Ughhhh had a terrible morning. Let chickens out of coop into their safe pen, an hour later I opened my window to let some fresh air in and heard them making noises I've never heard. Ran outside and found two random dogs, they had broken into the pen and ripped out the bottom of the coop trying to get at the chickens. Ran them off and checked on the chicks, missing one. We assumed the worst and that a dog had nabbed her and taken her home, two others were lightly injured. One has a small amount of blood around her nose, another is favoring her eye, both acting normal otherwise, so we've been advised to keep an eye on them for any changes.
We drove the neighborhood and found their house pretty quickly, and oh.my.god. There was at least 15 dogs (including the 2 I ran off) out front lounging loose. The place was very run down and the dogs were in very ill condition, (crusty/boogery eyes, eyes crusted shut on many, with all of the cataracts I saw many are assumably aged) all longhaired dogs with impacted coats with dirt and twigs matted in. Waded through all of the dogs and knocked on the door, no answer.
Bf contacted sheriff since there was property damage, and we're wanting to be sure what rights we have in regards to our animals. I'm hoping since it is such a small town, that the sheriff might know the dog owners situation, and hopefully I might be able to get in some contact with her, because I've been told she's an elderly woman who lost her husband and has been declining in her ability to care for herself/animals. If that is the case, then I'm hoping I can start contacting some local organizations to help her with the animals and her own welfare. I was absolutely pissed and ready to tell someone off this morning until I realized where these dogs were coming from. This is not a clean cut situation and I'm willing to help if she's willing to take it, but I'm worried for her and her animals. This is also gun-happy rural O.K. so I'm not keen on returning to her door again and her feeling threatened by a stranger knocking, if that's why she didn't initially answer.
And THANKFULLY, even after I looked through our property high and low, the missing chicken showed up. She was just waiting at our back door unscathed after she felt it was safe to come out, like a good chicken. So very relieved she's okay.