dog shot in front yard

[Bunnylady]

I'm with speckledhen - we know what, and we know where, but there's the who, how, and a whole lot of why that we don't know. We need to know more before we can go making judgments.

There was a situation here a few years ago where a dog was shot in a fenced-in back yard. Sounds reprehensible, right? My memory may be a bit shaky, it was a few years ago - but I believe this is what happened. A meter reader, new to the route, went into the yard to read the meter, not knowing there was a dog there. When the dog attacked him, he took shelter under a car in the yard, and dialed 911 on his cell phone. 911 sent police and an ambulance to the address, and tried to contact the owner of the property. They were unable to reach the owner. When a responding officer tried to enter the back yard, the dog attacked him, and a second officer shot it. The meter reader was sent to the hospital, where he was treated for dog bites and (I think) another medical condition that was aggravated by the stress of the situation. Dog owner shows up while the police are still there, and is absolutely furious that they shot his (unlicensed) dog. What can you do?

 

[Kikiriki]

My dogs have six foot fence around the back and up the sides od the yard as well as from the side right to the front wall of the house. They are never allowed to go out the front door and when my husband walks them they go out the side gate on leads.

I will not walk in my neighborhood without my husband specifically because of people who do not fence or control their dogs. I was spinning in circles trying to keep my dog on a leash away from a loose dog that was after him before they could start fighting....a stranger in a car stopped and chased off the other dog.

We've had dogs come charging us with and without the owner standing there. Sometimes the owner wont even bother to turn around, sometimes they stand stand there calling the dog(s) being ignored. My husband punched a dog in the face as it leaped up to bite him, and told the owner who was standing there that next time it would be him. That dog has been on a chain when it is in the front yard, ever since.

DH told one guy (after the THIRD time of having his dogs charge us in the street as the stupid man stood there watching) that next it happened time he was going to punish the owner. The man had a chainlink fence up by the next afternoon. DH is a big guy.

More recently, our adopted farm dog put himself between my husband, our little german shepherd and the agressive charging dogs. If my husband was not so strong, it would have been a bloody fight. The other dogs backed off.

I agree with the other posts that say more information is required for the OPs story before I can comment on it. Although I can say that I cannot sympathize with people who let their dogs roam because it is not safe for the dogs or for other people unless you live on a farm or in the middle of nowhere. It is the humans responsibility to control their pets, so I think shooting the dog is wrong...call the pound, or even scare a little responsibility into the owner, but the dog is really just being a dog.

 

[cassie]

Please keep on topic and refrain from inflammatory rants.
~~Staff

 

[theoldchick]

This reminds me of when my horse attacked and killed the neighbor's JRT. Everybody was in an uproar about how vicious my horse was just because it crushed the cute little dog's head. The police and animal control were called. Everybody wanted to kill my horse.

Until I showed them a video of the dog harassing my horse in MY pasture. Like all Jack Russells, he was relentless in his pursuit. Biting, snapping at Dink's face, legs, and pulling his tail for hours. Where was the owner? Why didn't she call off her dog? Her house was 20 yards from the pasture fence.

Since I had previously contacted Animal Control about this dog, and the owner was notified of the dog trespassing, I was counseled on how to document these events and take legal action if needed. At the time I had no idea I would be fighting for my horse's life.

Finally the facts came out about how my horse was on MY property grazing peacefully when the dog came running onto MY property to chase MY horse. This time Dink did not run. He simply and very accurately lashed out with his front hoof. The result was very quick. The dog dropped as if shot. Amazingly, the owner came running out of the house screaming her head off. She was going to sue and so forth. The dog was a valuable breeding animal and what not.

Fortunately I had a client who was lawyer who had dealt with these things before, and she made things calm down real quick. But what a hassle. The neighbor finally moved away and poor Dink was allowed to graze in peace.

There are two sides to every story. Sometimes three or four sides. Don't believe everything you see or read about. The media only wants to sell air time or subscriptions.

 

[Matthew3590]

If it truly was shot in your yard I am very sorry for your loss.

 

[speckledhen]

Apparently, this was the OP's aunt's dog, not her own, so the story isn't coming from the dog's owner. I wonder if there is a news story on this event locally. If so, could the OP please post the link to it?

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Well, this is an interesting thread. Waiting for the OP to check back in with "the rest of the story".

 

[Capvin]

When I responded it was only to the facts as presented without making any suppositions on my own. The question was presented quite simply as , "how do you feel about a dog being shot while on its own property." To that question my answer remains the same. Cyn...of course you are right but you used some common sense and read between the lines. If, in fact there is more to the story then was originally presented then the answer is going to change. Reality is that no responsible dog owner should let their dogs run loose. However, I was relating the OP's post to my own personal experience in that I have a dog that runs loose on my property but has never crossed our property lines for any reason and this has been the case for well over five years. If I came home one day and found her shot I would be sorely upset because, in her case, I know that she did not leave our property. Also, I might add that I live on a large peice of property, out in the country with only two neighbors within 500 yards of my property line. Plus this dog is only 12 lbs and would never be considered to be a threat to anyone.

 

[redhen]

I'm still interested in hearing how the dog was shot on its property and by WHOM.

 

[hemet dennis]

I'm still interested in hearing how the dog was shot on its property and by WHOM.

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