Chicken owner charged after shooting dog.

[vicki2x2]

Quote:
I agree with you! This is a post I need to get off of!

I had two deer killed by dogs just running along the fence, peafowl also.

Dogs dont have to get in the pens to kill animals.

Rabbits are also notorious for breaking their backs or necks from freaking out over dogs (or other predators) outside their cages and running around in their cage.

About the above comment, no knows for sure that they dog wasn't digging or jumping on the fence or trying to break in. The chicken owner was told not to comment by his lawyer, so wasn't allowed to tell his side of the story. The dog very well could have been doing all of those things and more, it could have growled at the man for all we know. Don't assume without all the facts, the only facts we have is the dog was off her leash and not under the control of her owner. She was on the private property of the chicken owner and according to the police, harrassing the chickens. According to her owner, she was not scared away by the first gun and it took a second, bigger gun to do the job, so obviously she was determined to get those birds.

 

[MysticScorpio82]

Quote:
I had two deer killed by dogs just running along the fence, peafowl also.

Dogs dont have to get in the pens to kill animals.

Rabbits are also notorious for breaking their backs or necks from freaking out over dogs (or other predators) outside their cages and running around in their cage.

About the above comment, no knows for sure that they dog wasn't digging or jumping on the fence or trying to break in. The chicken owner was told not to comment by his lawyer, so wasn't allowed to tell his side of the story. The dog very well could have been doing all of those things and more, it could have growled at the man for all we know. Don't assume without all the facts, the only facts we have is the dog was off her leash and not under the control of her owner. She was on the private property of the chicken owner and according to the police, harrassing the chickens. According to her owner, she was not scared away by the first gun and it took a second, bigger gun to do the job, so obviously she was determined to get those birds.

 

[troy5775]

First, just guessing here but the city might have a law against keeping livestock inside city limits so Mr. Harris has to classify his chickens as pets in order to keep them and the be within the law. This point is moot because the law plainly states he has the right to protect his property with a firearm. Pet or livestock they are still his property.

Second, the dog wouldn't have to actually get a hold of the chickens to harm them. Just chasing them would put them under stress, even on differnt sides of the fence.

With a good lawyer Mr. Harris should get off because either way it goes, he was not breaking the law by protecting his property.

Sorry about the earlier infraction of the rules just copy and pasted the info from whitepages.com. It just burns my buttt the way he is harrassing this guy with his fliers.

 

[G Wiz Ranch]

Quote:
I had two deer killed by dogs just running along the fence, peafowl also.

Dogs dont have to get in the pens to kill animals.

Rabbits are also notorious for breaking their backs or necks from freaking out over dogs (or other predators) outside their cages and running around in their cage.

About the above comment, no knows for sure that they dog wasn't digging or jumping on the fence or trying to break in. The chicken owner was told not to comment by his lawyer, so wasn't allowed to tell his side of the story. The dog very well could have been doing all of those things and more, it could have growled at the man for all we know. Don't assume without all the facts, the only facts we have is the dog was off her leash and not under the control of her owner. She was on the private property of the chicken owner and according to the police, harrassing the chickens. According to her owner, she was not scared away by the first gun and it took a second, bigger gun to do the job, so obviously she was determined to get those birds.

you said it for me.

 

[cjeanean]

Quote:
What law did Mr. Harris break?

I don't know that either of them broke a law. Apparently it's illegal to discharge a firearm unless under certain circumstances, but in Harris' case it may have been legal. Just as I don't know if the area in question has leash laws. All I'm saying is that if the chicken owner is to blame, then the dog owner is too.

I know that I've had several dogs come around my property, dogs that are HUGE and scare me, and I don't have a gun. The problem is, I couldn't shoot and kill a dog even if I had a gun unless it was attacking a human, even if it was attacking my chickens. I would shoot to MAIM, but not to kill. Legal rights are one thing, the law may say that I am perfectly safe killing an animal that's attacking my chickens, but I couldn't bear the thought of killing someone's pet to save my own. Wild animals are different, in my mind.

I'm not saying this to start a fight, only the way I see it. If anyone feels that something they want to say in reply to my post may be taken the wrong way on this thread, please feel free to PM me.

P.S. I'm also not saying I wouldn't protect my flock, only that taking the life of someone else's pet is something I couldn't do....even if I didn't know the person.

 

[JennsPeeps]

Quote:
I totally agree with you that he behaved poorly (to say the least) in distributing flyers about Mr. Harris. I've seen witch hunts get started in the past, however, and if people were to start contacting him and saying "I got your contact info on BYC", he could come after BYC. We want BYC to be a place for disseminating info and discussing issues, not a place that gets a reputation of being a place for chicken crazies who send hate mail.

 

[kagedgoddess]

Quote:
its also funny how they dont understand that just becuase there is no house in those woods doesnt mean that it is OWNED by someone. if it were my property i would immediatly hang up no tresspassing signs and arrest every dog "walker" who came through! city ppl really get me. its like a car jacker saying, "i didnt Steal it, the keys were inside!"

 

[horsejody]

I received a response from the prosecutor. I think that as long as we are civil and carefful about things we say and write to people, we can help the authorities understand the problem with dogs as predators. This is what the DA said:

Dear Ms. B,

Mr. Harris's police reports have not made their way to this office for review. I will attach your email to those reports just to make sure that your legal research does not go to waste. Mr. Harris is cited to appear on July 13, 2009 at 1:30 p.m.. A charging decision will be made before that date. Beyond shooting a dog, the discharge of a firearm within the city limits is a crime of some concern. All of this will be considered when the police reports are reviewed.

Respects,

Michael T. Dugan
District Attorney

 

[speckledhen]

Good work, Jody!

 

[cmjust0]

Quote:
There was a big bruhaha in my area a few years ago where a McMansion-type subdivision was built adjacent to a farm. The farm owner, having seen the $$$ the developers paid for the tract adjacent to his, tried to have the zoning changed on his farm so he, too, could sell it to developers.

The homeowners in the McMansion neighborhood went ballistic... Their reason: They bought the houses they did because they backed up to a farm, and they didn't think it was fair that the farm they so enjoyed looking at -- not maintaining, nor paying for, nor contributing anything toward -- looking at might be transformed into an eyesore of cluster-developed, closely-spaced houses....like theirs.

The farmer was denied the zoning change.

So, he stepped up his ag efforts, so to speak.....he started raising HOGS on the property. He made sure to push hogs RIGHT UP AGAINST the fenceline of this neighborhood.

The neighbors took him to court AGAIN because not only did they want to force the man to keep his farm a farm, they actually felt like they should be able to control what he did with his farm simply because they lived beside it...and they wanted it to remain as clean and pretty as it had been when they bought their houses.

They weren't so successful in court that time.

The judge basically echoed the farmer's words and said to the homeowners...."If you wanted to live on a farm, you should have bought one!!!"

People are just unfrickenbelievable..