A dog killed 9 of my chickens...

[FridayYet]

Sorry to hear about Barbie.

 

[yellowherb]

It's a sad fact of life people think that their dogs are more important than someone's pet chickens (or pet anything!) I live in fear of a loose dog in my neighborhood getting into my yard and killing my chickens.

I thought your first letter was beautiful, it described how close of a relationship you have with your birds and that they are not just egg producers but far more.

Hope you get some satisfaction from the dog owner.

 

[Adalida]

You know what really peeves me? The people who think their dog is sooooo much more important than anybody else's pets, are inevitably the people who have undisciplined, poorly mannered dogs that run wild and out of control. If your pet is so important to you, why are you letting it run wild?? Aren't you concerned it could get hit by a car or hurt by another dog?

I just had a friend tell me he shot and killed a dog that was killing his birds. It was the second time that particular dog had gone after his flock. The dog's owner was furious that he killed their dog. "It was part of the family! A beloved pet!" Etc etc. He ended up taking them to court and winning a good amount for damages, as he had some valuable breeding pairs. Irresponsible dog owners are a BIG pet peeve of mine.

 

[Bamafansince86]

I know your pain. My neighbors dogs killed 20+ of my birds. Had only a couple left after the attacks. The birds were in pens and the dogs ripped through the hardware cloth and wire. Anyway the sorry @$$ neighbors wouldn't talk to me. Called the police twice and all they said was to shot the dogs. I love all animals but seemed to be the only way. After shooting 2 of the dogs the neighbors finally decided to pay me a visit. I told him I would like 200 in damages. I'm glad I'm not holding my breath for that money. You will probably have to take matters in your own hands. I recommend a 22 long rifle, that way hopefully the dog makes its way back to the owners home and he can deal with it like you had to deal with the loss of your flock. Good luck and good AIM

 

[yellowherb]

My yard is fenced and I live in a slightly developed country type setting. Lots are only about 3/4 acre each. People out here think it's ok for their dogs to run loose. My dogs are not loose unless I'm with them and they are well behaved dogs! But there used to be a renter out here who had a pitt boxer mix that went after everyone walking. People were having to carry big sticks to the mail boxes with them to keep the dog off.

One day after taking our dogs out for a run down a dirt road in the middle of no where, our daughter decided she wanted to be dropped off down the street to finish walking home. The dog should have been fenced, but I stood in the middle of the road watching anyway to make sure everything was ok. Suddenly the dog appears from no where and sees my little girl. It takes off at a run (I do too screaming), it plows into her knocking her into a ditch and out of my sight. I was screaming my lungs out and calling my dogs to follow. My husband came out of the shed and was following along behind me. My baby was ok, the dog only knocked her down and my big MUTT went after it so maybe things would have been worse, idk, but my dog gave it something else to worry about rather than doing any harm to my girl.

I called the police, they came out and by that time the dog was back in it's yard behind the fence. Owners told the cops it wasn't their dog, someone else must have one that looked exactly like it.. The cops told me there wasn't a thing they could do about it since they did not witness the dog out. Peed me off, did the dog have to KILL someone for anything to be done?! I caught the owners walking down the street though and told them since it wasn't "their" dog they would be ok with me Killing it. They moved soon after thankfully.

People with uncontrolled dogs pee me off. The cops and animal control also "pee" me off. Nothing we can do about.. something I can dang sure do about it!!

 

[ChickenGoesRuff]

Our dog wears a shock collar for the underground fence, but I can only think of one neighbor who actually consistently contains their dogs. Two, if I count the one across the highway. Every other dog nearby is either hardly let outside, or usually not very motivated to leave the yard. Most often, the former.
It just rubs me the wrong way. In fact, the neighbor that does contain their dog, Floyd, is really the neighbor we're most fond of. She even called one day to make sure my chickens were okay, because my pack of roosters weren't running around our yard (they were locked in the coop for iffy weather). And the one time Floyd got out, even for a minute, he got a few feathers off my silkie and they apologized profusely. The owners of the dog that killed 13 chickens last year, Barkley, never actually even said the word "sorry". Not even a "Sorry that your chickens died". The only thing that they said with any real conviction was "If you shoot my dog, I'll shoot yours and say it was endangering my kids!" (One is 20 something, and the other is 2 days younger than me...) "If your dog ever leaves your yard..." My dad cut her off and said, "Our dog doesn't leave the yard because we take care of it. However, right now I can charge you for trespassing on my property and threatening to destroy my property. I'm just informing you that your dog will not survive if it comes over here again. If you want to call the sheriff, we have no problem calling him over here." She changed her tune, but still belly-ached and yelled before she left. Some people...

 

[yellowherb]

We used to have a underground fence. It worked for the most part unless our dog was determined to leave. Then to get back he would just sit in the road and bark, he wouldn't cross back over. But the biggest issue with the underground fence is that it keeps your dogs in (mostly) but does nothing to stop any one elses dogs from coming to your yard.

We had a shiba inu and he went right thru the fence when a neighbor was walking her dog. He attacked her dog. I got a phone call and a ear full. I apologized profusely and made sure her dog was ok and wasn't injured. We rehomed the Shiba and fenced the yard. Two lessons learned, male dogs suck and a fenced yard is good! We now have just 2 female dogs who only want to leave the yard if it's with me and a fenced yard which neighbor dogs HAVE dug under to get to my girls. So I ended up with a unwanted pregnant dog who then couldn't deliver her pups and nearly died and a big vets bill. No sorry from the neighbor or let me fix the fence my dog destroyed..

Dogs in the hands of irresponsible owners are pretty close to a wrecking ball or a cocked weapon. Dogs in the hands of responsible owners are a joy.

 

[mobius]

Sorry if I missed this, but did you contact Animal Control? An officer should come out and review the situation with you, and advise you further on the law in your locale. You might be surprised...this may not be just a civil offense...it isn't in my area...

 

[Shorty1071]

You will probably have to take matters in your own hands. I recommend a 22 long rifle, that way hopefully the dog makes its way back to the owners home and he can deal with it like you had to deal with the loss of your flock. Good luck and good AIM

That is cruel, and I am disgusted to read that. I support shooting a dog or any other animal that is on your property terrorizing or killing your pets/livestock/etc, but to hope you injure a dog to the point that it makes its way back home, dying, is sick. It isn't the dogs fault the owner is irresponsible. Why would you want it to suffer, just to be vengeful towards the owners? If you're going to shoot it, shoot to kill.

 

[Adalida]

I was trying to find the post on here from several months back, where the OP shot and injured a dog, and was charged with animal cruelty. Whatever state he lived in, the rules were very strange in that he wouldn't have been in trouble had he killed the dog; but since the dog survived, he was responsible for the vet bills as well as fines. It was really shocking.