The Neighborhood Chicken Killer
A mysterious dog leaves a trail of devastation across North Yakima, slaughtering prized poultry and angering local residents.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
There is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth over the depredations of some mongrel dog. The dog is unknown, but he must be a mongrel or he wouldn’t be so thoroughly ruinous. Within the last few days he has cleaned out a dozen chicken houses, and in the neighborhood of a hundred deaths are laid at his door. His last visit was paid to the hennery of Dr. B. M. Savage, Tuesday night, where he slaughtered twenty-four blooded chickens. Previous to this he had carried death and devastation to the chicken houses of Dr. W. G. Coe, A. H. Reynolds, James Greene, Harry Spratt and a number of others. Some of the sufferers propose putting a price on the head of the cur.
“Some of the sufferers propose putting a price on the head of the cur.”
Conflicts over loose animals remain a staple of suburban life, though today’s neighborhood squabbles over pets are usually settled on social media apps like Nextdoor rather than by calling for a bounty on the dog's head. The list of victims—all local professionals—highlights the close-knit, status-conscious nature of the town's early residential elite.
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