Sarah Deuell

This bill goes beyond the registration of livestock guardian dogs (LSGDs) and shows a severe lack of understanding of these dogs and for small family farms. It seems the lawmakers of this state are out here to strangle families trying to live sustainably and support themselves by raising their own food. New Hampshire and this country was founded by family farms. It’s who we are. Here are some facts that this bill will aide in the extinction of family farms: 1. Dogs are family (pack) animals. They are highly intelligent. Two dogs minimum is best for optimal guarding of livestock. They take shifts while one can rest and the other be on alert. Restricting the acreage per dog is a direct target of small family farms. 2. LSGDs bark. They do this to alert the area that they are present and alert. This is incredibly effective against coyotes and bears. They will bark periodically especially at night when predators are most active to avoid direct conflict with predators. It’s what they are bred to do, much like a lab is bred to retrieve, it’s in their genes. You cannot and should not stop them from doing their very job. 3. They patrol perimeters. They roam large areas and are notorious escape artists because they want to investigate and understand where all threats are coming from for their charges. Again it’s in their genes, this is what they are made to do and they love to do. 4. LSGDs are more than farm animals. They are family to the farmer. We love and cherish our dogs because we know they are the front line to protecting our livelihood and living in harmony with the beautiful and wild New Hampshire. Every animal on our small farms matters to us. We do everything to keep them healthy and cared for and LSGDs are amazing at helping us do that. We’ve had LSGD on our small sheep farm for 20 years and in that time we’ve had coyotes and bears make attempts to kill out sheep in spite of high voltage electric fences. The only thing that saved us from total financial and emotional devastation was our loyal and amazing dogs. I ask that any lawmaker that wants to support this bill must first spend a month working on our farms and really see and understand the day to day struggles we face and to see the love and support our dogs give us and what we give them. Please stop the extinction of small family farms. Support us, do not punish us. We are the foundation of this country. Save our loyal and amazing dogs.