Entrepreneur Jonathan Ruff lost three of his four pet birds while his farmer neighbour lost more than 30 during an attack this week near St Peter’s Arsenal. A dog owner contacted Mr Ruff to say they thought their German pointer may be responsible but a local tracking expert has ruled the pet out.
The States police were called to the scene on Wednesday evening. Inquiries are ongoing.
Mr Ruff, whose chickens Potato, Boss Chick and Zazu were killed in the attack, said he and the local expert believe the animal responsible is a small ‘Jack Russell-type dog’.
‘The dog responsible is within 150, 200, 300 metres of here I think. I think I know who is responsible,’ he said.
‘But still no one has come forward, your dog cannot kill 40 chickens and you don’t know about it. Someone knows and should come forward. I don’t blame the dog – animals kill animals – but this is private land and they were my chickens.’
The owner of the now closed Tamba Park said he has one bird left that has suffered significant injuries. ‘My neighbour is a farmer, it’s his livelihood. Lots of the birds might not lay now because they are traumatised,’ he added.
Mr Ruff said that the dog expert had ruled the German pointer out based on bite marks on the birds. He said the police were now looking at the dog registry to see if any animals matching the suspect dog’s description lived in the area.
Speaking about the dog expert, who has asked to remain anonymous, Mr Ruff said: ‘I supposed he is a bit like Jersey’s Ace Ventura. He’s a pretty cool, intelligent guy. He goes around tracking and has a trained dog.’
Ace Ventura is a fictional Miami-based private detective who specialises in finding missing animals. Actor Jim Carey played him in a series of films in the 1990s.
In an unconnected incident, St Mary parishioner Jim Drew told the JEP last month how a rogue dog had killed up to eight of his pure-breed chickens – some of which were prize-winning birds. He said the eight birds – almost a third of his once 25-strong brood – were his pets and that no amount of money could bring them back.
