A darn black and yellow lab showed up sometime this morning and killed evertything we had.... our 2 ducks and my bantams....We called animal control and they came and got the 2 dogs. I"m so right now i can't even think straight. we arent going to replace the chickens just because of the bad time we've had with them this year but the Animal control officer said they guy had to pay us restitution for the ducks. 2 of them over a year old both hens. How much is reasonable to make the guy pay. although no money in the world can bring them back, I want him to pay.
I would say 100 dollars per duck because not only did the dogs destroy your property, murder, etc, but they also tresspassed and the fine for tresspassing humans is WAY up there.
If the coop has been "devastated", then I would ask him to cover the bill to replace the coop, ducks, and the chickens. Anything the dogs destroyed, would be paid for. Does this mean you have to replace those chickens, if you don't want to? No, but they were still worth money, have him pay for them.
Dittooo..... these stupid people have animals and then dont care for them. this will teach the humans a lesson. to take care of their pets. dont blame the dogs.blame the humans. so make them pay.
I think you will need to be realistic in your prices but you should calculate not only the birds, but the future loss of income. ie: The cost of a one year old duck would be around $20 to $30 but you would be able to raise 10 to 15 ducklings per season which would sell for around $5 for a total of $50 to $75 per season and a duck will produce for an average of 5 years so you are looking at $250 + in loss of income so the total cost of losing a duck would be around $300 The same is true for chickens except they will run about double the number of hatchings per year and half the cost so the total loss would be about the same. You will probably have to file a small claims suit to settle but if you do you can include the loss of income and your expenses. Something to think about for a dog owner who lets his animal run loose.
Thanks for the info. I believe you guys are right, but my husband says we can't charge any more than 20.00 per duck. The animal control guy said to charge high and negotiate so I don't know what to do.
What I did a few years ago when a neighbor refused to contain his dogs was to call my insurance co. They called his insurance co. about his dangerous dogs that were allowed to roam. I had all the paperwork where I called animal control and the sheriffs dept. His insurance co. made him get rid of the dogs or face a triple rate increase. The dogs were gone. The neighbor was mad and decided to tear down a section of fence that I had put up on my side of the property line. He thought the fence was 10' on his property. After being set straight by the surveyors and Office of Deeds, His insurance co. had to pay me $9,000 for the destroyed fence. Then he got mad because I didn't put the fence back up. I guess if he later decided to get more dogs, he would have to pay for his own fence. This neighbor doesn't bother anyone anymore. If your animals are not contained on your property, they are not yours!!! Your pet on your property may be a pest on someone else's . Marty
They should definitely pay for the ducks and the chickens, whether you replace the chickens or not. They still killed the chickens and you paid for the originally, so you should be compensated. I agree with the officer, go high and then negotiate if you have to.