Dog Attack

[Nicci0110]

Sunday afternoon tragedy struck. 2 dogs from a half a mile down the road (owners have chickens too) massacred my flock. My babies free range from 12 to 6 daily. We heard something and my husband ran outside and saw the dogs. He grabbed a gun and while chasing to get a shot he fell. He broke a rib when he fell and is bruised up pretty bad. Luckily, he recognized the dogs. He jumped in his truck and chased the dogs. They ran home and the owner locked them up. He told her what had happened, and she said "well they don't mess with my chickens"
He came back, got me and 2 bodies of my babies and we went back. I told her these are my babies. She said hers are also. I held one up and told her I nursed this one back after being scalped. At that point I thought my entire flock was gone. I told her she owed me 40.00 a chicken for each one. There were 13. She said she needed some time. I told her she had a week to pay me and if her dogs came back they be shot and left on her doorstep for her to bury like I am having to my babies.
We came back home and searched and searched.
We found 2 dead, 2 seriously injured, and 2 missing. The rest were ok.
We buried Debra Lynn and Rosie.
My Rooster, Henny Penny fought had. He was covered in the dogs blood and had no feathers left on his back. He has 2 puncture wounds and a few minor scratches. He's tough and will be fine. He didn't want to go to bed while waiting on his missing ladies.
My injured Hen has nothing left on her back. I am positive I can heal her and will. She is inside of course, and I took her to the vet yesterday for antibiotics and pain meds. She is a real trooper.
I have located the code for MS showing she is responsible for the cost of my chickens, cost incurred, and attorney/court fees.
I plan to require her to pay for 6 chickens total, the vet bill, and the supplies for first aid.
If she doesn't, I will file suit. This comes to $407.00. This will in no way replace my babies.
Is this reasonable?
Of course, this will go up should I have to take her to court. I have the code/law showing she is responsible for all of this.
She had the nerve to offer me her little chicks for my mature healthy laying hens who were raised inside until they were 13 weeks old and held daily. I intend to await one of my remaining ladies to turn Broody to hatch some from them. I do not want to start over. I do not care about the eggs as I just give mine away mainly and if they never laid another single egg it wouldn't matter to me.
So, I am heartbroken. I now have a very seriously injured sweet girl living inside along with 2 parrot and a dog who loves her, and some very traumatized babies outside.
They will remain in their run until they are healed.
Please do not tell me not to free range as I would rather them live a happy life daily free ranging then being locked up all the time. I know loss is something to expect when free ranging but it wouldn't be so hard if it wasn't a couple of domesticated dogs that had no right to be in my yard.
They will be eliminated if they even set one paw in my yard again.


Is the $407.00 reasonable?

 

[nuthatched]

She had the nerve to offer me her little chicks for my mature healthy laying hens

That sounds reasonable, under the circumstances.
Step away from the emotional aspect and look at it through the eyes of the law.
Is your county fence in or fence out?
What are livestock/fowl laws there?
Since your birds were not secured in any way, they could be term as an Attractive nuisance to the dogs and you may or may not have legal grounds since you did not provide any type secure area for them.
If you do go to court, the judge will ask whether the birds were in any type of confinement. That will be a no.
They'll also likely ask if you intend to provide those measures in the future.
You've made that clear that you don't.
Animals don't understand property, they understand only impulse, instincts and 'anything I can get to is for me'.
I'm not sure going to court would work in your favor. In fact, I'm pretty sure it won't.
The dogs 100% shouldn't have been running loose but dog owner doesn't carry all the blame here.
Free ranging is a gamble, every time you let then out, you're rolling the dice on whether they come back or not.
The judge may ask why they weren't protected and why you chose not to.
It doesn't matter whether you thought that wild animals were your only concern, unfortunately, they aren't. Chickens are defenseless prey animals, it's your responsibility to try to keep them safe as you can, your presence alone is not enough.
I'm going to tell you what's best for your birds, I mean no offense, to avoid this happening again.
And it will happen again, something always wants a chicken dinner.
If she pays you, use that money and put up a nice 6ft fence, it doesn't have to be a small run you can make it huge. The minor inconvenience to them (and they will complain for a week or two) of them not being able to go everywhere is going to be vastly outweighed that they'll be much less likely to die in a violent, painful way.
I know that you're upset and that this is an awful thing to go through, I'm sorry that it happened.
How's your husband? I don't think you mentioned him again after you say he broke his rib?

 

[nuthatched]

I told her she had a week to pay me and if her dogs came back they be shot and left on her doorstep for her to bury like I am having to my babies.

That's pretty cruel. And will likely constituent threat of animal cruelty. She will bring that up in court, if the judge asks.
Those dogs could be her 'babies' as much as you consider your birds to your "babies". Sometimes dogs get out and run, it happens. It's up to both of you to make sure your "babies" are safe and secure on your respective properties.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Find out what your Mississippi laws are. Each state is different. In many states it is illegal to kill a dog just because it is on your property. Some states allow you to kill a dog that is attacking your animals, so do not. In Arkansas I saw someone get a fine for $35,000 for shooting a dog on their property that was not harming anything.

I've been through that. I knew what the laws were when I shot two dogs actively killing my chickens. Those were two dogs that had been abandoned in the country. I hated shooting those dogs, I can still remember the pale blue eyes of one of those. But once they learned to kill chickens I was not going to let them go. I consider that the human that abandoned them's fault.

Another time I saw a dog that had been abandoned and took it to the local shelter. It could be safely adopted.

 

[KimbosKluckers]

First, I’m terribly sorry about your babies, I’m sure that’s very devastating. However, I have to agree with what @nuthatched says entirely..you need to secure your animals as well, such a delicate situation though. Good luck to you.

 

[Nicci0110]

Find out what your Mississippi laws are. Each state is different. In many states it is illegal to kill a dog just because it is on your property. Some states allow you to kill a dog that is attacking your animals, so do not. In Arkansas I saw someone get a fine for $35,000 for shooting a dog on their property that was not harming anything.

I've been through that. I knew what the laws were when I shot two dogs actively killing my chickens. Those were two dogs that had been abandoned in the country. I hated shooting those dogs, I can still remember the pale blue eyes of one of those. But once they learned to kill chickens I was not going to let them go. I consider that the human that abandoned them's fault.

Another time I saw a dog that had been abandoned and took it to the local shelter. It could be safely adopted.

Find out what your Mississippi laws are. Each state is different. In many states it is illegal to kill a dog just because it is on your property. Some states allow you to kill a dog that is attacking your animals, so do not. In Arkansas I saw someone get a fine for $35,000 for shooting a dog on their property that was not harming anything.

I've been through that. I knew what the laws were when I shot two dogs actively killing my chickens. Those were two dogs that had been abandoned in the country. I hated shooting those dogs, I can still remember the pale blue eyes of one of those. But once they learned to kill chickens I was not going to let them go. I consider that the human that abandoned them's fault.

Another time I saw a dog that had been abandoned and took it to the local shelter. It could be safely adopted.

I verified and in MS code sec 95-5-19 and 20 allow me to kill any dog on my property.

 

[Nicci0110]

First, I’m terribly sorry about your babies, I’m sure that’s very devastating. However, I have to agree with what @nuthatched says entirely..you need to secure your animals as well, such a delicate situation though. Good luck to you.

We can agree to disagree as they were at home on my property. Her dogs didn't get out. She let's them roam freely when they go outside.

 

[KimbosKluckers]

We can agree to disagree as they were at home on my property. Her dogs didn't get out. She let's them roam freely when they go outside.

I do not agree that her dogs should free roam either, that’s wrong and just asking for trouble. It’s their owner’s fault but dogs will be dogs and do not deserve to be killed for their instinct (just my opinion) They should be secure, as should your chickens.

 

[Nicci0110]

MS Sec code 95-5-19 and 20 allows me to kill the dogs and charge her the value of the animals and all costs as well as attorneys fees and court costs. I am in Mississippi and also work for an attorney. I am a licensed Paralegal as well and it would do fine in court. Mississippi is also a stand your ground state meaning if a person enters my property I have every right to shoot them. If I call the sheriff's department about a dog they tell me to shoot it. My husband is really sore and probably more upset than me. It just blows my mind they alo have free range chickens and came a half a mile away to kill mine. There is a farmer across the road with 200 free range chickens also.

That sounds reasonable, under the circumstances.
Step away from the emotional aspect and look at it through the eyes of the law.
Is your county fence in or fence out?
What are livestock/fowl laws there?
Since your birds were not secured in any way, they could be term as an Attractive nuisance to the dogs and you may or may not have legal grounds since you did not provide any type secure area for them.
If you do go to court, the judge will ask whether the birds were in any type of confinement. That will be a no.
They'll also likely ask if you intend to provide those measures in the future.
You've made that clear that you don't.
Animals don't understand property, they understand only impulse, instincts and 'anything I can get to is for me'.
I'm not sure going to court would work in your favor. In fact, I'm pretty sure it won't.
The dogs 100% shouldn't have been running loose but dog owner doesn't carry all the blame here.
Free ranging is a gamble, every time you let then out, you're rolling the dice on whether they come back or not.
The judge may ask why they weren't protected and why you chose not to.
It doesn't matter whether you thought that wild animals were your only concern, unfortunately, they aren't. Chickens are defenseless prey animals, it's your responsibility to try to keep them safe as you can, your presence alone is not enough.
I'm going to tell you what's best for your birds, I mean no offense, to avoid this happening again.
And it will happen again, something always wants a chicken dinner.
If she pays you, use that money and put up a nice 6ft fence, it doesn't have to be a small run you can make it huge. The minor inconvenience to them (and they will complain for a week or two) of them not being able to go everywhere is going to be vastly outweighed that they'll be much less likely to die in a violent, painful way.
I know that you're upset and that this is an awful thing to go through, I'm sorry that it happened.
How's your husband? I don't think you mentioned him again after you say he broke his rib?

 

[SmiYa0126]

It sounds like the chickens were on your land, I would pursue 100%. The amount is perfectly reasonable.