We really don't know the situation - it's wrong to talk about having "no tolerance for a child like that", or call the parents irresponsible when we don't know the dynamics of the relationship between the two families. The two families may, after all, have an open door policy. My kids' friends never knock. They know they're always welcome here. Heck, when the doorbell rings we all look at each other like, "what was that??" (the aforementioned kids are all adults now, but they still drop by when the gang is home) OP does have some ownership in the situation, too, by leaving the garage door unlocked. Not placing blame here, so don't string me up. But if you're going to be gone and don't want someone opening your doors, lock them! Next time it might be someone coming in to steal them blind instead of a child coming over to play. It was an accident, not an act of maliciousness on the part of the child. I still commend OP's handling of the situation. They made it clear to NEVER let the dogs out again without asking. That was their kind, compassionate respsonse. Not a lot of either of those qualities showing up in some of these posts. They showed the child GRACE (receiving something we don't deserve - in this case the guilt and self-blame of what happened to the chickens) and MERCY (not receiving punishment that we do deserve). I've said it before, and I'll say it again - human relationships are more important than anything else.
