Effort on to Save Stone Barns Livestock Guardian Dogs From Euthanasia

Animal rights advocates are fighting to keep two Stone Barns Center livestock guardian dogs alive after they were scheduled to be euthanized for attacking and killing a poodle and injuring the ill-fated dog’s owner after getting loose.

The two dogs in question, Luna, a six-year-old Great Pyrenees, and Owyn, a five-year-old Akbash, were scheduled to be put to death last Friday afternoon in connection with the Feb. 6 incident where they somehow got loose and confronted the poodle and its owner on a nearby carriage trail that is part of the Rockefeller Preserve.

Mount Pleasant Town Attorney Darius Chafizadeh said a state trooper filed a complaint following the attack under Section 123 of the state’s Agriculture and Markets Law that addresses dangerous dogs. Anyone who witnesses an attack or a threatened attack can submit a complaint under the law, he said.

Although it’s a state statute, a hearing was held in Mount Pleasant Justice Court before Town Justice Robert Ponzini. Following the hearing, Ponzini ruled Luna and Owyn should be euthanized.

“It’s a pretty brutal situation,” Chafizadeh said. “It’s almost like they were standing over the dog and they were proud of their kill.”

Stone Barns has filed a notice of appeal in hopes of saving Luna’s and Owyn’s lives, a spokesperson for the center told The Examiner.

The spokesperson said that this was the first incident of its kind in the 20-year history of Stone Barns, a working, research, training and demonstration farm where guardian dogs are needed to protect the livestock from an assortment of predators, such as foxes, coyotes or hawks.

The incident has been taken very seriously, the spokesperson said. The attack is highly unusual since Luna and Owyn, one of two pairs of livestock dogs, are guardians trained to protect the farm’s animals and are not herding dogs.

“What happened to our neighbor and her dog was terrible,” the spokesperson said. “We sympathize and empathize with her greatly, and we are very sorry for what happened. When looking at an incident like this and assessing what lessons can be learned, it’s important to look at the facts. Notably, in our 20 years of using guardian dogs, the incident you ask about was our only incident of a guardian dog biting a neighboring person or a neighboring dog.”

It is unclear why the dogs attacked. A veterinary behaviorist could provide an answer as to the cause of the incident.

However, a member of a community group that has been trying to spare Luna and Owyn’s lives and have them relocated, said the advocates didn’t hear about the incident until after the court hearing was completed later in February.

Ninoshka De Leon Gill said that until community members publicly raised the issue, Stone Barns had not demonstrated any urgency in saving the two dogs’ lives.

“So I was fighting from the moment I heard that this happened, to speak up for those dogs and to find a solution,” Gill said. “That was my fear, that they would be ordered to be euthanized so I tried to find a solution before that happened.”

Last Thursday, Gill submitted an affidavit to the court asking Ponzini to grant leave so an alternative home can be found for Luna and Owyn.

Also, affidavits were also filed by Georgia Ranney, a partner with Kinderhook Farm in Columbia County, and by a former Stone Barns livestock director who now works at a farm in Virginia, asking the court to consider them to take the dogs.

Ranney stated in her Apr. 17 filing that Kinderhook Farm has successfully used livestock guardian dogs and that the facility is equipped to take Luna and Owyn. They would be placed in a secure area.

“Over years of operation, I have developed great expertise in handling these dogs in a safe and responsible manner, as have the many experienced members of our farm staff specializing in this area of livestock operations,” Ranney stated in her affidavit.

Michael Peterson, who said he was the livestock director at Stone Barns from 2018 to 2021 and is now the farm and conservation director at a privately-owned 3,000-acre farm in Fauquier County, Va., stated that he would be willing to adopt both dogs.

Gill, who has a dog hiking business and has been around canines her entire life, said it appeared that Stone Barns did not hire a behavioral analyst to evaluate Luna and Owyn to determine if they are dangerous dogs and would like to find out why they attacked.

“Something needed to have triggered them in order for them to have thought that it was a threat that needed to be neutralized,” she said.