Neighbors black lab, killed my favorite chicken, options/?!

[mamabahre]

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In all honesty when I first joined up here, I was kinda horrified at how many people were like just SSS the dog or whatever. Some of the more extreme responses still irk me but after the neighbor's dog took one of our hens I can confidently say I would kill that dog in a heart beat (for other reason as well)...
I love dogs, I love all animals really. I was the little girl rescuing worms that were drying up on the sidewalks on summer days. I have great respect for life but what I learned about myself after the dog killed our chicken was that if that dog had been within my grasp I would have beat the ever loving BLEEP out of it or just shot it dead at my feet. I was literally seeing red. DH says he has never seen me so angry and DH has been the recipient of a few epic freakouts...Something about that sight (and mind you I was only dealing with 1 dead bird, imagine an entire flock if you can) just sent my brain into DESTROY mode...
The owners didn't care and I know it's not the dog's fault but guess what the dog is gonna pay the price and it sucks for the dog but it has terrible owners. I can't shoot the dog where I live but if I could I would ABSOLUTELY shoot that dog the minute it stepped foot on our property. I would try to make it a clean kill cause I would feel awful about it suffering but yes I could and WOULD absolutely kill that dog...
I think part of the reason I would shoot a dog is that the neighbors really don't care. They just don't and the only way they are gonna learn a very very valuable lesson is having their poor dog get killed. I don't think I'd hide it either, I want them to understand very clearly how I feel about the situation and what I expect out of a neighbor who owns a dog...

Unfortunately animals have long paid the price for having bad owners. It's not anything new.

Things change when you have a loss (big or small apparently, since it was "small" in my case)...They really just change, it's hard to describe. It's like a light bulb switched in my head and I went "ohhh now I get why people say what they say here (well most of it)"

 

[spiritdance]

Funniest response to a nuisance dog I ever heard of was very creative as well. In the "old days," when someone wanted to break a dog from killing chickens, they would tie a "victim" around the dog's neck and let it rot off. I'm sure you can imagine the mess and smell! Well, a friend of my DH's had a neighbor's dog constantly harassing his chickens, digging around the pen, barking at them, just generally making it known that if given the chance, it would kill them all. Every time DHs friend would go outside, the dog would bolt for home and run in a doggie door the owners had (but no fence, mind you ... just a door to the outside and other people's property, etc.). These owners, too, would insist that their dog was "home" and couldn't possibly be the same dog causing the trouble. So this friend trapped the dog, tied a chicken from the grocery store around its neck, hid it in an outbuilding, and fed and watered it for several days. Once the stench was really potent, he opened the door and let the dog run home. He never heard anything from the owners (though he fully expected to and had a "bill" for the chicken and the dog's "boarding" ready for them), but he also never had any visits from the dog again! Can you imagine what went through the owners' minds when that dog came bolting through the doggie door? If there's any justice in the world, he ran straight to one of them and jumped in his/her lap!

 

[Annie84]

I live in an area where I have found and caught dogs that have been abandoned, and I have also found and caught dogs that their owners did not properly confine. If a person is too incompetent to properly confine their dog, then it is their own fault as to what happens to it. If I can't catch a stray dog to take up to the shelter, or it is acting aggressive towards me or my animals or family, than SSS will be practiced here. I also know darn well, if that stray dog wanders into one of my dogs' chainspots while they are out there, than that dog probably won't be going anywhere. If I'm going out to take care of a stray dog, I don't know if it was abandoned or just had an owner that can't properly confine it, and I'm going to deal with it. I don't want strays on my property. I don't know if they're vaccinated, or what diseases they may be carrying on over to my dogs and other animals. IMO if a person can't properly care for their property, then somethings bound to happen, anyway.....

 

[Rammy]

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[Sonoran Silkies]

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Please read the rules for this forum!

A dog roaming the neighborhood preying on domestic animals or livestock is a predator. It is one thing if it is a well-known dog that VERY RARELY manages to get past its owners deliberate efforts to keep it on their premises; it is something else when the owners are irresponsible and let it wander of property without strong efforts to contain it.

Many people care far more for their chickens than for any dog. And that is their right to do so.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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I will play devils advocate and say that it could be another dog that looks similar. Two black labs look very similar, especially when one if seen only at a distance as it will not allow the OP to get close. We have several black and golden labs in my neighborhood that periodically get loose. And without looking up close or at the collar/tags, I can't tell them apart. Other than my next door neighbor's who will only leave their yard if they see a person very nearby, and then they are as likely to bring a ball and drop it at your feet for you to throw for them. Several of the others are less friendly.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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This very definitely depends on where you live. In most cities/towns, discharging a firearm is illegal except under very specific circumstances. In most states, shooting toward an occupied residence (sometimes building) is illegal. But in the country, it is generally legal to shoot any predator, including domestic (as compared with feral) dogs/cats attacking ones flock, ones pets, any humans. In some states, the animal must be in the act of attacking the animals; in others, it merely has to have attacked them or threatened them. As this forum's rules state: it is up to the individual to determine the means that are legal where they live.

 

[tec27]

We aren't allowed to shoot anything unless it's physically in our house. I called about a burglar and even if he/she is on your porch and if you shoot him you are liable for murder or some nonsense. So they definitely won't allow us to shoot a dog in our yard.

 

[baldessariclan]

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Big differences between discharging a gun in a sparsely populated rural area vs. a crowded city area. Even more so for shooting a person vs. shooting an animal.

If you (or another innocent person) is in a position where you legitimately believe your life is in immediate danger, you are usually justified in the use of deadly force to defend yourself. Not so if a burglar is running away with your TV or some similar circumstance -- your life is obviously not in danger in this case, and if you live in a crowded area, you risk injuring/killing innocent bystanders as well.

Dogs, although they can certainly be loving and wonderful creatures, are ultimately still animals and not people. Thus some areas/laws will allow you to use deadly force to stop dogs if they are destroying your livestock/property. But like you said, if you live in a city, this probably isn't an option, due primarily to danger to bystanders once again.

 

[Two Creeks Farm]

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I do believe PA has adopted the Castle Doctrine, you do not have to wait until a person is in your home. here, inside our property boundary is good enough.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/04/pennsylvania_castle_doctrine_o.html