WVC Animal Control Officers: Feral Dog Responsible For More Than 50 Animal Deaths, Close-Call With Child

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah – Animal control officers were seeking help Monday to track and catch a feral dog they believe is responsible for dozens of animal killings over the past four months.

“We usually are able to catch a dog right away — usually no more than a week or two,” said West Valley City Animal Services director David Moss. “This dog has been very elusive to us.”

Moss said officers believed the dog had killed more than 50 animals since June in the Chesterfield area, which extends from 2100 South to 3100 South and from Redwood Road to the Jordan River.

He said he believes the dog, described as a German shepherd, has even killed 10 to 12 large farm animals, including several at a charter school farm.

There was also a report of an apparent close-call with a child within the past month.

“The dog was trying to attack a child and that the child was having to fend off the dog with a bike,” Moss explained.

The dog may be capable of recognizing and staying away from animal control and police officers.

“My animal control officers and some of the police officers that have helped us out have said that — that ‘it knows that I’m in a uniform,’ or whatever,” Moss said.

Though the dog has proven to be elusive, sightings haven’t been exactly rare.

Multiple homeowners told KSL they had seen the dog in recent weeks.

“He was around yesterday for a while,” said Don Millard. “(He) didn’t seem aggressive, but not friendly either — kind of in between — just a good-sized dog looking for something, who knows what. He wouldn’t let you approach him, he would trot off, but he wouldn’t come after you either. We didn’t deem him as a threat to us, but it sounds like he might have been a threat to some animals.”

A KSL news crew also spotted and recorded video of the dog Monday evening as it wandered near 2830 South and 1425 West.

The sighting was reported to animal control.

The dog has remained on the run despite as many as 19 people working at the same time to find it, Moss said.

“We’ve had some community members say they were going to try to help us catch it, and they haven’t been able to help us,” Moss said. “It’s just a feral dog that doesn’t at all want to be in captivity, and it does anything it can to get away.”

Anybody with information about the location of the dog is asked to call West Valley City Animal Services at 801-965-5800.