DOGS IN THE COOP CHICKS LATEST ATTACK VICTIMS.

Byline: Peggy Hager Staff Writer

QUARTZ HILL - A dozen pet chickens killed Monday morning could be the latest victims of dogs that residents say also attacked four show lambs in the neighborhood, leaving one dead.

Two dark, short-haired larger dogs were spotted digging under the fence of Ed Frommer's Quartz Hill yard about 6:30 a.m.

``My daughter got a call from the neighbor saying there were dogs in our chicken coop,'' Frommer said. ``That's when I ran outside and shooed them away, and that's when I found the devastation.''

The dogs dug under the hen house and tore away a concrete barrier surrounding the pen to reach the chickens. Only three hens and a rooster survived the attack.

``My concern is that these dogs are obviously hungry and extremely vicious,'' said Frommer. ``These were pets. Some of those chickens we raised from eggs. So it's sad.''

On Wednesday, two dogs killed a show lamb and attacked three others a few doors from the Frommers. The dogs tunneled under a fence to reach the lambs. A few weeks earlier, four pigs were attacked at the same house.

``We got here about 8 a.m. and my mom found my black lamb lying on the ground in the pen,'' recalled Aimee Nelson, 14, who is raising the animals at her grandmother's house. ``She called my dad and told him the black lamb was dead, which was mine, and I just burst into tears.''

The black lamb named Hope died, but the others - Freedom, Liberty and Justice - survived.

Aimee and her sister Alisha, 11, were planning to show the lambs in August at the Antelope Valley Fair but because of the injuries, they're no longer top contenders. Three years ago, Aimee raised the grand champion lamb and pig at the Antelope Valley Fair. ``Her chances of winning are gone, and the other part that people don't understand is you can only show nine times at the A.V. Fair,'' said Aimee's mom, Leslie Nelson.

Only four weeks out from the fair, it's too late to replace the lambs. Competitors must have their animals 120 days before the fair.

``I'm hurt and I'm angry, and I was crying. And I still want to cry inside, but there's no more tears to cry. I've cried them all out,'' said Aimee. ``I can't even believe this has happened. ... I've kept every single gate locked.''

The girls and their parents are now staying in a non-air-conditioned motor home next to the pens so they can hear if the dogs return.

``We still have all four pigs. We'll be able to show those, and we're staying at my grandma's house to see if the dogs will come back so that they don't get in the pig pen because they already tried to,'' Aimee said.

Animal care and control officers told family members they will patrol the area and will try to capture the dogs, said Michelle Price, the girls' aunt. ``They say they're driving in morning and night, and we've been driving around every night,'' said Price, who lives nearby and raises Jack Russell terriers. ``If our dogs get slaughtered we're in trouble.''

Frommer, president of the Quartz Hill Homeowners Association, said he is worried the dogs might attack children in the neighborhood.

``These dogs are dangerous,'' he said. ``In the afternoon, you can see people walking down the street with little Shetland ponies and kids walking their dogs with their families, but the next thing will be a person that gets attacked and I'm not going to put up with it here in Quartz Hill.''

Peggy Hager, [phone]

peggy.grimm-hager(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) This rooster survived the attack in Quartz Hill.

(2) Ed Frommer looks at a hole leading to his coop.

Gene Blevins/Special tothe Daily News