Dogs that attack livestock would qualify as “potentially dangerous” under a bill proposed in Oregon, expanding the definition beyond canines that injure people or pets.

The legislation was prompted by the experience of Gary Chandler, a Linn County resident who lost four alpacas in an attack by two dogs last year.

Though a security video and a neighbor’s account identified the offending dogs, Chandler said the local sheriff’s office wasn’t able to offer much help.

“We were shocked to find out that the only thing the deputy was able to do was cite owners for their dogs being nuisance dogs,” Chandler said during a recent legislative hearing.

Through civil litigation, Chandler said he won a court judgment for the market value of the alpacas but was disappointed that law enforcement is limited in its capacity to deal with nuisance dogs.

“There’s no enforcement capability, legally,” he said.

Under Senate Bill 733, dogs that attack livestock would be designated as “potentially dangerous” along with those that harm humans and domestic pets.

That change would provide “law enforcement with the necessary tools to do their job effectively,” such as requiring the dog’s owner to keep the animal fenced or otherwise contained, Chandler said.

Designating dogs that attack livestock as mere nuisances seems “wrong to us on a lot of fronts,” he said.

“It creates a public safety risk, for one thing. It promotes the idea of citizens taking the law into their own hands out of frustration. And the third thing is it’s unnecessary suffering on the part of livestock,” Chandler said.

While the current law does allow owners to receive compensation for their livestock, that does not address the ongoing threat posed by dogs with a propensity to attack farm animals, said Sara Gelser Blouin, D-Corvallis, the bill’s chief sponsor.

The proposal has survived the first legislative deadline of the 2025 legislative session, as the Senate Natural Resources Committee has set a March 25 work session to vote on the bill. Bills that are not scheduled for a work session by March 21 will automatically die in committee.

Gelser Blouin said the legislation has not raised any concerns with Glenn Kolb, the state veterinarian, or the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association, nor has it drawn any criticism in testimony submitted to the committee.

“That is a good sign this is a modest fix to a real problem,” she said.