Had to shoot a dog - WARNING, GRAPHIC CONTENT!

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Kalenth

Hatching
7 Years
May 5, 2012
7
0
9
Granbury, Texas
My Coop
My Coop
First, a hypothetical. If you want to skip to the meat of the matter, scroll down to the **********.

Neighbor A and Neighbor B have known each other a long time. A has a teenager that has been vandalizing B's property. B goes to A and ask that the teenager not be allowed on the property, but A says it's not their place to control the kid. B says if A's kid vandalizes property again, they will call the cops. Later, A's kid goes to B's property, and breaks out a window, B calls the cops and A is furious that B would act this way, seeing it as a personal act against A. Is this strange behavior?



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Well, it's a sad day for us all, and also innevitable. First let me say that, this is a touchy subject. I'm sure it will offend many a reader and I apologize in advance. I'm writing this to get it off my chest, and to put the issue out so I can stop internalizing it. I'm an animal lover. I've got a dog, chicks, I'd raise a lot more if the wife would let me. I have no issues with anyone's animals, I just ask that people be neighborly to one another... so on with the show.

My brother and I have been close for years. So close that I bought a house 400 feet from his weekend home on the lake. My wife and I moved in, cleaned up, and bought a small flock to use for egg production on our 3 acres. Being a first time chicken owner, protection and safety of my chicks has been a learning experience.

Since I'm here full time, and my brother (and his dog) only come on the weekends, I thought nothing of putting my chickens in a run after they were about two months old. My brother's dog Lacey, being a bird dog, does what comes naturally; comes down to my property and wreaks havok. For a while it was dumping over my trash and dragging it around my lawn, and ended up with her jumping into the run and eating a dozen chickens.

So I bought lockable trashcans. I built a sturdier coop. I gently brought it up to big bro that his dog ate my chickens and dumped trash, and he said nothing. No apology, no locking the dog up on weekends, nothing.

Second flock. 12 more chickens and a much improved coop. During the weekend, I keep them in the coop, hopefully safe from would-be predators. Wrong. Lacey tore into the coop (no easy feat) and managed to destroy five more chickens. At this, I went to my brother and asked for help finding a solution. Locking up the dog, helping me with the coop, or buying new chickens.

I got the typical big bro answer of "don't shoot my dog or else." the "or else" was literally a threat to shoot me. Ok, overreaction... he's big bro and doesn't want to deal with little bro, I get it. He see's this as my problem having chickens, not his problem having a hunting dog run free in a residential area.

Here's where the drama heats up. We're in an HOA. No chickens allowed in the HOA. I'm a rebel. A chicken con. Getting rid of the chicks is an option, but its going to take some time. In the meanwhile, they are here and they are my responsibility. Fast forward another two weekends. Seeing a flurry of feathers outside the house, I go to the front door to see a dog, attacking my chickens. The next moment is pure instinct for this military man. I grab a .22, and shoot at the dog while it runs off, hearing a whimper and assuming I've shot it.

After the incident and another two dead fowl, I call the sheriff and report the incident. I'm outside of city limits, so using a gun isn't an issue here. The sheriff said even having chickens that I'm not supposed to have, I'm in the right protecting my land. Obviously though, that's not an argument I can win with my brother.

Now the details are sketchy, but I've gathered that I shot the dog somewhere that affected it's ability to walk. Surgery was involved. Now we've reached out to the family to say we need to get past this incident, but they seem to think I'm some kind of dog sadist with a vendetta against Lacey. I don't care who's animal it is, I'm just trying to protect my home. Now, being that it's my brothers dog, everything has been complicated 10 fold. Any other dog would have been shot the first time they came on the property and destroyed something. No warning, no debate, just dead dog. I tried to do the neighborly (and brotherly) thing and start a dialog to handle the issue, but with no 2 way debate... that's impossible.

I wish there could have been another solution. I wish my brother would have followed the leash laws and had his dog penned. I wish he could understand that I have a right to protect my property, and I wish that we could put this behind us but I just don't see it happening. It's an unfortunate event that was caused by us both. Him not following a leash law, and me having chicks against HOA policy. But if it's not the chicks, it's the trash, or a car, or a kid... at what point do we have to let family get away with murder, or set a line in the sand and stand firm?
 
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Wow. That's some story. I'm sorry for all that you are going through. It is sad that your brother has no regard for your chickens. What if you owned, say a bear and it killed his dog? Hypothetical, of course, but how would he feel if something happened to his dog? Can you put up a privacy fence?
 
im guessing A is you B is your brother and KidB is his Dog

in that case you where right but......


you should not have shot the dog

i hate dogs myslef but wouldnt kill an animal just like i wouldnt shoot at a buglar in my property

infact in UK there was thge scandal of the old farmer who shot a burglar and was jailed for life because he staked the burglar out in his own home and shot him dead [buglar was stupid to actually come back]

you mention brother makes is harder 10 nfold im confused as to 2 things

one if your so close to your brother you movce up the road then why some much indifference

ans also its your bother can he not come to a solution

i find neighbours can be real hard to come to an agreement with but my brother easy i ask and we come to an agreement [were brothers after all]



this is a complicated one
 
Burglars are irrelevant to this. This is not a human being, this is a dog killing livestock. What are the laws in your area regarding that? Most places support killing a dog who is harassing livestock or poultry.


Family makes no difference to me in anything. I personally make no special concession for family. Sounds like the brother sure didn't care about family.
hmm.png
I'm sorry for your situation. It's bad enough when it's a neighbor, but with a family member, the other family members will certainly take sides in it.
 
You had to do what you thought it was best to do after you warned your brother or informed your brother of your intent of shooting the dog after it goes after your chickens.

Having chickens in HOA has nothing to do with this setting nor should be counted against you. What if you have pet rabbits and the dog got in a killed it? Same principle. You protect what is yours, your livehood. If it has something to do with HOA, that is YOUR problem and HOA problem, NOT your brother's problem. That would be a different agenda here and not all HOA are created equal.

Brother didn't care about his dog, simply put. He was neglectful about supervising his dog or if the dog repeatly gets out, it is his responsibility to take care of the dog and make sure its secure and so forth.

Who is at fault? The brother that has the dog. No ifs, ands or buts about it.

If possible, put electric wires around the run to keep the dogs away from the chickens.
 
You had to do what you thought it was best to do after you warned your brother or informed your brother of your intent of shooting the dog after it goes after your chickens.

Having chickens in HOA has nothing to do with this setting nor should be counted against you. What if you have pet rabbits and the dog got in a killed it? Same principle. You protect what is yours, your livehood. If it has something to do with HOA, that is YOUR problem and HOA problem, NOT your brother's problem. That would be a different agenda here and not all HOA are created equal.

Brother didn't care about his dog, simply put. He was neglectful about supervising his dog or if the dog repeatly gets out, it is his responsibility to take care of the dog and make sure its secure and so forth.

Who is at fault? The brother that has the dog. No ifs, ands or buts about it.

If possible, put electric wires around the run to keep the dogs away from the chickens.
Agree 100%!! I see you are in Texas, as am I. You have done nothing legally or morally (IMO) wrong. You have a duty as well the right to protect your livestock, HOA rules not withstanding. HOA rules do not have the force of law. They are a civil contract.

http://www.animallaw.info/statutes/stustxhealth_s_822_013.htm

Your brother does, under Texas law owe you for the cost of your birds. (See Sec. (c) in the above statute.)
 
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Tell your brother if he really loved and cared for the dog he would make sure she was protected from outside dangers. Outside dangers include cars, other dogs and people with guns. Since he sees no need to protect his dog you figure he doesn't care much about it. You care about your chickens so the dog had to go.

I would have done exactly the same thing as you. It's just worse because it's family and you HAVE to deal with them.
 
Is the dog aggressive towards you or your family? If not, why didn't you just catch the dog and leash it. Then tell your brother the next time you find the dog on your property it is going to the local shelter end of story.
 
I would have done the same thing. I would go a step further and make your brother pay for the lost birds. (My family knows I'm a hard woman, so they wouldn't try me anyways. If I say I am going to do something, I do it.)

Sorry for your losses- both the birds and the prior relationship.

Good luck.
 
Is the dog aggressive towards you or your family? If not, why didn't you just catch the dog and leash it. Then tell your brother the next time you find the dog on your property it is going to the local shelter end of story. 
you obviously missed the part in the story where the multiple warning had already occured....



Personally I am a dog lover and would not be able to pull the trigger myself but I am completely on your side and feel you did nothing weong in protecting your livestock

Big brother owes you some birds...
 
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