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I started writing about this topic after reading that there are 100 millions dogs in America, back in the fall of 1998. Every year people e-mail with more true dog attack stories. Since that time I have put them in my newsletter. The first three articles are still posted here: www.survival-center.com/buckshot/dogs.htm

Now, in today’s climate of terrorist attacks, hurricanes that could cause an economy collapse changing America into chaos I think it might be something interesting to share. The premise is the majority of the people in bad times would let their pets go to fend for themselves. These pets would soon revert back to becoming predators. [JWR Comments: I portrayed precisely that in my screenplay Pulling Through–available for free download.] Once the chaos hit the cities and people start killing each other the dogs would start feeding on the dead bodies. These packs will then have a taste for human flesh and you will be considered food.

Canines like fresh kills the best. Something about the blood letting turn it into a frenzy like in a shark attack. If you want to see for yourself next time you’ve unthawed some meat save the bloody water in the foam tray. Carry this outside and spread it across your lawn. Let your dog out and watch what happens. To really open your eyes have two dogs checking it out at the same time. But I’d better let you know up front I am not responsible for the vet bills or human injuries–so be careful if you do this. In other words you’ll do so AT YOUR OWN RISK.

To get a glimpse into what an attack would sound like read this. This was posted to a forum and later e-mailed to me. Pretty graphic bone chilling descriptions. I am sorry I don’t know who the author is to give him/her credit.
“That is true primal fear ….”I don´t know what it is about dogs but there is a built in something inside of me that when I hear a pack of dogs attacking …..especially attacking another lone helpless dog (lets just stay with dogs for now)….there is something that goes click in me and every fiber of my being is set on the highest tension a person can experience….all hairs standing on end….stomach churning, panic/fear/tears/screams…..everything reactive instantly and at once. There are some folks alive who have never actually heard this except on t.v. and let me tell you it does not do justice to hearing these sounds for real and seeing the fangs/blood, flying flesh, gouged out eyes and horrific screams…yes screams of bloody murder coming from the dog being attacked….well, if you ever have this experience it will stay with you forever….most assuredly if in that experience you were totally helpless to stop/control/defend/run-from/drive off the pack and those long horrific minutes became unending video stuck on reply….forever. I guess it brings back a deep deep species memory of long ago when the nights were terrifying and not made for sleeping but rather for surviving until the dawn/daylight…. I guess that is why dogs still sleep so soundly during the day though they don´t remember why and I don´t sleep during the night….though I can´t forget. Keeps one alive when civilization is long dead and gone.”

I would like to add a few things every time this posted someone will always say “no way dogs will become food” or “coyotes will kill the dogs.” While it is true that coyotes do kill dogs mostly smaller ones or loners. Now you take a pack of 15 dogs against a normal coyote pack of 2 to 6 and the coyotes will become the food. Even though there is a number of coyotes in almost every state last time I heard the population average for coyotes in the Lower 48 was 10 million. That is a far cry from 100 million dogs.

The key point most people miss in this is what I call the rule of 50. At any given time the normal city person has about 50 miles worth of gas in their vehicle, less then $50 cash, less then 50 hours of food in the house, and less then 50 rounds of ammunition. If you research into what happen after 9-11. ATM shut down most people didn’t have any money, how many gas station were sold out within hours? How many rounds of ammunition were bought that day? How many could not buy any food? The funny ones are the people that think a club will be all they need against a pack of attacking dogs. Ever hit a Rottweiler in the head with baseball bat? Nope, me neither, but I saw it once and all it did was make the dog really mad. Now try it against a pack of 15 dogs attacking you… They will find your bat next to your torn up body.

Here is part of story in one of my Newsletters. Note this was after fighting and killing off most of a feral dog pack:

“The whole walk home I had the feeling I was being watched. I didn’t know by who until I went out to my jeep later that night. The last dog followed me home and attacked me as I was walking to my jeep. I think that was the alpha male because he was a ballsy and got me to the ground on his own. I ended up stabbing him about 25 times with my pocket knife before he quit biting me. I found him in an old rusted out car that was in a field about 2 days later.”

There are some really important points to be made here. One this is after killing off most of the pack, the Alpha had no fear of humans, the dog thought this human was trying to be the new Alpha and he was not going to let that happen until the two fought it out. What is very startling is the number of wounds from the pocket knife; 25 times. I’m just guessing it was small pocket knife with a 3 inch blade. Still it was a “to the death” fight in the dog’s mind. Also, even after all of those knife wounds the dog still got away and died out of sight.

These dog packs will range in size from 6-to-50 dogs. I don’t care how good a shot you are–if 20-to-50 dogs are attacking you are deep do-do. Have you ever tried to shoot a running coyote or deer? How many times did you miss? Now imagine trying to hit running dogs coming from all directions? A simple effective solution is to have 10 dozen coyote snares on hand. This is for a homestead-retreat. With some basic snare knowledge you can have 120 guards watching every animal path into your homestead. This will also be a great deterrent for coyotes and other vermin coming to feed on your livestock. Now I am NOT talking about homemade wire snares. Once a 20-to-70 pound feral dog hits one of these he will break it right off. Just like hot knife through butter. This is very bad for a couple of reasons. You just taught the dog to avoid snares making him warily and 10 times harder to catch the next time. No I am talking about real professional grade self locking snares made out aircraft cable rated up to 1,080 pounds of strength. But the large dog is only 100 pounds why so strong? Well the first thing you learn trapping is animal fight the trap or snare. They roll, twist bite, chew and used their strength to escape. Wild coyote have showed they could put 5 times their weight into breaking free. Simple math a 100 pound animal can put 500 pounds of breaking strength on a snare. Next rolling and twisting our snares come with a swivel to help prevent kinking or twisting. Biting ,coyotes can chew through the cable if you are not diligent in checking the snare every day. But this cable is perfect for a 24 hour check. Even with all it’s strength a coyote can still [eventually] chew through it. That is pretty amazing to me. – “Buckshot”

JWR’s Comment: I’ve known “Buckshot” Bruce Hemming for about eight years. I highly recommend his traps, snares, scents, and videos. (I have quite a few that I’ve bought from him over the years.) Buckshot will sell you 10 dozen professionally made coyote snares and a video for around $200. In a real long term grid-down TEOTWAWKI situation, traps and snares will be worth their weight in gold. You’ll be glad you have them for both the food and the protection that they will provide. To learn more, visit Buckshot’s Camp at: www.buckshotscamp.com, or call (in the U.S. or Canada) for a free catalog: 1(888) 600-6869. If nothing else, at least sign up for Buckshot’s free newsletter at his web site. Disclaimer: I haven’t been paid or given any merchandise to write this. I’m in awe of the depth of his knowledge on trapping. (If you’ve seen any of his videos, then you know what I mean!) Lastly, I should mention that Buckshot is a new SurvivalBlog advertiser. But I would have run his letter, regardless!