Vicksburg animal control officials are on the lookout for two German shepherds seen wandering in the southern part of the city and responsible for injuring and killing small animals in the area.

“They are in the (U.S.) 61 South area; they are around Singing Hills, the airport, Redbone Road, the Humane Society,” said animal control director Kacie Lindsey said. “They’ve also gone into the county a little. They’ve been seen at Meadowbrook Trailer Park.

“They’re attacking small animals and killing them.”

Lindsey said a woman in the area reported the two large dogs attacked her two small dogs June 14. Both were taken to a veterinarian for emergency surgery and one of the animals had to be put down.

“They killed four chickens at the Humane Society (off U.S. 61 South) and they have killed a deer by the airport,” she said. “We’ve been trying for months to catch them and trap them and we’ve been unsuccessful. They have become trap smart. German shepherds, unfortunately, are very intelligent dogs. We believe they are feral dogs.

“We get calls from people who see them, but when we get there, they’ve already gone into the woods.”

Georgia Lynn, director of the Vicksburg-Warren Humane Society, said employees have unsuccessfully tried to trap the animals for three weeks.

“We even baited the trap with one of the chickens they killed, hoping they would trap, but they won’t trap,” Lynn said. “We even camouflaged the dog trap.

“They’re wild, and they’re a danger to small animals since they’ve already killed four chickens and a small dog on Redbone Road, and once dogs kill like that, the possibility for it to happen again is great, and you’re looking at a bigger breed dogs and children playing out in the yard with summer vacation. They’re going in the county and city and they’re a danger.”

Lynn said she has driven in the Denby Drive and Buford Drive areas to see if anyone owned the dogs, but no one has claimed ownership.

Lindsey said she has talked with Vicksburg Police Chief Milton Moore and Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace about the dogs, asking that animal control be called if officers or deputies see the animals.

Pace said his office has not received any complaints about the dogs, but has instructed the deputies patrolling the southern end of the county to contact animal control if they see the animals.

“I believe they’re just on the southern most edge of the city line,” he said. “Our animal control is a contract with the Humane Society, but the city has a fully staffed animal control department.”