Shooting mean dogs

R

redhawk41

New member
Ok, here is the situation:

The last place I lived, I had a problem with the neighbors dogs. They were very aggressive to me through the fence to the point where I did not even enjoy going in my backyard.

The final straw came when the dogs dug under the fence and were in my backyard tearing the place up, knocked over my grill and spread the lava rocks around, tearing up garbage from the alley dumpster, defecating, and digging holes. When I went into the yard to shoo them away one of the dogs bit me on the leg. Thank goodness my wife was there to stop me from what I was going to do.

My recommendation:
1. Contact the owner and ask very kindly if they would please keep their dog in their yard. Give the owner sound reasons for your request; make it a friendly, neighborly call. So often we tend to bring the "authorities" in when a simple phone call will suffice. This should solve the problem.
2. If the dog returns, hit it with some O.C. spray and call animal control. Give your neighbor a call and let him know that you've called the authorities.
3. If the dog returns again, repeat step 2 and then file a police report against your neighbor for failure to control his dog. Contact your local prosecutor's office and ask about bringing charges against the dog's owner.
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The first thing I did was talk to my neighbor about the incident, telling her that the next time I would have no choice but to either make a report with animal control, or defend myself if the situation warrented such action. She felt absolutely horrible and took measures in the future to control her animals. She even had me over a few times to try and get the dogs acclimated to my presence (a nice gesture but still did nothing for the dogs attitude towards me when she wasn't around).

I am extremely glad that I followed the course of action that TheBluesMan has prescribed and not the course of action that my emotionally charged self originally charted.

Silly? Not according to the wound inflicted on my leg.
 
Good words. Sorry about getting bit but glad you were able to be in control enough. We have a dog next door. It's name is "No No Bad Dog"...."No No" for short. Anyway I use a water hose to shut him up. It works for me. I do have a good relationship with the neighbor.
 
I would have a doctor check out your leg. Dog bites get infected easily and the owner of the dog is responsible for your medical bills. You dont need to be mean about it but just tell the owner "hey your dog bit me and i had oit checked. Here is the bill." It is common sense to get checked when you get bit.

SW
 
In Ca the dog is quarantined.

They check it out for rabies and quarantine it. By doing that they will be able to tell if it has the disease and be able to give you the antidote. It may not have the problem, but if it does and you get it, you are done.:eek:

First thing I'd do is have it done to the animal, and the owner might get the message.

It is important for you to do this. Best way to handle it.;)

HQ
 
Some good advice. I have been dealing with a neighbor and their dogs for months now. I can barely stand the neighbor (not too bright) and hate the dogs. We live in the country and the neighbors place is close to our driveway.

To make a long story short the neighbors dogs run loose, piss on our tires daily, come into our yard, crap and scare my kids (barks and growls) to the point that the youngest won't play outside. We have had 3 pairs of shoes eaten and my hunting boots were pissed on every day for a week (thought it was just condensation from the soles of the boot but it was their smaller dog leaving his mark!) I have the patience of a saint. I have been very nice and understanding but I drew a line when I found out just how terrified my kids were of the dogs.

Now, as of today, I have a video camera ready to record what we are experiencing. I am going to call my neighbor and tell him that I plan on video taping his dog and will use the tape in court and to show the animal control folks when they come out. If this doesn't produce results I'm going to buy a chicken and stand gaurd over it with an AR. Should only be a matter of time...

9mm
 
Contrary to what people who let their dogs run free may think, I DON'T think of their dogs as "precious darlins'". They're more akin to furry cockroaches to me. I don't like stepping in their crap in my own yard and I don't like being barked at in my own yard. If I wanted a dog, I'd own a dog. Justice would be spraying their "precious darlins'" with skunk spray and then chasing them into their owner's house, which would at least punish the inconsiderate owner too. Since I live inside the city limits, that's all the justice I can mete out. I'd much rather help the offending animal with a one-way ticket to that big kennel in the sky.
 
I don't think that anyone is objecting to taking defensive actions against barking, growling, aggressive dogs - it's just a concern among us dog owners that someone unfamiliar with dog body language may mistake enthusiastic friendly greeting for aggression.
 
stray dog on your property, behaving aggressively, obviously the owner doesnt care about its safety.
all i can tell you is that in my town, local police have repeatedly said that shooting such dogs is lawful. they won't even write a ticket for 'discharging firearm in city limits', provided of course you are smart about it, and are mindful of backstop. if you are putting holes in your neighbors home or car because your shots are going right through the dog, they might get concerned.
 
Speaking for a non-legal standpoint..

Are you within your rights to shoot it? Yes.

Should you? Only if the dog apears rabid or is attacking people/other animals and you have no choice. By all means try to contact the owner. Sometimes dogs break out of their pens and the owner may not know about it yet. They may apreciate you contacting them instead of the dog catcher too.
 
You did the exact right thing.

It doesn't seem to me your neighbor was particularly negligent here, since there was a fence. You'd have to make a judgment as to whether the neighbor was aware the dogs were up to this or not. Sometimes bad things just happen, and this sounds like one of them.

Since your neighbor is friendly and concerned, I'd ask if the dogs could be tested for rabies.

I grew up with dogs. Somehow they seem to get my body language and I've never been more than a little worried about the biggest stray dog. But I think that if you don't have that rapport with dogs, they can be very frightening and, since you can't communicate your intent, can become dangerous. I've had a little bitty dog bite the hell out of me during rough play.

That's the reason for leash laws. Unfortunately for the dog, if it's off its leash and you think it's going to hurt you, you have reason to shoot it.
 
Honestly the dogbite was quite superficial and left only a slight bloodblister through the leg of my pants. No puncture in either the pants or skin, which is why I was not too concerned about disease or infection.

spacemanspiff, discharging a firearm in city limits is one concern I had in the given situation. I am not sure how the Denver (where I lived at the time) police would have handled that.

The problems with the dogs never really stopped, they did dig into my backyard once again before we moved (not because of the dogs).
 
The Joys of living in the city of rednecks! We have a great animal control and they don't mess around. They'll pick a dog up on a noise complaint in no time flat. There have been a few incidents over the years in this city of people shooting aggressive dogs. As far as I know none of them have been prosecuted. I try not to make eye contact with strange dogs and steer clear. Most of the time they just want to bark at you and tell you to stay off their turf which I do. If one ever gets loose and charges I won't hesitate. I know it's someone's pet but you can't reason with a dog. A dog in attack mode will not back down on a drawn gun. I've even heard a PO say he feels better with a .40 now than the old 9mm. There are alot of violent dogs in this city that police have to deal with especially serving warrants.
 
Shooting Mean Dogs

These posts show more reluctance to shoot bad dogs than is usually shown here for shooting bad humans. Any dog that's on my land and shows an attitude is walking on thin ice. Pop them in the ass with a pellet gun for the first offense. After that, the responsibility is on them. And their owner.
 
Yup. I'll give a couple warning yells, a few thrown rocks maybe. Pellet gun if they're lucky. Then it's the AR. I have livestock, of which I've lost too much to the neighbor's dogs and the local wildlife in the past. So now there's a lot less wildlife, and noticeably fewer dogs...
 
we had a situation a few years back (not our next door naighbers but thairs)when we lived in lima dogs attacked 13 year old girls coming home from school (we lived acrossed the steet from a middle school) for some reason the dog worden was friends with the ppl. never put the dogs down and the ppl. would just let the dogs go run around. when thair dogs attacked our dog we went to court to make them pay the vet bills they won because they dident make enough money or something stupid like that. then my older brother sliped them some anti-freeze (one of the few times they where on thair chains) hate to say it but it solved all the problems,and the ppl. moved. my bog ended up dying over the injuries.

(edit: if it happens again its the shotgun and deer slugs i lost a good dog over the last one)
 
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Eldorado County in CA

There is a leash law. If your dog is pestering live stock etc.. That animal will be history and very quick I might add. Shoot on sight is the rule.

But in town and where tight (not much land) neigborhoods are the normal, it is customary to call the authorities. Animal control.

If you are bit by a dog you should capture it and call the authorities, or if you shoot it, turn it over the authorites. So they can do a test on the brain to determine if it has rabies.:eek:

HQ:cool:
 
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