Jacqueline Joy and her husband live near St Sampson’s High School and one of the access paths to the school runs past their property.
At about 6am their pet dogs’ barking alerted them to something wrong and they went out to find the remains of between six and eight of their laying hens.
‘It was hard to tell how many because some are just heaps of feathers,’ said Mrs Joy.
She took to social media group to vent her anger.
‘To the careless person who thinks it’s OK to let their dog loose near St Sampson’s High School, it is not. Your dog has come onto our property and killed several of our beautiful laying hens,’ she wrote.
Although unable to identify the dog involved, she said that the previous day a brown and white spaniel had entered the property and ran amok. She said that if the owner knew it was their dog that had killed the birds, could they either pay for them or make a donation to the GSPCA.
‘I was told by my godson who saw the small brown and white cocker sized spaniel [on Thursday] that it was chasing the chickens in our field,’ she told the Guernsey Press, ‘and that a lady on the pathway was trying to call it back.’
This was not the first time a dog had got onto their property, she added.
‘We have had to stop a husky at one time, another time a golden retriever was caught in the act with his owner in hot pursuit.
‘To some, it’s probably a friendly pet. To our chickens it’s a merciless killer.’
Mrs Joy wants to see all dogs kept on a lead when walked down the path. She had put out signs asking for this previously, but they had been removed.
‘How long before a child gets attacked? It is an offence to let a mischievous or ferocious dog wander, punishable by a fine.’
The lane was opened in 2020 and the Living Streets charity was responsible for its maintenance.
‘I assume our lane is a public place and therefore it is against the law for dogs to wander without a lead, especially if mischievous or ferocious, and the chicken-killing implies the latter,’ said John Gollop, the charity’s president.
‘Bearing in mind the path was facilitated as a safe way to school for pupils primarily, such an incident is especially disturbing.’
He understood that Environment & Infrastructure had a ‘growing responsibility’ for making sure the path was fit for purpose.
‘We may require better signs,’ he said. ‘The longer term answer may lie in strategically-placed CCTV, especially given the path’s proximity to the new football stadium and the prison.’