Neighborhood Pets killing My Chickens

[centrarchid]

In my experience as a poultry keeper, predators will often come back once they find a food source. While most domestic dogs don't kill for food, they kill for sport. They will most likely return as well. A predator is a predator. Plus, say a mountain lion were to be attacking someone's dog and they had a gun on hand, do you think they would think about running inside and calling the police? No. They would act on impulse to defend the property that they hold dear. While in this case, the dog was not attacking the chickens, the OP's flock had already suffered prior losses. Dogs are smart. All canines are smart. There is no doubt in my mind that if he wouldn't have caught the dog when he did, it would've been much uglier.

Look into particulars of the legal code concerning shooting dogs. In some instances the dog must be in the act of harming or threatening stock. Simply being in a location where prior losses occurred may not be enough evidence / reason in all situations.