(Hudson Lake, IN) - A La Porte County family had all 14 of their laying hens inside a reinforced coop killed by two dogs.

 

“It was a horrible bloody scene,” said Amber Walorski, whose husband, Michael, scared the dogs off his property in Hudson Lake by firing several gunshots.

 

According to La Porte County Police, Mr. Walorski woke up Friday about 3:30 a.m. to start getting ready for work.   He went outside to investigate the sound of dogs barking outside his residence in the 8000 block of E. Chicago Road.

 

Using a flashlight, he spotted the dogs he did not recognize from the neighborhood attacking his chickens and scared them off by firing several rounds from a gun into the ground, police said.

 

Mr. Walorski described one of the dogs as weighing about 100 pounds with longer brown fur and the other dog as a white Labrador retriever about half the size.

 

Mrs. Walorski said there were dead chickens inside the walk-in coop and out in the yard along with about a half dozen still alive birds put down because of gaping wounds.

 

“It was really, really horrible to wake up to and to deal with,” said Mrs. Walorski.

 

Fortunately, the dogs did not break into another nearby coop holding about a half dozen chickens panic stricken during the attack.

 

“They were going crazy,” she said.

 

Mrs. Walorski said it appears the dogs broke into the coop by forcing open the bottom of a door with enough force to break the latch and ripping into a section of chicken wire to create an opening just large enough for them to squeeze in.

 

She said her husband reinforced the coop a few years ago to protect the birds from any coyotes and other wild animals that might try to break in.

 

Police said the case was turned over to La Porte County Animal Control to try and determine the owner of the dogs.  Animal control officer Jay Dare said a $50 fine for each dog could be issued for them running at-large.

 

If the owner of the dog is proven, Dare said the best option for the couple is to file a civil case to try and recover their financial losses if an out of court settlement cannot be reached.

 

“Normally, that’s what I always tell people as their best bet to get reimbursed,” he said.  

 

Mrs. Walorski said her family started raising chickens for eggs and meat in response to rising  food prices during the pandemic and to give their sons, ages 7 & 5, the experience of taking care of the birds.

 

She said money is not that important because they still have five hens and a rooster they reserved for meat to use now to rebuild their flock of egg layers.

 

Walorski said what hurts the most is having to tell her children their pets were dead.

 

“None of it was fun,” she said.