Hsia Liang-chou (
Ten goats were killed at the farm on Friday, followed by another 14 on Monday.
An Indonesian woman who was at the farm on Friday said she had watched in horror as a tiger killed the goats.
But Hsia, director of the animal husbandry and veterinary medicine division of the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology in Pingtung County, and also the head of a home for stray dogs run by the university, said he was sure stray dogs were responsible.
Hsia said that it was not unusual for stray dogs to attack other animals. While released or escaped dogs could also become aggressive, second or third-generation strays are much more violent than those which were once pets, Hsia said.
He cited a case that occurred in Pingtung County years ago in which more than 10 mid-sized hogs and dozens of goats were killed by stray dogs in a single night. Hsia said the strays had killed at least one of their victims by attacking its neck and flinging it to the ground.
Dogs that kill other animals need not be large, the professor said, as they often attack in packs.
Hsia said it was easy to identify the species of an attacker from paw prints and bite wounds. If dogs were responsible for the attack on the goats in Linkou, there would be tooth marks left on the victim, he said, whereas if it was a tiger, there should also be lacerations caused by the creature's claws.
A second dog was caught in a trap at the Linkou goat farm yesterday, following the capture of a white stray the previous day.
However, neither of the captured strays' paws are big enough to have left the tracks found at the farm, Taipei County officials said.
They said they would continue to trap dogs until they captured some with paws matching the prints.
Meanwhile, US-based forensic scientist Henry Lee (
Lee made the suggestion in response to media inquiries during a visit to Changhua, where he was to deliver a speech to local police.
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