Sleepy California town is living in terror as pack of vicious wolf-dog hybrids rampage across region hunting pets and stalking homes

A pack of wolf-dog hybrids have terrorized a neighborhood for months, cops say - killing at least two area pets.

The seven 'feral' animals - who actually have an owner - attacked and killed a medium sized pet dog on March 26, and struck again last week, local police said.

The crisis is occurring in Shingeltown, California, a small town located along California State Route 44 in the hills just below Mount Lassen.

There, residents claim that spotting the roving pack is an almost daily occurrence, and are now demanding action.

Officers have already taken one of the dogs into custody, after the owner surrendered it. In a statement, cops in the town of just over 2,000 said they are aware of and looking into the incidents. 

'The Shasta County Sheriff's Office is aware of, and is actively working to address, an issue involving a pack of dogs roaming the Shingletown area,' wrote Tim Mapes, the force's Public Information Officer

'[They] killed another dog last week.'

He continued: 'The dogs, originally reported as a pack of wild "wolf-type" animals, were determined to be wolf/husky/malamute hybrids that belonged to a local resident and had gone feral.

'Since initial reports last week, Animal Regulation Officers have been in the area and cited the owner of the animals for having unlicensed and unvaccinated animals, strays, as well as kennel violations,' he went on to reveal.

'One dog was able to be voluntarily turned over,' he said, citing how after the owner surrendered it, the unnamed owner told officers the animal was the alpha that led the initial attack.

That strike saw three year old Australian-Pyrenees mix Chief mauled by five dogs right in his family's driveway, with all the canines belonging to the nearby neighbor.

'But finding and catching the remaining six animals is challenging,' conceded Mapes, adding Animal Regulation Officers have set traps in the area and are routinely patrolling. 

'Sheriff's Deputies are also performing extra patrols in the effort to catch the animals,' he insisted, as the dogs too roam the area.

'Our Animal Regulation Officers have communicated with residents in the immediate area and advised them of their legal rights to protect themselves, their pets and livestock, and their property, in the event they encounter the dogs.

'We will continue to address this issue until it is resolved,' he concluded, as officers attempt to capture the rest.

Meanwhile, in an emotional interview, Chief's owner Sharina Clark lamented her loss, recalling to KRCR-7, 'For the first week, we were pretty much here grieving, and then had to bury our dog

'And after we buried him I started looking into what was happening.'

This attentiveness led her to her neighbor, whom she did not name, and the conclusion that the pack is not feral, but just vicious and uncontrolled.

'I don't want anyone to get hurt and this is a community of elderly people,' Clark continued, asking the station not show her face out of fear the owner of the mutts might exact revenge.

She also shared their security camera footage showing the pack coming up their doorstep following the fatal attack, trying to get her other dog who was still inside.

She went on to add: 'We're the youngest family here.

'The very next day, [the pack] came back, and my daughter was outside 10 minutes before.' 

Russel McCoy - a resident who lives two doors down from the sometimes fenced in pack - added his yard has also been imposed on by the pack, which he said are let loose 'Every time [the owner] leaves the house.

'Generally he leaves every day somewhere between 10 and 11 o'clock in the morning,' he said.

'And within minutes after he's gone, there's at least two out, if not four or five.'

Despite these infections - and the accompanying  public outcry - the Shasta County Sheriff's Office said their hands, at least for now, are tied because of laws that require officials to vet the dogs' habitat and situation.

'That's what we keep wanting to try to impress with the public,' Mapes told the station in his own interview. 'That this is an issue that is being actively worked on. 

'There are things being done,' he asserted. 'And we will continue to do so and hopefully resolve this issue sooner rather than later.' 

In the meantime, he said that residents have the right to protect themselves and their pets, as footage of the animals behind the fence shows they are far from at-large.

Shingletown, meanwhile, is roughly a 175-mile drive north from Sacramento. Noted for its timber industry, it was once a camp for workers who cut roofing slats to supply miners during the Gold Rush era.

As for the Clarks, they have since buried Chief in the family backyard, picking a certain patch was his favorite spot to nap.

The other dog mentioned in the statement, who also died, has not been identified.