Dog walkers urged to keep pets on leads after chicken attack

Wednesday 02 June 2021

A couple in St. Ouen are calling for dog walkers to take more care with their pets, after seven of their chickens were killed, and at least eight others injured.

They say the chickens were attacked by a spaniel which was being walked off its lead with three other dogs, by an employee of a dog-walking company.

It has prompted Nigel and Judith Quérée, who owned more than 40 chickens by their home off Rue de la Capelle, to urge dog-walkers to always keep their dogs on leads, keep off private farmland, and consider renting or buying their own land to exercise them.

The dog-walking company has apologised to the Quérées, and compensated them for their loss. They described it as "a sad and unfortunate incident, which won't happen again."

Describing events in a Facebook post, Mr Quérée said: “On Friday morning we had to go into to town for a couple of hours, arriving back at 10:45, in time for a group of visitors to the garden, but when we went into the chicken area all we saw was a body of a cockerel, lots of feathers and no chickens – they normally rush up when they hear the gate.

“While Judith was greeting our visitors, a member of the Spotted Wellies dog walking company arrived to explain that they had lost a black spaniel for 20 minutes, and when the spaniel came back to them she had feathers around her mouth and they quickly realised what had happened. 

“At the time we were distressed and angry, but before she left, having exchanged phone numbers, we realised that we were very lucky that she had come to tell us, and we said thank you.

“I searched the field, immediately finding three more bodies: another Pekin bantam cockerel, a black Pied Ranger and a female Silver Sebright bantam. In the middle of the field I noticed another bantam cockerel in obvious distress, so I collected him to take him to the vets. 

“Following a trail of feathers, I found two brown warren chickens, one barely alive and very shocked, but both needed to go the vets. The bantam cockerel died before I left, so it was two chickens that went to Jersey Village Vets in St Mary.

“The problem with dog bites, particularly for chickens, is that the shock is just as much an issue as the actual bite, but in addition a dog’s teeth have such a lot of bacteria on them that there is a very high likelihood of serious infection.

“The vets rang later. Unfortunately, the first brown warren was so badly mauled and distressed, she had to be put to sleep, but the other was making a good recovery. 

“We have been giving her some pain killers and antibiotics. We also treated other chickens for shock and blue antiseptic spray. The following day we found one of our rare breeds, a Spanish Black, dead. We think others are still missing. 

“Seven dead, two injured, some missing, and many very nervous chickens without tail feathers.”

“We could write to the Attorney General again - we did that after the last attack to no avail - that there needs to be an updated Dogs’ Law which reflects the current practices of dog walking and the large increase in the number of dogs in the island – but given covid and other pressing law drafting requirements, how likely is that?”

As well as apologising to the Quérées, Spotted Wellies are compensating them for their loss. Staff member Gail Bennie said: “We are all animal lovers and while our upset won’t match Mr and Mrs Quérée’s, it was distressing for everyone involved. 

“The management have never had an incident like this and we really do think it is a one-off.

“It was an oversight on behalf of the walker, which is being addressed by the company; we always do our upmost to make sure our dogs are under control and always on leads around livestock.

“It was a sad and unfortunate incident but we’re confident that it won’t happen again.”