The Dog Killer

 

Presentation:

There is nothing worse for a boar hunter with dogs and knife then to confront a dog killer, these boars are most always of great presence and armed with great tusk (cutters, Ivory's) and not because of old age did they loose there abilities, very known for there ability to be elusive and the count of hurt and killed dogs that he has left behind him, not forgetting the destruction of plots and flock, this is so that he meet all the requirements of rank boar and earned the name "el Capataz de Cebollati" (the foreman of Cebollati) the natural jungles of the Cebollati river in the department of "la Rocha" where his domain in his night campaigns he would destroy many flocks or herds and many plots but the worst yet was that with every duel the hunters would loose there dogs and the great "Capataz" would come out victories in his fights, leaving the bitter taste on the hunters of not being able to finish the life of the killer of there dogs.

The Call:

Almost at he end of a cold weekend of the month of July (remember that south of the equator is opposite seasons) a call to a campaign put me in contact with a so Mr. Bennett owner of land in the department of "La Rocha" his land bordered with beaches over the Cebolleti river and he mentioned to me that boars where wondering around his land and where causing terrible loses to his flock and that the day before a boar had killed his sly mule, in my mind there was but one thought "El Capataz del Cebolleti", with out hesitation I told him to wait for me that the next weekend I would arrive with the pack of dogs so I could try and solve the problem for him, even though I wanted to run into this boar I was afraid for my dogs life's.

Preparation:

With two very important dogs laid up, one Dogo of very heavy structure that was out of the fight for haven been cut up on our last hunting campaign and a Dogo x Grey Hound bitch that was pregnant, I formed a pack with what I had left and rounded up the best dogs I knew with two of there owners, Javier C. "El Capincho" with his .247 and his good aim, Jose P. and the narrator Fernando B. as always behind the pack, the pack was formed by two heavy weight Dogos "el Toro and el Bebeto" which ever one of these two Dogos where able to plow equal two a pair of oxen's and with an impressive power in there jaws given two them by there huge heads, four medium weight Dogos "Paloma, Oreja, La Santa and La Mancha" which ever of these with great courage and speed with the only difference that "Paloma and La Oreja" had lots more experience with boars compared to there daughters even though they all had experience with boars and had demonstrated in more then one occasion that the good blood is hereditary, the strike dogs where to Dogos x Grey Hounds "Luz and Flash" these beside run and catch also would bark when they would find the boar and this for hunters is very important because it tells us where the fight is taking place and we can reach it much quicker and this way beating seconds away from a rank boar that in occasion could mean a lot, in another hand there was "El Tanque" a dog that came out of a cross of Fila's and great Danes a dog that weight 90 kg (198.41lbs) a dog that would not find would not run would not bark and if he saw a boar would show his disinterest that was until "Luz" bitch Dogo x Grey Hound would catch and then like a miracle act he would catch the hog in such a bitter and fierce way it would be impossible to explain and I can assure u that when "El Tanque" would catch the hog would never be the same again, in other words "El Tanque" with out "Luz" would be like taking a calf to hunt hogs, to complete the noses of the team " El Barba and Mulita" excellent dogs to find the hog if he was laying down and not moving in occasions it is complicated for the dogs to find the hog if he was laying up, but "el Barba" was a specialist in these matters and "el Mulita" had one problem not liked by many boar hunters that was that he was a specialist in hunting other types of fauna legally protected.

The Arrival:

We met with Mr. Bennett a chilly Friday night, 280 km (174 miles) from Montevideo, after the introductions we proceeded to download the dogs from the truck and to accommodate them and feed them so they could be strong and rested for the complicated task that God willing would end the raids (incursions) of these fugitives, while eating ram and drinking wine we would illustrate the land and the possible escape routes for the boar according to Mr. Bennett who new the land, considering the possibilities of the Boar refusing a heads on fight with the dogs he would end up running towards a very dirty lagoon with some river mouths that met with the lagoon at that location, Javier C. aka "El Capincho" would stalk him on a sierra that had an excellent view towards the lagoon and a great part of the rivers beach, Jose and I would comb thru the jungle with the pack starting from a scrubland at 7 km. (4.3 miles) away towards the location where "El Capincho" was posted, with everything more less planed out and with the arrival of a veterinary from the area that had come over to spend the weekend at the the "estancia". We went to rest and to see if in between dreams there would be something that we had forgotten.

The Start:

A little before dawn we where found in the kitchen brewing mate and fixing the last details, the cold and a persistent rain thru out the hold day marked the moment to go out, the dogs would show there excitement and we would not let them wait, "El Capincho" would take the truck and set himself up on the sierra and Jose and I would start combing the jungle, we went towards the scrubland at about 500mts from a pasture we let all the dogs loose at that point except for "el Toro and el Bebeto" so they would be rested and let them loose when "el Barbas" would find the tracks, after a few minutes we left the scrublands behind and the boars tracks made them self's evident, once in the jungle we found where the boar had been wallowing very fresh signs probable from the night before a few meters after coming out of the jungle we found carrion from sheep's that the boar had killed, even though every thing indicated that he was near by the dogs where still unable to find his trail, most of the morning had passed and we decided to turn around and try it later in the evening, when we arrived at the "estancia" "el Capincho" told us how when he had passed with the truck on the boarder of the lagoon he had seen the boar pass exactly where we had not looked because reason being we had run out of time and also because we had decided to leave that particular area for the end because of how filthy and impenetrable the terrain was on that particular area. The rains got stronger fallowed by a lightning storm one of those where it is a pleasure to watch from the jungle, but in another note it would not allow us to go out in the afternoon as we had planed delaying the campaign and we where afraid the boar would start moving away. Because the storm did not seem to let in we decided to fallow up in the morning with the same plan but in this case with two radios provided by the owner of the property so we could stay communicated with "el Capincho". The afternoon and the night seemed long and it made only for talking about passed hunting campaigns and dogs, talking about dogs the veterinary commented that he had seen some gorges mastiffs but nothing like this, pointing at "el Toro" I told him that they where Dogos, Dogos Argentinos and the face on him told me that he had no idea that, those white dogs that he was looking at with such admiration where Dogo Argentinos and better yet he had no idea that there function, for what they where created for was exactly the same for which they had joined in that precise moment, the dame boar, but he would continue in his doubt because this gentleman would not enter the jungle even if dogs where chasing him, so our stories of hogs and Dogos would have to be enough for him.

The Lagoon:

The rain had made us stop and now one could only feel a drizzle, so we got ready to comb the lagoon, "el Capincho" in the truck went to post himself in the sierra as accorded, but this time with his radio on hand, Jose went to one end of the lagoon with half the pack I took the other half and started to comb the area, half way and seeing Jose every so often I become worried because the dogs are getting separated to far apart and that would make things easier for the boar if we where to come up to it, so as soon as Jose turned to look at me I made some hand signals to round up and start combing from my location with all the dogs together because there was some very fresh tracks where the river met with the lagoon, it was already mid-morning and the clock was playing against us, so as soon as we got together we started to work the area, as soon as we started moving the radio went off, it was "el Capincho with an agitated voice he tells us he has seen the boar he said "it was headed my way and for some reason turned around", where r u guys? He asked, he said I am sure he is going to go to face the dogs I am sure it is "el Capataz" we told him to stay put in case the dogs made him turn around again towards his location and to pay attention because he would hear us, with all the dogs together it was another story even though with a boar like this, one never knows and like the Spanish saying says "el Diablo sabe por Diablo pero mas sabe por Viejo" (the literal translation says "the devil knows because he is the devil but he know best because he is old or experienced) meaning that he is smart because he has lived a long life. Twenty minutes have passed by and nothing, where just getting nervous and thinking where could he had escaped, but there was not much more to wait, at about 11:00 the sharp bark of "el Mulita" made our skin crawl, immediately we let "el Toro and el Bebeto" loose they shoot to met the Dogas (female Dogos), every thing was over viewed by "el Tanque" seconds later his tranquility broke and he also shoot at top speed, the cause was "la Luz" that had started barking arriving at the catch with her was "Flash", are chest could not contain are hearts, the dogs where trying to stop the beast mean while the thorns and the brush where trying to stop us, we hear "Flash" whine he is hit and that made us forget the thorns and get strength to get to the fight and see this image that I will try to narrate the best I can.

The Fight:

It was the "Capataz del Cebollati" there was no doubt about that, his tusk where impressive, his head was enormous he made my Dogos look small in comparison, he was in a full on fight and it seemed like if he had it all under control, in the boarder of the lagoon in mud that made the dogs sink half way, the cuts on the dogs seamed bad but not terrible, "Flash" was cut half way down his stomach, "el Toro and el Bebeto" where each holding an ear with visible cuts on there necks, "la Paloma and la Oreja" both caught on the snout with the last one with an ugly cut on the head, "la Santa and la Mancha" both had holds on the head, "el Barbas" was holding on and off the hind leg, "Flash" was holding another side with a hard look on his face, "la Mulita" was holding the loin, but "el Tanque" was holding him from the spine an area where he had little traction, mean while the boar would not give in and was putting a fight even though already tiered every once in a while he would rut with his tusk, the fight seemed like the movements in a chess game, they finally where able to move him out of the mud, the dogs finally get a good grip now that they are on solid grown, "el Tanque" goes for a better hold allowed by "la Oreja" that had shifted away and he grabs the snout of the beast and with "el Toro and el Bebeto" having good traction the boar gives in and with out thinking it I approach my dagger and a assure him this was his last fight, but not with out taking with him his last dog, "Flash" was unable to save himself from the terrible tusk of the beast, the dog killer, "el Capataz de Cebollati" succumbed under the courage of the dogs that never measured fear, this was not one more pack it was a pack formed mainly by Dogos Argentinos, of white dogs only stained in red by the courage and the devotion to each fight with this terrible predator that threatens or campaign and that has no natural enemies except the hunter and his dogs.

The Return:

Are radios once again come in handy, since we called "el Capincho" to get the truck closer to the mouth of the lagoon so we could load up the hurt dogs and the boar, with "Flash" lifeless we arrive at the estancia to promptly attend the wounds on the dogs, under the careful eye of he veterinary, because of the enormous wounds we proceed to stitch them up and we allowed them to rest, fortunately the wounds where not as bad as we had thought and they all recover, "el Capincho swore that he would never again stay put and he would never forgive himself for not being there to lend a hand to his dog "flash". The boar weigh in dressed at 220kg (485.012 lbs) and the length of the tusk where 17 cm (6.692 in). To this day I continue to visit this area but just to visit for the boars have left this area in a great way, what I still do is visit the place where the fight took place and I sit down with "mate" on hand and I reconstruct in my mind that day, that cold Sunday on the month of July when such a tranquil place became such a chaos.

A Tribute:

A tribute to all the hunting dogs specially the Hunting Dogo Argentino, to those that are present in our life's and to those who will be present in our hearts those that gave there life's doing what they loved, savoring the aroma of each jungle, crossing all the lagoons and rivers, smelling each flower, fallowing each trail and never allowing any fight defeat them, giving there life's for the people they love.

By Fernando Bertoloni - Uruguay-