I'm sorry the dog was shot, and I hope it recovers. I also hope that it was a lesson learned. If a dog is capable of jumping a 6 foot fence and the owner keeps it in a 6 foot fence, then it's not really contained. Dogs need to be contained on their owner's property. Even if the dog was only gone a short time, it should be considered that the dog may have been a repeat offender. I have a neighbor with Rhodesian Ridgebacks. They swear that the dogs are wonderful loving animals. RR's can easily jump 6 foot fences, but the owners have a 4 1/2 foot fence. The dogs have left their yard more than once. They have have harrassed, threatened, injured and killed other people's pets, mine included. Each time the owners swear that it couldn't have been their dogs because they think they are so sweet. Calling animal control or law enforcement will not stop an attack that is in progress or about to happen. Sometimes immediate action has to be taken. Even nice dogs can make trouble. I have another new neighbor that lets their dog roam. They swear it never leaves their property. They're wrong. I have seen it on other people's property. The lady up the street caught it on her property scaring the chickens in her run. It doesn't take much to kill a chicken. They can fly into the run fencing and break their necks. Of course, the dog owner was in complete denial. Good ol' Fido doesn't have a mean bone in his body. He wouldn't hurt anything. Predator attacks happen quickly, and that includes dog attacks. Sometimes a dog is shot because waiting for animal control is a death sentence for the animal about to be attacked. Sometimes immediate action is the best course. The OP assumes that the dog was in the woods and not in somebody's yard. Without witnessing it, nobody can say for sure. It should also be noted that those woods most likely belong to somebody. Perhaps the owner doesn't appreciate stray dogs chasing the wildlife on his or her property. Perhaps the dog made it just beyond the woods and was in somebody's yard chasing a cat. Perhaps the dog was about to get into a fight with another dog. Just because the dog seems to like other dogs, it can't be assumed that all other dogs will like him and that he shouldn't be kept out of their yards. The sad truth of the matter is that whenever a dog is running unsupervised (even if it's just because he was let out to go potty), the dog owner is potentially putting others in the unfortunate position of having to decide whose pet gets to live or not be injured. Personally, if I have to make a snap decision and decide to shoot my neighbors dog or let it potentially kill or injure one of my animals, I will shoot the dog. If my neighbors' dogs come in my yard ever again, I will shoot them. They are repeat offenders and, if they don't care enough to take measures to contain them every time they let them outside, they must not love the dogs that much. My losses were too great last time. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but that's the reality of it. A dog in it's owner's yard is a pet. A a free ranging dog is a nuisance at best and a predator at worst. I even know of a dog that caused a traffic accident on a country road and people died in the accident.
If anybody thinks that I'm a monster because I would shoot my neighbors' marauding dog, I guess I'll just have to be OK with that.
