Had to shoot a dog - WARNING, GRAPHIC CONTENT!

[TinTennessee]

the only mistake you made was not killing the dog when you shot it. your brother needs to man up and apologize for allowing his dog to terrorize the neighborhood.

 

[CariLynn]

I applaud you for taking a stand and protecting your chickens! I personally would of done the same thing! You were too kind and when it comes to family, there is a reason my family lives on the east coast and the rest all live on the west coast...you know?! Family takes advantage of us and if we let them continue to get away with it, as you see, they continue and don't think we will do what needs to be done, so please, cut yourself some slack.

Thank goodness I live in VA where livestock comes first over roaming, obnoxious, dogs!

 

[nzpouter]

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?

Stand your ground.... family MUST be made to understand your property, your rule.

 

[sumi]

the only mistake you made was not killing the dog when you shot it. your brother needs to man up and apologize for allowing his dog to terrorize the neighborhood.

x2
Totally agree! You warned him, you asked him to keep his dog under control, you told him about the damage and losses. What did he do? Nothing! What are you feeling bad about?
If a dog comes here and attacks my chickens twice I'll shoot it. I don't care who's dog it is. I won't wait for the 3rd time.
You say it's your brother and and, but it goes both ways. It didn't seem to bother him that his dog was causing his brother harm... think about it.

 

[lynn1961]

While I enjoyed the analogy comparing a teenaged boy and a dog, it is comparing apples and oranges. 1. It is illegal, even in Texas, to shoot teenaged boys for vandalism, and 2. Even a teenaged boy is marginally smarter than a dog. You can comunicate with them better.

When big brother showed you the first time that he did not respect your property, the second episode of the dog would have been it;s last.

I have no problem with taking out a livestock predator on my property, but you forgot the third S in SSS. The dog would have been buried or carried off to some lucky buzzard, and when big bro came looking for his free range predator, I haven't seen it for awhile. "Did you check along the road?" Because once that dog left his sight, there's no telling what happened to it, as LONG as YOU don't TELL.

Now, once you both get over this, maybe your brother will think enough of you to keep his next dog home. Otherwise, it would disappear too.

I have no patience with people who let their livestock killers run, even after being warned. They always want to portray YOU as being the bad guy, for shooting Rover, instead of manning up and being responsible for their dog. So, now that this big ugly mess is out there, maybe it will show big bro that he needs to respect you and your property. I doubt that he is listening, though. I REALLY doubt that you will see any money for the damages the dog wrought.

Another (kinder gentler) way I've used in the past is to carry the &^*%$#@! dog to the pound. It will cost big bro a fine to get his dog back. This generally doesn't fix the problem though, so now it;s the three SSS rule.

X 2 on this post, you were in the right, big bro was in the wrong.

 

[lynn1961]

Roaming dogs are a problem everywhere, used to have the same problem with a neighbors dog. 1st time it dug under my 5 foot fence and killed 2 chickens, filled in the holes and put concrete blocks on top of the freshly dug dirt, told neighbor to keep their dog off my property, neighbor said was not their dog, dog had lived at their house for a year, had 2 litters of pups and they were feeding her, 2nd time saw it leaving out of the hole it had tore in the fence, ( fence repaired ) dog was a pit mix, tore up a turkey hen and killed another chicken, spoke to neighbor again, still not their dog they said, ok...., so neighbor was told, " then you won't be mad or upset when I shoot it, when it comes back over and gets in my chicken yard" neighbor said nope, dog was tied up for about two weeks after that. 3rd time come home to find same dog eating chicken, dog is no longer around, electric fencing put up around bottom and top of foot fence that surrounds the chicken yard, cost about $200.00 plus the worth of the birds, no more dog problem, either from sss, or electric fencing. Live in a rural area, no animal control, no city ordinances, lots of livestock in the area. The turkey hen did live, took 3 weeks of cleaning and dressing her wounds, antibiotics, wound dressing supplies, etc. Your brother was in the wrong for not containing the dog after the 1st incident, how would he have felt if it had been a child or elderly person that the dog attacted ? Would have cost him a lot more than the vet bill for the dogs surgery. Great to have bird dogs, they are made for hunting, should be hunting with their owner though, not allowed to raom willy nilly wreaking havoc, if you were not related, would you have expected him to make it right after the 1st time ? If your chickens went over to his property and killed his dog would he have been upset ? Would he have shot the chickens ? Same difference.

 

[theoldchick]

You had to shoot your brother's dog? Heart wrenching story. But, hey, you spoke to your brother, and he knew the dog was a problem. Some people think their dog has the right to be a dog and roam, hunt, procreate as nature intended. Throughout my career I've dealt with people who think this way. The poor dog is shot, run over, killed. And immediately these people get another dog and the cycle starts all over.

Long ago, I had to shoot my brother-in-law's Plott hound. Bred and trained to hunt for bear, this massive dog learned how to get out of it's pen and cause general mayhem. I caught the dog trying to get one of my roosters, General French Fry, who was a retired gamecock. The rooster was actually getting in some good licks on the Plott hound, so the hound turned on me when I came out of the house armed with a .22. This dog already had a history of being human-aggressive, so I wasted no time squeezing the trigger.

Brother-in-law didn't speak to me until his other Plott hound attacked his 4 year old daughter who will carry the scars for the rest of her life. General French Fry, on the other hand, recovered to live for several more years.

We all have the right to protect what is ours.

 

[urban escapee]

you were right to shoot the dog, your only mistake was not killing it and burying it.

 

[DanIndiana]

Come on. Not to be critical, but obviously you and your brother need to work out your issues and everything would be solved. How did you end up so close to him if you guys have such big problems. Sounds like you better fix it, or move, or it's gonna get worse.

 

[OldGuy43]

Come on. Not to be critical, but obviously you and your brother need to work out your issues and everything would be solved. How did you end up so close to him if you guys have such big problems. Sounds like you better fix it, or move, or it's gonna get worse.

Often easier said than done. I don't believe the OP was asking for relationship advice.