The first snow has fallen in the village of Sânmartin in Romania's Eastern Carpathians. József (József Rácz) and his sons keep a flock of 500 sheep on the high mountain pastures. Life is not easy: when the herders are not worrying about milking the sheep three times a day, they are busy protecting them from predators.
Every year József loses five or six sheep from the flock to wolves or bears. That is why he keeps 17 dogs.
“A good sheepdog is the best means of protecting the flock, both by night and by day,” the farmer explains.