Dogs more important than Chickens?

[BigBlueHen53]

some people think violence is or isn't the answer, but I say violence is the question. If this animal is hurting your flock, the answer is yes. although I would personally shoot blanks or rubber bullets to start, and aim for the paw first as a warning shot, and then take more drastic measures if the dog comes back.

Check with your local laws. It may be legal to shoot to kill an animal, but shooting to wound or hurt is animal cruelty and can get you in serious trouble.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

aim for the paw first as a warning shot,

That would be considered animal cruelty in some places, and worse legally than shooting to kill

 

[Seaslug]

If a dog really was like their child, they'd take better care of it to keep it from wandering into other people's yards and into situations out of their control. You don't let toddlers wander out into the world with no supervision and just hope they'll come back. Their dogs are their responsibility and if anything were to happen to them outside, it's on their heads first and foremost because they're the ones who let the dog get out of their supervision/property in the first place, either purposefully or through carelessness.

I had a beloved dog get loose. One time he was able to climb a six foot solid wooden fence. Out of nowhere a tree in our back yard was struck by lightening and it so scared him that he was able to climb a different tree and get out of our fenced in back yard. After that, he was so afraid of storms that he escaped our house again, breaking through a window. I do not consider myself careless. And I would be heartbroken and pissed if someone had decided to shoot him.

And by the way, toddlers actually do wander away from their homes. People are not infallible. Sometimes those wanderings result in horrible tragedies.

In my opinion, isn't it bad enough if you loose a hen? Why double down and kill another animal and make another family go through that pain?

Earlier this year our neighbor's dog killed one of our chickens. They had rescued her from a shelter just a few months earlier. They did not know it was going to happen. They offered to pay to replace the hen, but we had put time and money into her beyond her purchase price. It was not worth it to us to get the money for a day old chick when she was a year old laying hen. It happened. It certainly is not worth it to try to extract a pound of flesh from our neighbors by threatening the life of their beloved pet. If you want compassion for the loss of your chicken try to consider what it would be like for someone to lose their dog. And there may be circumstances that you do not know that are either legitimate and/or situational that should be taken into consideration.

 

[talkinboutchickens]

My viewpoint is that I do not agree with killing a dog if it's attacking my chickens, BUT I will do anything else besides that to get that dog away such as hurling rocks at it and hitting it with a stick and screaming at it. Sounds intense and dramatic but hey, anything other than k*lling a dog. But if it's a dog that is attacking me, that's a different story. If it's any animal that's hurting my chickens, I will not kill it. I will try to prevent the animal from getting to my chickens in the first place....If your coop is already not predator proof, then you are already setting animals up for failure. If it gets to your chickens consider it YOUR fault (and I'm not focusing this to the thread starter, I'm just saying you as in anyone who is reading this .) Maybe you could have prevented it by burying chicken wire or something similar underneath the perimeter of the coop, or maybe if you care about your chickens that much you should even go to the extent of surrounding your yard in electric fencing. Again, not focused to anyone specific, just stating my thoughts and views to everyone.

 

[Squawkers]

If a dog really was like their child, they'd take better care of it to keep it from wandering into other people's yards and into situations out of their control. You don't let toddlers wander out into the world with no supervision and just hope they'll come back. Their dogs are their responsibility and if anything were to happen to them outside, it's on their heads first and foremost because they're the ones who let the dog get out of their supervision/property in the first place, either purposefully or through carelessness. I dislike when people act like they love their pets so much but let them spend hours and hours outside unattended and unpenned with no real idea what they're actually up to or what kind of situations they're facing, with dogs as well but especially with cats.

If a dog came into my yard and attacked my chickens, I would hurt it with the intent to kill in order to protect my flock. And if I ever met the owners, I would chew them out for letting their dog ever get into that situation because I don't want to have to be doing that and they would have made the situation happen in the first place. I love dogs, I have a dog, but I don't think the life of a random dog who is currently attacking my chickens is worth more than my flock's lives.

Well said

 

[BigBlueHen53]

"Dogs more important than chickens?"

More important to whom?

 

[aviatrix85]

My viewpoint is that I do not agree with killing a dog if it's attacking my chickens, BUT I will do anything else besides that to get that dog away such as hurling rocks at it and hitting it with a stick and screaming at it. Sounds intense and dramatic but hey, anything other than k*lling a dog. But if it's a dog that is attacking me, that's a different story. If it's any animal that's hurting my chickens, I will not kill it. I will try to prevent the animal from getting to my chickens in the first place....If your coop is already not predator proof, then you are already setting animals up for failure. If it gets to your chickens consider it YOUR fault (and I'm not focusing this to the thread starter, I'm just saying you as in anyone who is reading this .) Maybe you could have prevented it by burying chicken wire or something similar underneath the perimeter of the coop, or maybe if you care about your chickens that much you should even go to the extent of surrounding your yard in electric fencing. Again, not focused to anyone specific, just stating my thoughts and views to everyone.

I don’t believe there is a predator proof coop. We can do whatever we believe is “proofing” but eventually we will probably lose chickens to a predator. We can try our best though.

Dog owners are a different story IMO. They aren’t a wild animal predator. This is an animal that an ignorant (or careless) owner is allowing to run at large in a neighborhood. It’s a huge liability for the owner to not be in control of their dog.

While we don’t have a leash law in my area, any dog that attacks chickens are classified as vicious animals. The dog owner will FAIL their dog if I warn them, they don’t constrain, and then I kill the dog for repeatedly trespassing onto my property and attacking my chickens.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Dogs are not more important than chickens at all. All animals are equal and deserve to have fair punishment. If a dog is caught taking the life away from a chicken, then its life should be taken away too. It may seem sad but it is true. Humans tend to anthropomorphize their dogs and they go in extreme with that, along with the fact that tons of people in this world falsely believe that chickens do not have emotions and are unable to feel pain. Furthermore, if those people want to tell you that they hope you would not shoot a child, then they need to learn that a dog should not be roaming around freely in the first place, where its life and other lives are at risk.

 

[fowltemptress]

When people's children start wandering onto my property, ripping holes in my coops, tearing my birds limb from limb with their mouths and littering my property with body parts, then I might pay attention to people who say I shouldn't shoot a dog if I wouldn't shoot a child - but I'm not sure the parents would appreciate the conclusion I'd come to under those circumstances. When my dogs escaped, I knew I ran the risk of them getting shot on a neighbor's property, and it would never occur to me to hold that against a neighbor. When I found my dogs (or rather, they decided to come home and were found sitting on my porch as though nothing had happened), I fixed it up so they couldn't escape the same way again. That's on me, just as it's on my neighbors to make sure their animals stay on their property. I'd suspect anyone saying otherwise as having issues with accountability.

 

[JanetRN1]

I have the same problem. I live in a neighborhood of sorts. Each lot is 4-5 acres. I have 4 dogs I have ensured stay in their yard. It’s just responsible pet ownership.
Now I have chickens and I’m not worried about “predators” as much as I am about neighborhood dogs that randomly wander around unchecked.
The first time I find one harassing the chickens will be the warning that goes out. Unless my dogs take care of it first. But I would accept the same consequences for myself.
People have a right to defend their animals and we have an obligation to keep them contained