Laws in Texas about Dogs!!!

I talked with a Deputy here in Grimes County Texas today about dogs coming on my property. He told me that if a neighbors dog comes on my farm I do not have the right to kill it. He said this is animal cruelty. I told him that I'd talked with a new neighbor & told her point blank that I would shoot her dog if it comes on my property. The deputy told me that what I told her was a threat. I thought being up front with the new neighbor would at least let her know that I'm not gonna let her dog take not even one of my birds.Yes, I guess I shouldn't of said anything but I was just forewarning her. I really don't want to shoot a dog so I chose to let her know ahead of time.
The deputy's around here seem to have a habit of giving me false information. Seems they make the laws up as they go. After my chat with the deputy I really feel that they are not on my side at all. I've never ever been in trouble with the law & hopefully never will be. But who knows because my new neighbor lets her dog run wild & I'm sure one day the dogs gonna show up over here & I'm gonna panic & more than likely shoot it to protect my birds. Then the deputy's gonna show up & throw me in jail.
I've never really even ever called the law until I moved to Grimes County. They have never taken my side on anything I've ever called them about. So, I have a strong feeling & hopefully nothing will ever happen but if something goes south I will be unprotected just a gut feeling.

I would be a bit concerned too. I have been reading about open carry laws,and how police harass those who are legally allowed to carry a gun out in the open. It seems like people are at a risk of being shot even when they follow the law.

If you law is clear have a copy of it. Best look up some court cases backing this.Also would not hurt to have a lawyer on speed dial. If I had to shoot a dog I would rather make it disappear than deal with neighbors and the police even if the law permits it.

Since the law has been less than helpful in the past I would be reluctant to deal with them.Best wishes to you. Roamers disappear all the time,but since you said you would shoot her dog she will point a finger at you every time.Patient and polite.To often things escalate and YOU get arrested or hurt.

SSS nuff said
the law here is you can not just shot a dog for say crossing your property to get somewhere else, but if they stop and harrase your livestock you have the right to take them out in my case my dogs will take them out before they can get accross my place.

Mattemma said:

I would be a bit concerned too. I have been reading about open carry laws,and how police harass those who are legally allowed to carry a gun out in the open. It seems like people are at a risk of being shot even when they follow the law.

If you law is clear have a copy of it. Best look up some court cases backing this.Also would not hurt to have a lawyer on speed dial. If I had to shoot a dog I would rather make it disappear than deal with neighbors and the police even if the law permits it.

Since the law has been less than helpful in the past I would be reluctant to deal with them.Best wishes to you. Roamers disappear all the time,but since you said you would shoot her dog she will point a finger at you every time.Patient and polite.To often things escalate and YOU get arrested or hurt.

Click to expand...

Your right !! Guess, I shouldn't of done what I did but this new development there doing next to me has been a nightmare. I've had energy companies just drive up & start trying to put up new lines crisscrossing my pastures. They didn't even stop to talk about anything. I threw them off my property. Trucks pouring concrete at all hours of the night with no regards to me. Deputy's telling me they can do whatever they want. I'm a law abiding tax payer. Everytime I've called the sherriffs dept. they have never been on my side. Its really strange here. I thought by telling this girl not to let her pup run wild & get shot I was doing her a favor. Guess, not. As mentioned I will be blamed for whatever happens to that dog I'm sure. I guess from now on keep my mouth shut. I don't wanna break the law thats why I asked the deputy about the dog. SSS I know. The laws are crazy here I swear they make em up as they go. One deputy tells me something & the nexts one says something completely different than the other. I questioned this with one of them & he just acted like I was stupid. I mean come on there's only two ways Right or Wrong. That is not so in Grimes County. I swear I feel very unprotected here. I doubt the law would ever take my side.
To be honest I've never called on the law till I moved to the farm here. Its all neighbor related problems out here.

Read all about it here: http://www.animallaw.info/statutes/stustxhealthsafetycode822_001_828_015.htm

theFox said:

Read all about it here: http://www.animallaw.info/statutes/stustxhealthsafetycode822_001_828_015.htm

Click to expand...

So, this neighbors dog according to the law can legally come on my property as long as it leaves my chickens & other livestock alone. I would think just the presence of the dog to my chickens who have only seen one dog which was my son's dog a long time ago would be stressed if this happened but legally I can't shoot the dog. Correct ? Now what about my chickens going on the neighbors property ? How does that work ? I seriously doubt they will because they never go that far from their coop plus they would have to travel through the woods to get to the other proberty. Its really kind of mind boggling that its ok for a dog to be treaspassing on my property. I mean I understand the dog can't read my no tresspassing signs. But seems awkward to me. Seems the law is not wriitten right. I mean its like free ranging your chickens without suppervision you can loose some. If that makes since. I think the law should be if you let your dog out without being suppervised & the dog goes on somebody elses land & gets shot why can the law still prosecute the other landowner. Again, I don't wanna shoot a dog but again I don't wanna loose not even one chicken. How would you know ok there's the dog he's on my property ahhh gotta wait till he's attacking my flock before I can legally do anything . By this time you shoot & more than likely you will kill both the dog & the chicken. My protection is with a 16 guage. This could backfire on the guy that shoots the dog. The court could say well the dog wasn't hurting your flock so you shouldn't of killed it. Your guilty & get a fine when in realty your just protecting whats your on your land that you payed for & pay taxes on every year. The same goes for your chickens they croos the fence & your neighbor is now inviting you over for fried chicken dinner. Now to me that makes sense.

zazouse said:

SSS nuff said
the law here is you can not just shot a dog for say crossing your property to get somewhere else, but if they stop and harrase your livestock you have the right to take them out in my case my dogs will take them out before they can get accross my place.

Click to expand...

Maybe I need a good mutt. Are they hard to train to watch chickens. I mean I've taught dogs simple tricks but to guard a bunch of chickens & stay on my property only. Dogs that I've had like to wonder I mean chase rabbits & then the neighbors dog comes in heat & the dogs gone. What kind of dog do you have. God I really don't need another mouth to feed. I guess the dog could sleep in my barn are would he run off. Maybe, get a female & have her fixed right. I havn't had a dog in a long time. Here I am talking about killing a dog & now I'm thinking about getting one.

You could catch the dog and take it to the pound. Tell them it was on your property and bothering your livestock so it must not have owners. Do this enough times and the person should get the message and you won't get into trouble.

cmfarm said:

You could catch the dog and take it to the pound. Tell them it was on your property and bothering your livestock so it must not have owners. Do this enough times and the person should get the message and you won't get into trouble.

Click to expand...

Yea, that's a good idea.Nothing has really even happened yet I was having a problem with a goofy neighbor & went to discuss the problem with the sheriffs dept. I just asked the deputy while I was there about my neighbors dog just wanna be legal & that's when the deputy told me all this about dogs being on my property. I always thought you could just shoot a dog that came on your property especially being out in the country.I don't want to shoot a dog I'm just confused about the legality's upon shooting one. I really shouldn't of said a word but I really like to go by the rules if its possible. I'm not sure its possible. Before, I had chickens I wasn't really concerned about dogs but now I am. Now the sheriff thinks I'm gonna kill this girls dog & I hope it never comes to that but you never know. If I do I will probably wind up in jail. The law here seems totally against anything I say. I'm 56 years young & never ever even talked with any law officials until I moved up here to my farm. I have this one neighbor that is bipolar & keeps bugging me. I'm not sure about this guy & what he will or won't do so I've been asking the sheriffs & they all give me different opinions about things. One tells me to do this & the next deputy says something just the opposite of the other. I tell him well this deputy tells me this now your telling me that's not so. I'm very confused about the laws up here. You would think you would get one straight answer from any deputy that you had spoken too but it doesn't work that way here so I have no idea what to do are who to believe.

If the dog goes for your chickens or bothers them then you can blast the dog.


Other than that the only thing you can do is catch the dog and take it to the animal control folks or call the sheriff and keep him/her very busy.

In any event you can make that dog be a very expensive pet for its owner but you can't shoot it just because it sets paw on your property.

Likewise those construction folks likely are doing work for a company that has a legal easement, that is the right to legally enter and work upon your land to do what they are doing. You need to see exactly what easements are in existence for "your" property.

It is not uncommon for a prior owner to have granted an easement to various utility companies or private parties that run with the land and never expire.

I own two such easements and can therefor crossover parts of my neighbors properties and maintain utilities.