At the heart of the solution is $8,000 allocated by the County for Maples to assess the magnitude of the dog problem, beginning with the Gillis ranch, and then begin trapping and disposing of the feral dogs.

Other ranchers and land owners in the Ellicott area who have sighted the dogs on their properties are encouraged to contact Maples through the USDA office at (303) 236-5810. It was more than a year ago, when a 4- H ram owned by the Dan Gillis’ son and three dairy goats owned by Susan Harris were killed in separate dog attacks in Ellicott. Frustrated residents appealed to the various agencies of El Paso County, but with little success until Lathen heard about the problem.

Lathen noted in her speech, “I don’t know why it hasn’t been addressed before, I can’t speak to that. But we have scraped up some dollars because the livestock and some people have been threatened by these dogs.”

Several residents said the problem was the result of dogs being dumped in the Ellicott area. Joe Breister of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said, “If you see people dumping an animal, it is a crime. Get the license plate number and turn it into the sheriff’s office. It can equate to a felony.”

Lathen said it needs to be clearly expressed not to drop off dogs in the unincorporated areas of El Paso County. “It is all of our voices together that will help resolve this problem.”

Maples is expecting to begin the assessment and laying out the traps in the next few weeks as soon as the money is released by the county.

He will be using cage traps, leg hold traps with padded jaws that are regulated by the state and snare traps to capture the dogs. The traps will be checked every 24 hours and any captured dogs will be euthanized.

Maples said the goal of the program is to ensure the health and human safety of the Ellicott residents and their livestock.

Dan Gillis said, “Thank you and all the commissioners for helping us take care of this situation.”