16 Show Animals Were Killed in One Weekend at a Texas School Barn. The District Said Dogs Dug Under the Fence. Here's How to Close the 3 Gates on Your Farm Before Your First Visitor Walks In.

From the desk of Stephen Loke
Founder, AgritourismSuccess.com
whose farm is featured in Bloomberg News and Asahi Shimbun

Dear Fellow Farmer,

On a Friday in late August 2026, something got into the agriculture barn at Somerset ISD in Texas. On Saturday morning it happened again.

By the end of the weekend, 16 show animals were dead. Goats, sheep and pigs the students were raising for the show season. Four more were seriously hurt.

During the second attack, a teacher saw two dogs leaving. The district said the dogs had dug under the fence from the property next door. That barn had served students for more than 40 years without anything like it.

In mid-September, in Arkansas, two dogs got into the Cedar Ridge FFA livestock facility. Two show goats died. Three lambs were badly hurt. The FFA adviser said both dogs were wearing collars. Collars mean somebody probably owned them.

And it isn't just school barns. In February 2026, two stray dogs got into Wishing Star Farm, a family petting zoo in Colorado, and killed four sheep and three goats.

Every one of those animals lived somewhere that felt safe. And in every case, the danger came from outside the fence.

Opening Your Gate Brings Two New Risks at Once

When you invite paying visitors onto your farm, you don't just bring in people. You bring in their habits, their questions and, sooner or later, their dogs.

✔  Strangers' dogs. Some visitors will bring their pet, whatever your website says. One friendly dog at a pen full of lambs is all it takes.

✔  More attention. More cars, more noise, and more people who know your animals are there.

✔  More paperwork. A farm policy that was fine for a working farm may not cover paying guests. Better to find that out before a claim than after.

Most farmers think about this after something goes wrong. This book is so you can think about it before.

Why I Wrote This Book

My name is Stephen Loke. I run a durian farm in Malaysia called Bloopy Durians. It has been featured in Bloomberg News and Asahi Shimbun, and visitors come to eat durians on the farm, where we also keep chickens, geese, ducks and fish.

When I read about Somerset, Cedar Ridge and Wishing Star Farm, I asked myself the same three questions I want you to ask. Where could a dog get in? What do we say when a visitor arrives with a pet? And if something goes wrong, who pays?

I couldn't find one short, plain-English guide that answered all three for a small farm owner. So I wrote it.

Before You Open the Gate

The Farm Owner's Protection Playbook for Animals, Visitors, Their Dogs and Your Paperwork

It's an 84-page playbook in plain English, with 13 chapters, 10 big-print diagrams you can understand at a glance and real stories from farms and school barns. It closes the three gates every open farm has: your animals, your visitors and your paperwork.

It's built on solid ground. The key facts come from news reports, USDA figures, state laws, university extension services and government guidance, and every source is listed at the back.

And it's practical. You get 8 copy-and-paste templates, 5 fill-in worksheets, 3 printable signs, 4 word-for-word call scripts, 6 staff role-plays, a 30-point farm risk scorecard, a lock-up card, a roaming-dog log, an incident log and a 30-day plan.

  Get Instant Access for $27 →  

Secure checkout. Instant PDF download. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Here's Just a Small Sample of What You'll Discover Inside

✔  The 3 Gates of Protection, the simple plan that ties your fences, your visitors and your paperwork together. (Chapter 1)

✔  How dogs really got into four farm and school barns, and the one place on your fence line to check first. (Chapters 1 and 2)

✔  The Fence Buyer's Guide: the heights, mesh sizes, dig guard and hot-wire numbers university extension specialists use, plus what each fence type costs per foot. (Chapter 3)

✔  The five electric fence rules people get wrong, including the one that over 80% of US electric fences fail, according to Oklahoma State. (Chapter 3)

✔  Species by species: how to protect goats, sheep, alpacas, chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, pigs and calves, and which ones can die of fright without a bite. (Chapter 4)

✔  Guardian dog, donkey or llama? The trade-offs for a farm with visitors, and the guardian that can be the wrong choice when the public walks among your animals. (Chapter 5)

✔  The night lock-up routine and the neighbor letter that turns the people next door into part of your fence. (Chapter 6)

✔  Three pet policies to choose from, and how eight real farms in the US, UK and Canada handle dogs, including one that turned its ban into a paid product. (Chapter 7)

✔  The service animal question, and what to check before you write "no dogs" on your sign. (Chapter 7)

✔  The 30-second gate script for a visitor who arrives with a dog. It praises the dog, protects your animals and keeps the family happy. (Chapter 7)

✔  How fast a parked car heats up, minute by minute, and the car park routine that keeps a visitor's dog from dying while the family feeds your goats. (Chapter 7)

✔  The 3-zone animal area layout from the national public health guidance, and the handwashing setup visitors actually use. (Chapter 8)

✔  The hidden cost of dog poo: five parasites dogs leave behind that can harm sheep and cattle. (Chapter 8)

✔  The First Hour checklist, plus how to tell a dog attack from a coyote attack when nobody saw it. (Chapter 9)

✔  The seven insurance covers to ask about, and why a standard farm policy may not cover your petting area. (Chapter 10)

✔  The law at a glance: who pays when a dog kills livestock in 14 US states, Ontario, Nova Scotia, British Columbia and the UK, with the claim deadlines that catch farmers out (one is just 24 hours). (Chapter 11)

✔  Agritourism warning sign rules for 13 states, compared side by side. (Chapter 11)

✔  The 45-minute team briefing and 6 role-plays for the hardest moments at the gate, plus an event-day plan. (Chapter 12)

✔  8 copy-and-paste templates, from your website pet policy page to a calm letter to a dog owner after an attack. (Toolkit)

✔  The 30-point Farm Risk Walk Scorecard that tells you if you're ready to open, plus a one-page summary of the whole book. (Toolkit)

Take a Look Inside

Here are 12 of the 84 pages, so you can see exactly what you're getting.

1 OF 6  ·  PAGES 1 AND 2

13 Chapters, Every Tool Listed

See everything inside at a glance: 13 plain-English chapters, 10 big-print diagrams, 8 copy-and-paste templates, worksheets, scripts and the law for 14 US states, Canada and the UK.

2 OF 6  ·  PAGES 11 AND 12

The Fence Buyer's Guide

The heights, mesh sizes, dig guard and hot-wire numbers extension specialists use, so you can talk to a fencing contractor as an equal.

3 OF 6  ·  PAGES 17 AND 21

Species by Species, Plus Guardian Animals

Which animals dogs hit hardest, how to protect goats, sheep, alpacas, poultry, rabbits, pigs and calves, and whether a guardian dog, donkey or llama fits a farm with visitors.

4 OF 6  ·  PAGES 35 AND 40

A Safe Animal Area and the First Hour

Lay out the 3 zones that protect visitors and animals, then follow the six-step checklist if a dog ever gets into your pens.

5 OF 6  ·  PAGES 50 AND 51

The Law at a Glance

Who pays when a dog kills livestock in 14 US states, with the claim deadlines that catch farmers out, plus Canada and the UK.

6 OF 6  ·  PAGES 66 AND 71

Templates and the Risk Walk Scorecard

Copy-and-paste wording for your website, bookings, neighbors and insurer, and the 30-point scorecard that tells you if you're ready to open.

That's 12 pages out of 84. The rest are waiting for you, and the whole playbook costs less than one show goat.

  Yes! Send Me the Playbook for $27 →  

Secure checkout. Instant PDF download. 30-day money-back guarantee.

✦  ✦  ✦