Wild Dog Attack

O

Otter

Inactive
First, to avoid confusion this is the Old Otter who lives in North
Georgia

Friday, a local woman was attacked by a wild dog to the extend that she had to be taken to the hospital. Word is that she may have perminent scaring. Her dog, a Jack Russel Terrier, whom I believe she was trying to defend, was killed. The attacking dog escaped into the woods.

This was all in a peaceful, upscale neighborhood. Everyone has been warned, and the Sheriff Department is looking for the beast. I assume the lady will have to have rabies treatment if the animal cannot be found.

Goes to show that you will never know when you will need a weapon.

Do you still not shoot a suspected rabid animal in the head so that they
can run medical test.
 
They used to send the head in for testing. Since the virus is in the silava as well as the brain, etc. I wouldn't think they'd need a completely undamaged head.

If I shot an animal that I seriously suspected had rabies I'd try for a breakdown shot (shoulders, spine) if I could. Simply to insure as best I could that the animal didn't escape. I wouldn't hesitate to shoot one in the head, but that is a tricker shot than shoulders or spine.
 
Hiyas North GA poster!

(I'm in Atlanta but grew up up there..)

At any rate.. I'm surprised that I haven't heard of this story yet. I'm even more surprised that the animal wasn't easily found so far. However, I just wanted to comment on a few things.

First, like JimFox said, I wouldn't want to shoot the dog in the head, since they need the head to do a rabies test. And secondly, I wouldn't want to shoot the dog in the head (if at all possible), might not appear to fashionable..

I can recall years ago, a dog that used to regularly chase/attack children in the neighborhood. It only had to attack my smaller brother for my father to have a talk with the owner. Needless to say, the dog was put to sleep shortly thereafter.
 
This happened last Friday, and we only have a weekly paper here,
so it will be Wednesday before I get any official news. I got the
story from her neighbor, a retired LEO, so I only know there was an attack, and the dog escaped. Their subdivision borders on a large wooded area, so the dog would be hard to track down. All indications
are that it was feral. Unfortunately the dumping of unwanted animals
in wooded areas is a common practice. It is stories of large packs of these
animals in the forest that make my wife not complain when I carry there.

I would not however, ever shoot a dog in unless it was in defense of me
or mine.
 
"What to do" about free-ranging dogs varies with circumstances. Sometimes, it's reasonable to not bother the dog. Other times, shoot first and then think.

For instance, at my old place outside Austintatious, I'd see dogs in the pasture or woods. If they had a collar, and weren't in a pack, I didn't bother them. No collar, and not chasing deer, I'd give the dog one free ride; after that, too bad. Any dog chasing a deer had me after him. My next door neighbor, an elderly gentleman who had quit active ranching, commented to me one time that if I saw his dog chasing deer, please shoot the #$%$# thing!

We have a wild dog pack ranging across country, around Terlingua. They've been scared off from pulling down a colt; they've been seen pulling down a buck. They started to advance on a woman hiker, who backed away and then got to her house before any further adventure. They're numerous, large, and doggoned well dangerous. I've collected two of them, so far; they're a regular hunt-effort for me.

Like I say, circumstances.

Art
 
Being from a medical background, the saliva test is not very accurate, the CDC reccomends turning in the head in UNDAMAGED condition for analysis.

Breakdown shot is the way to go!

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Happiness is a smoking gun, and a dead criminal!

.308 Holes, make invisible souls!
 
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think I have a better chance of being attacked by a dog than by a person. And I'm not talking about a wild dog either. Too many idiots get Pitt/Rot/Dobies and train they up to be mean, or just don't train them at all...

That's why I carry pepper spray, just one more step before having my name in the paper as a "dog killer".

And I'd rather get into a confrontation with a person than a big dog. Fighting the eighty pound pitt bull next door is not one of my all time dreams. Unfortunately, you would have VERY little time to prepare for a dog attack. Most people consider it unneighborly to pull a gun every time a strange dog walks up to you.

[This message has been edited by Gino (edited July 31, 2000).]
 
You can never tell with strange/wilddogs. As a kid, I wouldoften see packs of wild dogs around my grandfather's farm. No one liked or wanted to do it, but these dogs had to be dispatched from time to time. The wild dog prblem had gotten so bad one year that the adult men from the area would stand watch with rifles in hand by the local school play ground.

My wife was attacked by one of those family dogs that were never trained. She was walking our dog when this beast jumped out at her. It was after her because it avoided our dog. Between her kicking and screaming and our dog who is no slouch and was protecting his "mommy", the attack was broken. I had some choice words with the dog's owner who turned out to be a real idiot. She now carries a fully charged cattle prod when she walks our dog.



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You can find the price of freedom, buried in the ground.
 
Years ago my wife who was pregant with our first child was attacked by two german shepard type dogs that belonged to someone that lived in the same trailer park we lived in. Our terrier mix jumped in and put the two larger dogs to flight after a heck of a fight.
I went to the trailer park manager and informed him to tell the guy to get rid of the dogs or I would. He informed me that the guy would not get rid of the dogs as he had tried to make him get rid of them before this and if I did anything to the dogs the owner would kick my butt.
I reached behind me took a .44 Mag from my belt and laid it on his desk and told him to tell the guy to get rid of the dogs or move. His eyes got as big as saucers and he did not say anything.
The next week the guy moved his trailer and dogs to an undisclosed location.
 
If you are going to carry a handgun when wild dogs are known to roam don't get caught with .22lr, 32ACP or other "wimppy" weapon. For their size, dogs are very tough animal to put down unless head shot (even then you need to penetrate their hard skull). Something like 38 Special+P/9mm would be minimum for protection from dogs. This is according to my father who was also a practicing vet for over 12 years, shooter and a follow hiker.
 
I hate wild dogs and cats! You get a pack of dogs in a wooded area the deer move out, or maybe they are killed. Cats kill alot of small game. If I see cat or dog in public hunting area with no collar I take them out. No complaints so far.

Its a benefit to society and conservation to eliminate wild dogs and cats.

Shok

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"In 1789, when used without any qualifying adjective, 'the militia' referred to all citizens capable of bearing arms."
Akhil Reed Amar, Yale University
 
Some states actually allow open season year round on wild cats because their numbers in the wild have grown so high.

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Happiness is a smoking gun, and a dead criminal!

.308 Holes, make invisible souls!
 
Just a couple of days after my wife and I got married and moved into our 'first house', I had gone into the back yard to get some firewood from the woodpile that sat on the back property line, some 150' away from the house. I'm out there in my shorts in the dead of winter (hey, wife was gettin' in the mood and I had to build a fire to further things along ;) ) when I hear this hellacious barking and snarling coming my way from the woods two doors down. :eek: I beat feet back into the house and didn't go back outside that night.

Like I said, I had just gotten married and was still without a gun in the house-- a situation that changed that very next day, I'll tell you!!! A .22 autoloader and an 870 were bought on the way home from work the next afternoon!

I asked the neighbor about the dogs when I saw him a couple of days later. He stated that the city folks (yes, I do live a bit out in the sticks) often come out our way to dump unwanted pets. This particular pack of dogs had attacked and killed his dog that was tied up to its own dog house out back of his house one night a few weeks earlier. They only found pieces of his dog in the morning. He said that that pack was fair game. In short order, that particular pack was no more!


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Remember, just because you are not paranoid doesn't mean they are not out to get you!
 
Boys and Girls, if you don't take feral dogs seriously, I strongly suggest you scroll up to SmallBore's post and follow the "Buckshot" thread. Scroll down to find the "dog attack" stories, re feral dogs.

If they don't make a believer out of you, then good luck the next time you're out in the woods and a pack of feral dogs come at you.

I have hunted all over the west, the southwest, the south, and some of the mid west, and I consider feral dogs to be the MOST DANGEROUS animals out there. After a confrontation several years ago, you'd never catch me out there without a powerful firearm of some type. (Feral hogs can give you an adreneline rush, too!)

FWIW. J.B.
 
i was attacked in a N.C. Gameland area about four weeks after the regular deer season ended. i had found a hot area during the last week of the season so i had gone back to scout out the area. how deer react under pressure is a good thing to pattern for next year's hunt. i was in a mountainous area about 4 to 5 miles from my truck. i noticed that i was seeing dogs in the laurel always partially hidden. i hustled up the trail and found a large open area where i felt more at ease. i had a 3 inch .357 magnum (despite regulations against it) in my fanny pack. i drew the weapon and waited near some large rocks i thought i could use to climb up on if my fears came to life.
sure enough a group of large and medium size dogs entered the hollow and apparently trailing me. i stood up and waved my arms, shouting and hollaring, hoping to scare them off. a large black and tan hound responded to my actions by charging me and i chose to climb rather than make a stopping shot ala lion or rhino.
i still really thought deep down the dogs owners might be there in the woods and doing some illegal after season deer running. also i could not remember if coons were in season or not so i was less than happy about shooting a dog that might be some hillbilly's favorite hunting dog.
when the hound reached the bottom of the rocks he tried his best to get to me. the other dogs were milling around, some seemed interested some were just watching the fracase barking when the spirit moved them. i stood on the rocks , my .357 on low ready. after 5 to 10 minutes (seemed like more) they had not gone away. i did not relish the concept of hiking the miles to my truck with that black and tan trailing me even if i could get down without becoming the afternoon meal. i cocked the revolver and aimed at the dog's head. the 150 grain SWC jerked his head around like a little hammer had hit him. he was on the ground jerking and failing around. then i realized the other dogs were gone. i sat down on that rock and tried to stop shaking from the adrenaline rush. when i was sure it was clear i got down and hot footed it down the mountain to my truck. all the way down i thought i saw dogs in the laurel. i came across what was left of a freshly animal killed deer on the way down. in some places the trail was only a few feet across. if they were going to try to get me inspite of my gun it would have been touch and go in that tught cover.
my biggest fear was a "Deliverence", "Southern Comfort" type experience with the dog's owner. when i got to the truck and was driving home i really wondered what i would have done if i had been unarmed or carrying a .22 with less than a 6" barrel like the gamelands regs require.

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Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what is for lunch.
Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the outcome of the vote.
Let he that hath no sword sell his garment and buy one. Luke 22-36
They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night. Song of Solomon 3-8
The man that can keep his head and aims carefully when the situation has gone bad and lead is flying usually wins the fight.

[This message has been edited by riddleofsteel (edited August 01, 2000).]
 
From what I've seen of dog fights, things move way too fast to get picky on shot placement ...

I would think a COM hit would be fortunate, especially on the 'right' dog ... ;)

Regards from AZ
 
I remember as a boy, at my sister's house in the country, one of the neighbor boys told me about dog packs out their way. He then showed me a lamb that had been killed by these same dogs. That was enough for me.

Fast foreward to about 2 months ago.
The farmer that allows me to hunt groundhogs and small game on his land tells me the pack dogs breed with the coyotes, and you kinda have these animals less scared of humans than purebred coyotes. He says to dispatch any dog other than his on his property, same for coyotes.
He says the same of cats. He told me the cats carry any number of diseases that may affect his livestock. He wants them eliminated.


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"Any world that I'm welcome to.....Is better than the one I come from"
 
The weekly paper came out today and I finally got the rest of the story.

The feral dog, a black Lab was captured without incident. He wandered in to someone's yard and they just tied him up. I do not
think I would have been quite so considerate. Are not Labs suppossed to
be gentle?.

The wild dog was aided in his attack by a Boxer that belonged to a
neighbor, whom I am sure is checking his insurance policy as we speak.

The lady was holding her Jack Russell in her arms when the attack occurred.

This has been a rough week, not only this, but Monday, someone committed suicide right next to campus.
 
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