I'm with Gritsar on this. In the farming country I'm familiar with, people let their dogs roam so they can defend their gardens, crops, and stock from coyotes, foxes, raccoons, possoms, armadillos, groundhogs, whatever. The dogs can't do that if they are tied up or penned. As long as the dog does its job and causes no harm to neighbors or the owners, everything is great. If the dog starts causing damage, it is "replaced". Granted, some people do a better job and put more effort into training and controlling their dogs than others. And people dropping off unwanted pets in the country to go feral does not help. They usually die a horrible death anyway, either starve to death, get eaten by coyotes or such, or get shot. But sometimes they do manage to live long enough to cause damage.
In farming country, people have the right to protect their crops and livestock. Often, a good part of their livelyhood depends on it. Things are different in suburbia, even if the people have half acre lots, grow one tomato and two pepper plants, and call themselves farmers. In those cases, neighbors are too close for some things, like discharging firearms, and protecting the crops is not as important to feeding your family. Different traditions rule there.
Gritsar, I didn't know you were sick when I posted earlier, although I do believe the gun does you no good unless you know where the ammunition is. So a little bit of an apology here on how I may have phrased things, but I'm sticking by my guns on the responsibility thing.
