Shooting dogs that get in your yard

[speckledhen]

You feel strongly and so do I. My pets depend on me to protect them. If I do not, I don't deserve them, just like folks who allow their dogs to run loose. A dog on your property is a pet; if he's on my property, he's a predator and a rather low-grade one, too, since he only kills for pleasure and sport, not for food.

The truth is that you are never going to convince anyone to stand by and watch someone's beloved Fido tear apart their chickens, and if they try to grab the collar of a dog in a killing frenzy, they're nuts. Dont care whose dog it is or why it's on my property, if it is attacking my birds, it will be dealt with ASAP, before my birds are mutilated. Very simple, really. I'm not going to spend 10 minutes trying to ascertain why there is a predator killing my birds or who it belongs to or how sweet it is when it's in its own home.

No one is telling you to do anything to any dog, but by the same token, dont tell anyone else how to react or how to feel when it's their beloved pets being slaughtered before their eyes.

(Before I get any nasty-grams, I am a moderator, but I am a member first and have sat by and watched this type thread degenerate time after time. This time, I am participating and have asked the other moderators to watch this one and deal with it however they see fit when it goes in the toilet....and trust me, it will )

 

[panner123]

Anyone who has read any of my post on predators , dogs included, knows how I deal with them. I do have a fence and an electric fence to keep my critters in and theirs out. I live next to a lady that has a great garden and beauitful flower beds. I had 2 hens they I couldn't keep in my yard, They would get out ( over or under) the fence. I was never able to figure out how. But to keep the peace I have to deal with the hens accordingly. One week end we had bar-b-que chicken with the neighbor. We are all happy now. I will not put up with anny animal that runs loose, mine included.
With that being said, I will and do deal with all predators the same. If my dog does happen to get on my neighbors property, I want them to do the same. AND SEND ME THE BILL FOR ANY DAMAGE THEY DO.

 

[teach1rusl]

Overall, I agree with your message. You are looking at the matter objectively however, and many who respond rather strongly on here aren't; they've recently been subjected to having their pet (or livestock) chickens attacked and possibly killed. Their reactions are based on those feelings of hurt, anger, frustration, etc. And based on what I've read, many have tried to go the route of giving the owners a chance to correct the situation to no avail.

I'd like to think that I'd take the high road if I caught some dog attacking my chickens (and for me that would mean that the dog would have had to dig under the fence around my property), but I can't say for certain that I would. My chickens are like my cats and dogs, and I think I would, in the heat of the moment, kill an animal attacking any of them.

Now if the chicken was already dead, or if a dog got into my yard but wasn't going after my chickens (or cats), then I'd probably attempt to deal with the owner, or with the humane society. Anyhow...I just thought I'd give a little more to consider.

 

[Le Canard de Barbarie]

Quote:
You are assuming that someone is keeping livestock as pets. However, there are those that keep livestock for a livelihood. It is called farming. If your dog kills my animals, my family and I may starve or suffer other financial hardships.

So, are my ducks worth more to me than your dog? You bet!!

 

[Katy]

Quote:
I have a feeling you'd have a much different feeling about it, if you had ever looked out the window and saw dogs chasing your $2000 bull, saw the yearling calves shoved up against or breaking thru the fence or found a newborn calf gutted by the neighbor's dog.

If what they were chasing and killing or trying to kill was your livelihood I think you'd think differently about giving them a second chance.

 

[speckledhen]

Quote:
You are assuming that someone is keeping livestock as pets. However, there are those that keep livestock for a livelihood. It is called farming. If your dog kills my animals, my family and I may starve or suffer other financial hardships.

So, are my ducks worth more to me than your dog? You bet!!

For once, I agree with you completely, Le Canard.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Quote:
It is sad that animals have to pay for their owners neglect or abuse. It is one of the cold realities of the world. Owners are responsible for their animals. Period.

A livestock owner must protect his animals, it would be neglect or abuse not to. Could you imagine the fear that your animals experience when a dog breaks into their pen and mangles them one by one? Goats are notorious for drawing dogs, and it is not pretty. I've seen it. A friend of mine had a pet goat, one that would come into the house and lived like any family dog. She came out one morning to find the goat laying in the pasture. When she reached it, she found a horrible sight. The goat was literally eviscerated alive, he was still alive, but his intestines and other innards were strewn about him. The goat died while she cradled it in her arms, waiting for the neighbor to bring a gun.

Many times dogs that are permited to roam freely, are actually better off shot. Now hear me out. How many of us have seen dogs wounded on the side of the road? How is that any better than shooting a dog and humanely killing it. We've had a black lab frequent our horse pasture over the years, nothing predatory, just passes through. And every SINGLE year, she brings a little of puppies, and EVERY year she crosses our busy road and 2-3 get hit. We haven't shot her, but if she ever took an interest in the birds we would.

I know it sounds cruel to shoot a dog. But a well placed shot is pretty much as humane as euthanasia, it makes a bigger mess, but it is a humane death.

My family has 3 dogs and yes, they've run off in their younger days. Every time I feared they wouldn't come home, but I understood if someone was defending their own pets against mine. Because mine were in the wrong. Just as I wouldn't blame a driver for hitting and killing them. It's sad but true.

 

[BlackBart]

Repeat offenders...that's a tough one, too. I've returned dogs to their owners a few times (there's a housing development right behind my property with three yellow labs belonging to different families who like to roam) and some folks are really grateful and some are pretty rude.

Yes, some are in denial.
A friend had 14 lambs killed by a pair of dogs. He caught the dogs and the Police visited the Dog's owner. The owner said that his dogs had been locked up in the dog kennel for a week, so it couldn't be his dogs.
Not so, they were locked up in my Friend's horse stall for a week.

He paid the fine and restitution.

The sheep farmer's entire property is fenced and cross fenced. He took the responsibility and expense of keeping his livestock on his property and creating property bounderies. It would be pretty hard for him to secure the fencing enough to keep a dog out, so in this case the responsibility lays with the dog owner. Because the dog trespassed. Livestock owners here can shoot any animal that is attacking their livestock. The guy above decided to try and catch the dogs as a first option.

But if he didn't have his property fenced and his sheep in a poorly constructed pen, then some of the responsilbility is his.

 

[DuckLady]

Since the rules were knowing ly broken here, this thread is closed.

4. No Trolling (posting to provoke others, luring them to flame or rant). Trolling is sometimes done involuntarily, so please be considerate when posting.

If the posts in the Predators and Pests forum offend, then perhaps reading in this forum is not a good idea.

To repeat, this forum is for dealing with predators. Period end of story.

Thanks.