Help my neighbor's dogs just killed my duck

[laughingdog]

You can't shoot dogs with current licenses basically. just shoot the dogs and toss the collars, or put under fence like they caught and came off as their dogs obviously came over/under, as happens all the time, as my fams dogs play or get out, the collars get left around yard, torn up/off or whole and caught on tops and bottoms of fences and decks all the fime at my fams. also you could claim bad vision and didn't have/take time or couldn't get close enough to look at tags as dogs were going after children invited over to play with and feed duckies and chickens. the law about tags is general for dogs roaming, not applying to vicious dogs, plus federal law overrides state county city ect. I just feel bad for dogs caught in middle and have bad owners, though guessing they're letting dogs over on purpose and may continue to kill birds anyway sadly as sounding. most hate birds and believe all diseased ect.

 

[denise91]

I filed a police report today and had a seriously difficult time with the police officer. First of all he was very condescending about the whole thing and when I told him that I've filed several reports about these dogs and the police have even been to my house because of these dogs he make some remark that he's "not even sure if that's on record." So they don't record the reports that are made or the calls they respond to?! Tomorrow he's going to talk to the neighbors and if they admit that the dogs were loose they'll get a fine, but if they deny it nothing happens. If they deny it then the cop told me I could file a criminal charge and it would go to a prosecutor but I "shouldn't bother with that because the prosecutor will see this all as a joke."

I just can't believe my town's police department behaves like this.

 

[denise91]

Good news is that the breeders who I got the ducks from called me back! This has happened to them before as well and they were extremely sympathetic. They have three ducks available and I can either pick and choose or take all three. There are two males and a female. One male is about a year old and the other is older (breeding age they called him). I never planned on having more than a pair but they seemed pretty desperate to get rid of them. Can drakes be kept in the same enclosure or would they fight? If they both have a female does that make any difference?

 

[laughingdog]

So sorry you have to find out how the system works. Take pics of their dogs in their yard, and yours when get in and trying to. i keep collies and shepherds to go after anything that threatens my flock ect. They send packing or tear apart even hawks and rats ect . Shepherds work better as just look and magnitude of bark repel great. if you have home owners insurance say they're mixed breed, as shepherds are on no no list, of insurances, home owners associations, and some cites ect.

 

[denise91]

So sorry you have to find out how the system works. Take pics of their dogs in their yard, and yours when get in and trying to. i keep collies and shepherds to go after anything that threatens my flock ect. They send packing or tear apart even hawks and rats ect . Shepherds work better as just look and magnitude of bark repel great. if you have home owners insurance say they're mixed breed, as shepherds are on no no list, of insurances, home owners associations, and some cites ect.

We have been thinking about getting another dog, not because of this, but that could be a really good idea. I'm going to take pictures of the fence line to have proof of their dogs clearly digging and I will have a camera ready for the next time they come over. I was also thinking that even if the neighbors deny everything they will realize that we're willing to get the police involved and that might make them take more responsibility. Of course, that's probably just wishful thinking.

 

[Miss Lydia]

We have been thinking about getting another dog, not because of this, but that could be a really good idea. I'm going to take pictures of the fence line to have proof of their dogs clearly digging and I will have a camera ready for the next time they come over. I was also thinking that even if the neighbors deny everything they will realize that we're willing to get the police involved and that might make them take more responsibility. Of course, that's probably just wishful thinking.

I'm not sure about calls and drakes since I only have Muscovy's but I can tell you if I had more than one Scovy drake in a pen together, they would fight. Drakes want all the ducks. So it would probably need to be a separation so you could keep the drakes separated from each other .Sounds like you may have to deal with these dogs by your self. In the mean time make your pen and run as safe as possible. Use hardware wire around all sides buried into the ground for diggers, and secure latches [several] on your door into the run. Keep the camera by the back door and also the gun, because if you don't have your pen secure you'll probably be taking pics of the dogs killing again or using the gun to get them away. I would Not let my birds roam the back yard till these predators are delt with. Very heartbreaking to have to deal with this alone. But again setting traps and catching these dogs and taking them to the shelter as strays is another course of action too. What breed are they?

 

[denise91]

I'm not sure about calls and drakes since I only have Muscovy's but I can tell you if I had more than one Scovy drake in a pen together, they would fight. Drakes want all the ducks. So it would probably need to be a separation so you could keep the drakes separated from each other .Sounds like you may have to deal with these dogs by your self. In the mean time make your pen and run as safe as possible. Use hardware wire around all sides buried into the ground for diggers, and secure latches [several] on your door into the run. Keep the camera by the back door and also the gun, because if you don't have your pen secure you'll probably be taking pics of the dogs killing again or using the gun to get them away. I would Not let my birds roam the back yard till these predators are delt with. Very heartbreaking to have to deal with this alone. But again setting traps and catching these dogs and taking them to the shelter as strays is another course of action too. What breed are they?

I might just get the one drake then. I've been thinking about burying chicken wire along the fence line. It'll be a lot of work but probably the best way to keep them out of my yard completely. One's a big black lab, then there's his daughter who's a chow cross, and a puggle. I've seen the lab grab my rooster, the chow is the digger and the one who killed the duck, and the puggle is an all around nasty piece of work. The lab and chow mix are probably too big to trap easily. I'd really like to just shoot them next time they come over but I have a feeling that with the way the police have been acting towards this whole situation, I would get into serious trouble. I mean the cops did say they would talk to the neighbor's today and give them a fine if they admitted to it but the cops never showed up. I also finally told my neighbor what his dogs did and his only response was "I noticed the duck was missing" then he sort of chuckled and walked away.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I might just get the one drake then. I've been thinking about burying chicken wire along the fence line. It'll be a lot of work but probably the best way to keep them out of my yard completely. One's a big black lab, then there's his daughter who's a chow cross, and a puggle. I've seen the lab grab my rooster, the chow is the digger and the one who killed the duck, and the puggle is an all around nasty piece of work. The lab and chow mix are probably too big to trap easily. I'd really like to just shoot them next time they come over but I have a feeling that with the way the police have been acting towards this whole situation, I would get into serious trouble. I mean the cops did say they would talk to the neighbor's today and give them a fine if they admitted to it but the cops never showed up. I also finally told my neighbor what his dogs did and his only response was "I noticed the duck was missing" then he sort of chuckled and walked away.

What a piece of work, telling you they will talk to the neighbors and then don't even show up. I'd say your best bet is dealing with them yourself. Do you know anyone who may have a heart traps you can borrow? Once there was a stray dog living down the road from us , just about starved to death, I called our shelter and for 20.00 deposit I was able to borrow their huge have a heart trap to catch this dog, I used some cheap cooked bacon and it took about 30min. I ended up finding a home for him but if your can borrow a trap from them then tell them you'll be bringing the dogs in since they are strays trying to kill your pets. or they already have killed some of your pets. That would have been the last resort having the neighbor laugh about it. These dogs are dangerous. What ever you can do to keep these dogs out of your yard. The only problem with chicken wire is it's easily bent and torn up so a large dog or 3 could probably tear up chicken wire pretty quick.

 

[appps]

I think I'm going to buy a gun. I'm researching the laws in my state (Michigan) and I found a section stating that I am within my right to shoot a dog on my property that is attacking/killing my livestock including poultry. But then I found this part, "it shall be unlawful for any person, other than a law enforcement officer, to kill or injure or attempt to kill or injure any dog which bears a license tag for the current year." What exactly does it mean by a license tag for the current year? I believe the dogs I'm dealing with all have collars and name tags. Does that mean it's illegal to shoot them?

Here you have to pay to get a dog licence and they give you a little tag to go on their collar. Its different to a name tag someone buys and gets their name engraved on.

I would assume it means that without a licence its classed as a stray and you are within your rights to shoot it.

Maybe find out what colour your local dog licence is and what it looks like so you can tell if they have that or just a name tag.

 

[Bitterroot]

Print out the ordinance, and give a copy to your neighbors. Tell them you don't wanna be "that guy", but you're tired of having your livestock killed and not being taken seriously. You have a right to live peaceably on your own land.

If all else fails, there's always the three SSS's.

My neighbors and I are going through this. They've been warned that their one 'oops' has passed, and next time I'll be grabbing my rifle and not my cell phone.