Dog in the wild. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

A new threat has emerged for residents of southern Israel living near the border with Egypt: packs of wild dogs. Exploiting holes in the border fence, the dogs have been able to infiltrate the area and have begun terrorizing local residents as well as farm animals and animals living in the wild.

Yankele Moskowitz, director of research and development at the local regional council, was quoted by Israeli daily Maariv as saying, “In recent days I’ve seen a lot of dangerous, wild dogs that were not here before. We do not know what to do with this phenomenon and if we can just shoot them. I complained to the Nature and Parks Authority, but the problem has not be solved.”

A letter from the regional council said that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is required to handle the problem. In response the Ministry said the issue will be dealt with and that it was in the process of purchasing weapons that could rid the area of the animals without causing any unnecessary suffering.

An article earlier this month in Haaretz details the problem throughout all of Israel and notes that researchers and nature protection personnel claim “the authorities do nothing to counter the problem.”