Few people can really understand how dogs, big and small, will do everything in their power to save their pack.
John Wierwille found out.
A pack of coyotes visited his home on November 3. Around 9:00 pm, he found a pack of coyotes around his home.
He was able to turn them away by throwing rocks at them and yelling at the coyotes to leave.
They left and John carried on with his evening.
But then they came back.
A few hours later, at around 2:30 am, John was woken up by barking outside his home.
When he checked outside, he discovered his two dogs, Casper and Daisy, herding the sheep in their pen to one corner.
When John came closer, he found the same pack of coyotes had returned and were inside the pen.
Casper stood in their way.
John counted about five or six coyotes inside the pen with Casper and Daisy being the only thing separating them from the sheep.
There were several more coyotes in the area. John tried to find a solution to his problem but there was one thing he noticed.
“I wasn’t really afraid they were going to attack me or anything,” John said. “But they weren’t responding [to me], they were focused on Casper I think more than anything.”
When the coyotes and dogs are gearing up to attack each other, you do not want to be in the middle of it.
Just then, Casper charged.
He went straight toward the coyotes to protect his herd, including his humans.
It was a bloody fight that lasted maybe around 30 minutes. John thought Casper was done but he surprised John when he continued to protect them.
The coyotes jumped out of the pen and ran off, splitting in different directions. Casper wasn’t going to let them get away with what they did and he ran after them.
He caught up to them at the embankment of the creek near their home where he fought with the coyotes.
That’s when Casper disappeared.
John was grateful to Casper because he killed eight coyotes that night, but he was concerned about Casper disappearing more than the coyotes. He needed to find him.
John was joined by his neighbors to look for him.
“…We thought we could find him, we thought he must have been killed and so we were looking for him,” John said. “If he wasn’t killed, we figured he was hurt, we knew he was hurt, because we found parts of his tail and blood and other things, so we were worried about him.”
The search continued the next day.
In their search, that’s where they discovered the dead coyotes. Casper is one tough dog!
Unfortunately, they did not find Casper that day, further solidifying the thought that he might also have been killed in the fight.
Casper doesn’t give in easily though.
Two days after, Casper came home.
He showed up in the pen, banged up but alive and checking in on his herd.
“He looked like death, I mean he looked terrible,” John shared. “He came back home and he just kind of looked at me like ‘boss stop looking at how bad I look, just take care of me.’”
Luckily, John was able to get the help of the animal welfare organization Lifeline Animal Project.
Casper had to undergo multiple surgeries.
They had to close up wounds on his neck and back and even amputate his tail.
Lifeline Animal Project was there to assist. They took fantastic care of Casper during the whole ordeal.
They’re not sure what kind of quality life Casper will have after the surgery but it doesn’t matter.
They are forever grateful to Casper for saving them and the sheep that night.
Learn more about how Casper leapt into action to save his herd in the video below!
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