Sorry for your family's loss. :aww
We lived in a small unincorporated town in the county. Dumped animals especially dogs were always a problem. Animal control was no help. DH decided to take one in. Let me tell you, trying to control a dog that's been loose for who knows how long is an uphill battle. DH was gone most of the time and I resorted to chains or leashes whenever I let him out. That worked the best, but as will happen sometimes one of the kids or DH would open the door and he would bolt and be gone for a week or 2 at a stretch.
A guy in town came over once and told me while he wasn't positive, a pack of wild dogs had been on his property the night before and he almost shot one of them until he realized it might be ours. I told him if it happened again shoot. It was his right and what I would do. If the dog turned out to be that dog, there would have been no hard feelings on our part.
Do what you can to protect the rest of your girls. If their dog could get to them, then so could a cat or raccoon or any number of other predators. If I remember, Jack Russel's are those little yappy ones. If you want restitution, you'll have to get a lot of evidence I would imagine and short of letting him have a go at your birds again...well, probably not much you can do about the ones you've already lost.
Take heart. There are responsible dog owners who despite everything sometimes their dog will get out. My brother spent tons with buried concrete topped by 6ft privacy fencing and his dog still kept getting out. Turned out all he really needed was a padlock on the outside of his gate.
To his surprise twice his dog got a chicken. Both times he scoured the neighborhood looking for the owners to apologize and make restitution. He never found them. I told him if chickens were illegal, that could be why no one came forward.
We lived in a small unincorporated town in the county. Dumped animals especially dogs were always a problem. Animal control was no help. DH decided to take one in. Let me tell you, trying to control a dog that's been loose for who knows how long is an uphill battle. DH was gone most of the time and I resorted to chains or leashes whenever I let him out. That worked the best, but as will happen sometimes one of the kids or DH would open the door and he would bolt and be gone for a week or 2 at a stretch.
A guy in town came over once and told me while he wasn't positive, a pack of wild dogs had been on his property the night before and he almost shot one of them until he realized it might be ours. I told him if it happened again shoot. It was his right and what I would do. If the dog turned out to be that dog, there would have been no hard feelings on our part.
Do what you can to protect the rest of your girls. If their dog could get to them, then so could a cat or raccoon or any number of other predators. If I remember, Jack Russel's are those little yappy ones. If you want restitution, you'll have to get a lot of evidence I would imagine and short of letting him have a go at your birds again...well, probably not much you can do about the ones you've already lost.
Take heart. There are responsible dog owners who despite everything sometimes their dog will get out. My brother spent tons with buried concrete topped by 6ft privacy fencing and his dog still kept getting out. Turned out all he really needed was a padlock on the outside of his gate.
To his surprise twice his dog got a chicken. Both times he scoured the neighborhood looking for the owners to apologize and make restitution. He never found them. I told him if chickens were illegal, that could be why no one came forward.
un
