Chicken Murder... I didn't think it would happen to me.

[horsejody]

Amarook, Any updates? How are the injured birds doing? Have they actually come up with any cash or settlement plans? Or is she arguing that paying for damages will take food out of the baby's mouth? If your injured ones are still alive and struggling, remember the neighbors can be sent the vet bills too. My neighbors were indignant about it when I wanted the vet bills paid, but the judge said,"too bad, you owe it."

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

I don't get it!

Any of us who spend any time at this great forum have read what can happen to our chicks or other livestock by preditors or our own family pet turned preditor.

I really agree with Davaroo that it is OUR responsibility to OUR livestock and/or pets to keep them safe.

The OP admitted that she didn't think it would happen to her.

If it wasn't her neighbor's dog, it could have - would have - will be some other preditor unless she makes her run/coop as preditor proof as she wants it to be.

We hear over and over that chicken wire keeps chickens in but not preditors out.

Lesson to the rest of us that preditors can and will kill OUR chickens and it's up to us to do the best we can to protect them before it happens.

 

[horsejody]

Quote:
I actually don't think I am arguing, and I'm definitely not the one shooting myself in the foot. I'm just stating that "I couldn't leave the sleeping baby" would be laughed at as a defense in court and anywhere else. She could have woke the baby and took it with her. She could have called neighbors on the phone and warned them the dog was loose and to be on the lookout. She could have called her husband and told him the dog was loose and to come home before it made trouble. Heck, she could have been real proactive and made sure the the dog was securely contained from the start. She could have done lots of things more responsible than sit on her butt and do nothing. She made a conscious decision to do nothing and put others at risk when she knew her dog was running loose.

Hopefully, the thread gets back on topic and we get updates from the OP. Who cares if the dog owner was too stupid to figure out that she had other options? Most judges are going to be smart enough to know she had plenty of other courses of action.

Now, back on topic. How are the survivors? Is there a plan for future confinement for the dog?

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Isn't it funny how threads seem to derail on one single detail? I mean, the OP posted saying how the neighbors dog got loose and ate her chickens.

Most of this thread is arguing the one single mention of a mother's decision(or excuse) to not go fetch the dog. Irresponsible IS an opinion and yet most of this thread is over the argument of whether the dog's owner was irresponsible or not. Why? Why does it matter?

She had a commitment to her young'un and she had a commitment to the dog. It really doesn't matter about the child, the problem was her commitment to the dog. Dog got loose, dog killed chickens, that is the problem. Whether the mother chose the "right"(again, an opinion) decision to stay home with the babe, doesn't matter. What matters is someone lost animals to the neighbors animal.

Just pointed it out. It's funny how easily something is derailed on a single detail.

-Kim

 

[Castaway]

Quote:
That part I highlighted in bold could just as easily have read "but none of what I just wrote really matters anyway, because the dog owner is still liable."

Which is to say that, basically, we're in agreement.

Quote:
If you go take a dump in your neighbor's yard and your house catches fire with your baby inside, then yeah.. You're negligent.

If you take a dump in your bathroom, inside your house, like most of us do, and your house still catches fire and burns down before you can collect your baby and get out...well, at least you weren't doing something stupid like taking a dump in your neighbor's yard at the time.

In other words...you're trying to compare apples and oranges here, and it's not working.

.

1. I guess the point I attempted to get across was that negligence is irrelevant to the issue of liability. However, if we assumed it was relevant for the sake of argument then the baby v. chicken debate becomes relevant.

2. Ironically, I think your apples v. oranges take may have made my point. The fire and break-in time (i.e. zero seconds) is apples to the fact that babies are left alone within reason all the time. In the time it takes for me to put the trash out a fire or burglary event could occur; in the time it takes me to take a dump the same event could occur; and in the time it takes me to check the perimeter of my house for the dog's whereabouts something awful could happen. The point, as you implied, is whether these acts are "stupid" or reasonable given the likely safety issues that might arise, not various hypothetical considerations. The dump in the neighbor's backyard is the mother of all apples.

 

[Cherstin]

Wow. Sticky situation and I feel for your loss. I'm sorry it happened but I am sad that the only thing protecting your chickens from any type of predator was a piece of chicken wire. Anything with muscle and determination can get thru that junk.

Arguing responsibility after the fact doesn't bring the animals back. It's a lesson learned for everyone: don't THINK your run is predator-proof. How you would REALLY get into that run if you wanted to? Could you bend the wire? Could you push under the fence? Could you dig a small hole and shimmy in? Don't think "Well, there IS that one spot over there but an animal won't find that." You're wrong. They will.

And if it had been a raccoon, who would pay for your loss then? I think the monetary side is unreasonable. Your chickens weren't as safe as you thought they'd be. They were vulnerable and it's a shame they were taken advantage of but you have to plan for the worst. It seems to me like you're looking for someone to pay for the fact that you used bendable, flimsy chicken wire to protect your flock. You were proved wrong and now you're looking for compensation. You might as well sue the chicken wire company because if it wouldn't have been the dog, it eventually would've been something.

I have a 6 foot wooden privacy fence around my property and my chickens are STILL in a chain link dog kennel with a chain-link top with 3-foot high hardware cloth (1/2" by 1/2") along the bottom. Should I ever have a loss, at least I'll know that I protected them as best as I could.

 

[DuckLady]

OP sorry for your loss.

THere is a bit too much trolling here, so I am closing it down.

Remember the rules of the forum and this section in particular. They are posted at the top of the main Predators and Pests page.