Dogs kill livestock in rampage through Maui refuge

By Associated Press

POSTED: 10:13 a.m. HST, Nov 05, 2009

WAILUKU >> Officials of the Maui Coastal Land Trust's Waihee Refuge are blaming dogs for the deaths of four sheep and a 280-pound goat.

They were killed this week within a fenced area of the refuge.

Sheep owner Jay Carpio said 26 other sheep were injured in Monday's attack, and three of those animals had to be euthanized because they were badly injured.

Carpio is concerned about nearby residents, noting that if the dogs can kill a 280-pound goat, they can easily harm a child.

Scott Fisher is Maui Coastal Land Trust project manager at Waihee Refuge. He said the attack and the deaths of five to seven uau kani birds at the refuge around two weeks ago could be related.

Fisher said this is the fifth consecutive year the refuge's entire population of uau kani has been killed off.