FLOYDADA – “They were devastated, we cried a lot.”
Floydada Ag teacher Alejandra Ramirez knows that showing animals can be a rewarding investment for students in her FFA program, but that reward can also bring risk. “We all know going into it you’re taking a gamble… but it’s different when they’re killed.”
Ramirez went out to check on the animals at Floydada Collegiate High School’s Ag Barn on Saturday morning when she noticed something was wrong. She says she saw what appeared to be a Blue Healer, a Great Pyrenees and a black dog prowling around the penned in area near the back of the barn. Once she shooed the dogs away, she found seven new show pigs badly injured or dead.
The four students whose pigs were killed had only had them for a matter of days. One girl, who was working with her first pig, had only had the animal since Wednesday. Since the pigs were so young, Ramirez says they were not able to put up a fight against the dogs. “If they had been bigger, they might have had a chance, but they were too young.”
Saturday evening Ramirez took to GoFundMe to help the students recoup some of their losses. By Monday morning word had started to get out and donors were stepping up, raising nearly $1,000 and providing leads on replacing the animals. “We’ve been very appreciative of everyone. Pig breeders have stepped up to help out the families as well.” The money raised will be split between the four students.
As for what’s next, Ramirez says they’re working with the city and county to try and locate the dogs, and are taking preventative measures to prevent another attack. “To enclose everything would be impossible to keep everything out… but we’re talking to our contractor that built the barns to work on making it harder for stray animals to get in.”
“We’re lucky in a way that this happened early in our show season,” Ramirez explained. “If it would have been after the state validated them, we wouldn’t be able to show anything. Right now, there’s still time to buy new ones.”
If you would like to donate to the Floydada FFA, you can visit their page at GoFundMe.com.
