Wolf pups are pictured in Wallowa County in 2012.Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

Wolves from the Keating pack killed a working dog on a cattle ranch in Keating Valley on Friday, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed after an investigation two days later.

Brian Ratliff, district wildlife biologist at ODFW’s Baker City office, said wolves were attracted to the site by six unburied cow carcasses on the property on Middle Bridge Loop Road north of Highway 86.

He strongly urges ranchers to bury carcasses. Even carcasses that are heavily decomposed can lure wolves, as they will eat almost anything, Ratliff said.

“That’s the number one thing you can do to keep wolves away,” he said.

A depredation report from ODFW doesn’t name the rancher who owns the dog.

Ratliff said the attack site, in an area where the rancher is feeding cattle, is the farthest into Keating Valley that wolves have traveled.

In the past the wolves have mainly stayed on the fringes of the valley, about 15 miles northeast of Baker City.

Ratliff said the Keating pack consists of at least 10 wolves. ODFW has trapped four of the wolves, including one pup that was born in the spring of 2021, and placed tracking collars on the animals, he said.

A signal from one of those collars about 9 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 14, showed the wolves on the property where the dog was killed, Ratliff said.

He said he called the owner and advised him about the wolves and recommended he haze the wolves. Ratliff said the rancher said he would try to drive away the wolves.

The owner reported finding the carcass of his dog, a 40-pound Kelpie herding dog, about 150 yards from his house on the morning of Sunday, Jan. 16, according to a depredation report from ODFW.

A biologist who examined the dog estimated it was killed Friday night, Jan. 14.

The dog’s carcass had been scavenged and most of the muscle tissue and organs were missing, according to the report.

The biologist examined the remains and shaved hair from the dog, finding more than 15 premorten bite punctures about 1/8th of an inch in diameter, as well as tears on the back and inside of the dog’s right front leg.

“The location, size, and number of tooth scrapes are consistent with wolf attack injuries on dogs,” the report states.

— Jayson Jacoby | Baker City Herald

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