Saskatoon

Family's livestock guardian dogs shot, fatally wounded in rural Saskatchewan

A family’s two guardian dogs were shot near a grid road near Silton, Sask., about 45 minutes northwest of Regina. Dazy and Cujo had to be put down, and their owner is asking the public to help the RCMP find their killer.

Their owner is asking the public to help the RCMP find their killer

Two dogs
Dazy, left, and Cujo were shot on a road near Silton, Sask., on Wednesday morning. Their owner, Erin Folk, is hoping the public can help the RCMP find out who shot her pets. (Submitted by Erin Folk)

When Erin Folk goes to the stable every day, she greets her dogs and feeds the horses and chickens.

Her dogs, Dazy and Cujo, like to patrol the property, sniff around and see the sights. 

On Wednesday morning Folk left the family home to visit her daughter and granddaughter, but shortly after she got a call from her husband who sounded extremely upset. 

Sask. woman says her 2 dogs were shot and killed 'at close range' on rural road north of Regina

2 months ago
Duration 3:08
Erin Folk describes how her family's two farm dogs, Dazy and Cujo, were found with serious gunshot wounds near their rural property north of Regina. The dogs were later euthanized due to their injuries. Southey RCMP are investigating.

He told her someone had found Dazy and that whatever happened to her was bad.

The family's two dogs had been shot between 9:15 and 10:15 a.m. near a grid road near Silton, Sask., in the RM of McKillop, about 45 minutes northwest of Regina. 

"Our whole family is shaken and devastated. It's very hard to accept that someone would stalk and kill a member of your family and that they did it in such a way that these dogs were both left to suffer," Folk said. 

"They did it intentionally; there was intention … I have no words." 

The family took Dazy, who was three years old, to the hospital. She had been shot in the face and had lost her sight and sense of smell. But Cujo, her pup that had just turned a year old, was nowhere to be found.

A dog
Cujo turned a year old the day he was shot. (Erin Folk)

The next morning the family got a call: Cujo had been found while trying to make his way home. 

"He'd been shot in the shoulder and he'd also been shot in the head. He had gotten to the top of the hill and he was trying to get back to the barn … he could see the barn from where he was," Folk said. 

Both dogs had to be put down. 

"Together with the veterinary team, we decided that it was best to let them both go," Folk said. "And we did that … we held them and we said goodbye." 

She says RCMP officers investigated the scene where Dazy was found and the Mounties continue to seek information about the shootings.

"Anyone that may have observed a vehicle on the east side of Hwy. 322, either in the field or on that road, if you could please call the … RCMP," Folk said.

Folk is determined to seek justice for her dogs.

"You just don't take the life of another person's pets. You don't do that. No one has the right to do that," she said. 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Aishwarya Dudha is a reporter for CBC Saskatchewan based in Saskatoon. She specializes in immigration, justice and cultural issues and elevating voices of vulnerable people. She has previously worked for CBC News Network and Global News. You can email her at aishwarya.dudha@cbc.ca

with files from Samanda Brace