OMGOMGOMGOMG>>>>>> UPDATE!:

[Bwaaak!]

Amazing. Uncontrolled dogs, and dog owners, need the Dog Whisperer.

Im so sorry for your daughter. That must have been terribly traumatic for her. She truely loved her chickens. She was willing to sacrifice herself by confronting the dog.

 

[Holly O]

Quote:
Sorry to hear this ... although I suspected from the beginning of the post.

These people seem extremely dysfunctional. And the boys are breaking the law. Harassment and possibly Slander.

Looks as though you will need to deal with this legally and not on a personal basis.
Please No contact. Have the police do the talking with them, and informing them of the laws.

Then make your decision on filling charges and retribution and follow through.

My prayers are with you.

 

[ChooksChick]

Judging by the neighbor lady's original response at the time of the incident, I wouldn't try to contact them directly, either. I absolutely agree an authority must be in the middle of communication here. Further, this sets an example to the daughter that situations with bullying, uncivilized people ought to be taken seriously and through the proper channels. I think OP is doing this right.

I do think the OP should have a camera set up to record the drive-by situations at all times, and that a request should be put in to have an officer observe (without a cop car in the driveway, preferably...) the behaviors.

Get the neighbor who witnessed this behavior write down what she saw and heard in front of a notary. Document every last little thing. This is crucial, so that you can evidence everything should this escalate.

I think negligence is clearly the case here, as the neighbors' miniature horses getting chased ought to have been warning enough to the dog owners that their dogs weren't under control and at minimum were torturing other people's pets...it could not have surprised them it became fatal, even though it was a different dog of theirs. They aren't so stupid as to think this situation would be beyond the realm of possibility.

Best of luck in all of this- no one should have to go through this type of loss. I hope it ends soon for your kids' sakes!!

 

[aidenbaby]

Let me tell you, if I found out that my adult kids that lived with me acted in such a manner, they would have the "donkey" whooping of a lifetime. That is just disgraceful. I am appalled that the owners are not offering to compensate at all (even with their dog having been shot). My dog bit and drew blood on a previous daycare kid (I have a home daycare). I suspected that the child had been teasing my dog with his food as the boy had been tormenting my dog all morning (they had only been with me 3 weeks at this point, trial period). HOWEVER, I offered to pay for any medical bills that were accrued due to the injury (they ended up being on medicare or medicaid or something like that so no charges needed to be paid as it turned out) and our contract was immediately terminated. I also went to their house a few days after to check on him and see how he was doing (much better). I did not hold any resentment nor do I about what happened. I can't help but think that if I just hadn't gone to the bathroom at that moment it wouldn't have happened.

 

[mom2chicksandpups]

The dog came into your yard and killed your pets, so I would think you should get compensation. If your chickens had wandered into their yard, this would be a bit different.

I'm glad the mean dog didn't attack your daughter when she hit it and that you were at least able to save some of your chickens.

 

[Iowa Roo Mom]

Quote:
GaNewChick, I respectfully disagree. Given the situation with the initial face-to-face, I wouldn't think it would be SAFE to have another confrontation. I think lickskillet is doing the right thing, with having the CA get involved and act as a mediator. It's best to go through the right channels, as it is apparent that these people cannot handle this situation in an ADULT manner.
These are just my own opinions, and I am not trying to cause a fight or disrespect anyone. I think this thread is important and as long as we are all respectful, it will be allowed to continue.

lickskillet: Please keep us updated and let us know what the CA says. I wish you and your DD the best- and hope her chickens will recover quickly. The wait-and-see approach is never easy for ANY chook lover, especially not when they belong to a big-hearted 13 year old! Best of luck and prayers...

ETA: Please forgive spelling and grammatical errors...

 

[foweler]

In a world where things worked like they should you would have said "I'm so sorry about your dog but my husband feared for my child's safety" and the neighbor would have said "I'm so sorry to have allowed this situation to have happened, I'm sorry about your daughter's chickens and I'm so glad she wasn't hurt. Its terrible that we will both have to deal with our losses."

That would be the end of it. People would recover from the emotional strife and maybe have a BBQ together later in the summer. The monetary value of losing beloved pets is a wash. If everyone acted responsibly in the aftermath nobody would feel like justice or rather punishment needed to be administered and the BS currently going on wouldn't be.

But then its not a perfect world. We domesticate wild animals for our own satisfaction and then are genuinely surprised when they act on their basic instincts. Then we place blame. This is what is happening on both sides of your current situation. I'm sorry you are going through this.

FWIW Your daughter is made of the good stuff. Many people freeze up or run away when extreme situations arise.
I wouldn't scold that quality out of her. We need all of the people like that we can get.

You need to take that girl to the batting cages and teach her to swing a bit harder. If she had rendered that dog unconscious but alive you might not be in quite as bad of a mess.

Once again, I am sorry you are going through this.

 

[amazondoc]

I haven't read every single post, and this has probably been said already, but it bears repeating:

DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT!!

Write down EVERY conversation and EVERY incident, and do it NOW while the details are fresh. Take photos when the sons drive by. I hope you already have photos of the incident site. Make records of EVERYTHING you do. Do NOT talk to the family on the phone, or in any other way that does not leave a PAPER TRAIL. If you want to tell them something, SEND A REGISTERED LETTER -- and keep a copy!

You want firm evidence of EVERYTHING. No hearsay, no he-said-she-said. Protect yourself!

 

[highcountrychickens]

Quote:
Thanks for clarifying. I can't blame you for not wanting a face to face, again, thats where we differ (and not saying you are wrong or saying that you are a doormat). I would try and catch them outside or knock on their door. People can hide behind words, but it shows the character of people when questioned face to face. I would then document my conversation to the parents and sons (if they are there) about their sons behaviour, if it continued then I would send them and the boys a certified return receipt letter from me, and if it didn't stop, I would go through the proper channels through the courts. But thats just me, that is how I would handle it.

These kids might back down when confronted. They are just trying to intimidate you using punkish tactics.

GANewChick, you have been such a calm voice of reason through this whole thing, and boy is that a gift when so many of the rest of us are jumping to the top of the woodpile to howl and pontificate to loose our outrage on behalf of Lickskillet and her family...(I blush as I write this) this time, while I do see that you are working through steps to a better long term end, I have to respectfully disagree with your advice about this approach of knocking on the neighbor's door to further conversation without the support of an official third party. Given the behavior that family has actually demonstrated already, is very similar to stepping up to a powder keg wearing a blowtorch. Again, demonstrably, they are unreasonable, and can't saddle their emotion, so the use of service from a police officer, CA, or other professional, unrelated mediator is really a much, much safer way to go about diffusing the situation before it spins out of sense and control. There is so much power in graceful triangulation - it isn't passive aggressive, it's sensible and safe. Police and officials would much rather deal with things this way, than after something else terrible happens, or after unnecessarily continued heartache on the part of Lickskillet and her family .

 

[Polish Chickens]

I would just call the police and tell them what they're causing is a problem