I think dogs are the responsibility of their owner and should be kept on their own property. That doesn't mean I think all dogs should be tied up. Our dog runs loose on OUR property. The only time he wanders off is when he follows us onto a neighbors property, our neighbor brings her dogs out to play with him, or there is another dog running loose that he has gone to investigate.
I've never had a problem with a dog killing my livestock, but a loose dog can certainly pose that risk no matter how nice he is to people. That doesn't make him a bad dog and it doesn't always make the owners bad people. Sometimes pets just get loose by mistake. It happens to the best of us! I try to keep the in mind when dealing with loose animals. However, if a dog was posing a threat to myself or family, or continually caused havoc to my farm, I would take more "permanent" and serious actions. Otherwise I would return the dog or run it to the vet (which is sort of like the pound here).
I've never had a problem with a dog killing my livestock, but a loose dog can certainly pose that risk no matter how nice he is to people. That doesn't make him a bad dog and it doesn't always make the owners bad people. Sometimes pets just get loose by mistake. It happens to the best of us! I try to keep the in mind when dealing with loose animals. However, if a dog was posing a threat to myself or family, or continually caused havoc to my farm, I would take more "permanent" and serious actions. Otherwise I would return the dog or run it to the vet (which is sort of like the pound here).
