.  Yes, the squashed face is 'cute', but...

 

It's good to see a KC beginning to take measures to reduce the negative effects of breeding for extremes.  In the future it would be better to see a whole dog approach.