Not sure I have advice other than what you've already gotten, but I'm very sorry for you & your family.
Please help! Seeking every legal avenue for vengeance after a slaughter (TX).
- Thread starter Imbri
- Start date
HawaiiCoyote
Poultry Thief
Last edited:
You aren't going to become rich by trying to sue the neighbor.
Unfortunately, animal control is not going to take their dogs just because they killed one time either.
Keep your birds and your cats locked up and for the love of money go talk to your neighbor.
Unfortunately, animal control is not going to take their dogs just because they killed one time either.
Keep your birds and your cats locked up and for the love of money go talk to your neighbor.
https://www.vernontx.gov/faq.aspx?TID=32
Call each time the dogs are loose.
Make sure your cats have rabies tags too.
Call each time the dogs are loose.
Make sure your cats have rabies tags too.
Porpoise Hork
Chirping
Get or borrow some animal traps. If/when and you're lucky to trap them, haul them off to the pound.
I used to have a real problem with neighborhood cats using the gardens as litter boxes and going after my bantams. Luckily my naked neck pullet is a guard chicken and will attack a cat on sight so that helps.
Traps work.. I don't have any issues now.
I used to have a real problem with neighborhood cats using the gardens as litter boxes and going after my bantams. Luckily my naked neck pullet is a guard chicken and will attack a cat on sight so that helps.
Traps work.. I don't have any issues now.
Matilda Belle
Crowing
As someone who works in the legal industry, I can say that you may actually have a case. If someone's dogs are on your property and kill your chickens, they should be held responsible. If you have surveillance of the incident, even better (preserve and document whatever you can). I would recommend contacting a civil or small claims attorney nearby to see what your options are. I'm sorry for your loss.
I am not an attorney and this does not constitute legal advice.
I am not an attorney and this does not constitute legal advice.
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Aapomp831
Crowing
Next time they come back, SHOOT THEM. You’re within your rights to protect what’s yours.
No, no it is not. What if the dogs kill a toddler? Blaming the victim is not the way to go here. The dog owners are 100% responsible for the actions of their dogs.
- Thread starter
- #29
Wow! Lots of discussion while I was busy with life. I appreciate all the input and opinions. I realize I am partially to blame for not doing more to protect my flock...but that does not excuse my neighbors' inaction.
I also realize that I used emotional words like "murder" and "slaughter" here... I did so because I was venting to fellow poultry lovers. I *do* understand that, when dealing with animal control cops and courts, emotional language should be avoided and want to stick to the facts and to objective descriptions.
In retrospect, I did a very poor job of conveying what I actually want/expect from a civil suit. To clarify, I want to be a pain in the butt. My MIL told me that you don't need an attorney for small claims court... So I'm looking to be a nuisance by making these people a) have to show up in court and b) have to attempt to justify their behavior in hopes that having to do so will encourage them to think about how their actions (or inactions) affect others.
The mother dog has been back every morning with her puppies, presumably looking for my hens. These dogs have a history of digging under people's fences to get into their yards. I have no idea how to defend against that on a budget of pretty much nothing. I'm scared to put my girls in their coop, given how easy it is to dig in our sinkhole of a yard... But I can only have them in my living room/kitchen for so long.
My biggest concern is that if animal control takes these dogs and administers a slap-on-the-wrist type fine, the owners will turn around and get new dogs.
Where I live, it is legal for me or anyone acting on my behalf to kill the two dogs that have been seen attacking my livestock anytime that they return to this property.
In theory, I consider this a fair and effective solution. After all, a bullet to the brain would be a far more humane end then the one those dogs infected on my babies. Unfortunately, I will NEVER allow a gun in my home for any reason because my husband is schizophrenic and I know a bad idea when I see one.
I also don't think I have it in me to pull the trigger on a dog, even if logic tells me to. I have humanely dispatched an animal before, but that was a baby dove whose mother partially broke its neck after her mate died of natural causes. The baby was hopelessly injured but very much alive. I was faced with the choice of humanely and quickly ending the baby's life or letting it die a slow, prolonged death, most likely of dehydration... so I did what needs to be done and then went inside and told my husband. It happened six years ago and still haunts me. That's very different from taking a predator out, though.
I guess I wish I had a gun-lovin' friend, lol. Animal control is on my last nerve. They came out today without bothering to tell us that they would be here or even that they had arrived, then claimed that they couldn't find the house that the murderous dogs belonged to even though I sent them an exceptional photograph of the house, showing the mother and pups and their "igloo" in the yard, complete with house number. Apparently they talked to some of our other neighbors who told them that a) "those dogs" belong to us (yeah, 'cause I'm going to call animal control on myself) and b) that they thought a single man lived here (when it's two females and a male who virtually never leaves our home unless I'm beside him).
Basically, it's a clusterf*ck. Animal control said they would come back tomorrow and we're guessing it'll be around 10:00 a.m. again, so I'm going to try to drag my butt out of bed at that hour despite getting off work at 11: 30 pm and not having gone to sleep yet.
I also realize that I used emotional words like "murder" and "slaughter" here... I did so because I was venting to fellow poultry lovers. I *do* understand that, when dealing with animal control cops and courts, emotional language should be avoided and want to stick to the facts and to objective descriptions.
In retrospect, I did a very poor job of conveying what I actually want/expect from a civil suit. To clarify, I want to be a pain in the butt. My MIL told me that you don't need an attorney for small claims court... So I'm looking to be a nuisance by making these people a) have to show up in court and b) have to attempt to justify their behavior in hopes that having to do so will encourage them to think about how their actions (or inactions) affect others.
The mother dog has been back every morning with her puppies, presumably looking for my hens. These dogs have a history of digging under people's fences to get into their yards. I have no idea how to defend against that on a budget of pretty much nothing. I'm scared to put my girls in their coop, given how easy it is to dig in our sinkhole of a yard... But I can only have them in my living room/kitchen for so long.
My biggest concern is that if animal control takes these dogs and administers a slap-on-the-wrist type fine, the owners will turn around and get new dogs.
Where I live, it is legal for me or anyone acting on my behalf to kill the two dogs that have been seen attacking my livestock anytime that they return to this property.
In theory, I consider this a fair and effective solution. After all, a bullet to the brain would be a far more humane end then the one those dogs infected on my babies. Unfortunately, I will NEVER allow a gun in my home for any reason because my husband is schizophrenic and I know a bad idea when I see one.
I also don't think I have it in me to pull the trigger on a dog, even if logic tells me to. I have humanely dispatched an animal before, but that was a baby dove whose mother partially broke its neck after her mate died of natural causes. The baby was hopelessly injured but very much alive. I was faced with the choice of humanely and quickly ending the baby's life or letting it die a slow, prolonged death, most likely of dehydration... so I did what needs to be done and then went inside and told my husband. It happened six years ago and still haunts me. That's very different from taking a predator out, though.
I guess I wish I had a gun-lovin' friend, lol. Animal control is on my last nerve. They came out today without bothering to tell us that they would be here or even that they had arrived, then claimed that they couldn't find the house that the murderous dogs belonged to even though I sent them an exceptional photograph of the house, showing the mother and pups and their "igloo" in the yard, complete with house number. Apparently they talked to some of our other neighbors who told them that a) "those dogs" belong to us (yeah, 'cause I'm going to call animal control on myself) and b) that they thought a single man lived here (when it's two females and a male who virtually never leaves our home unless I'm beside him).
Basically, it's a clusterf*ck. Animal control said they would come back tomorrow and we're guessing it'll be around 10:00 a.m. again, so I'm going to try to drag my butt out of bed at that hour despite getting off work at 11: 30 pm and not having gone to sleep yet.
Your decision to not have firearms sounds like a wise one. What if you got a BB gun or pellet gun instead? A couple hard stings to the butt might be enough to make the dogs stay away.
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