Predators and the Moral Dilemma

[Ole rooster]

So many of these post mirror my feelings. We livestock owners are put in the predicament of having to remove someone else's animal, regardless of our feeling about to eliminate his pet. And I use the words "his pet" very loosely. I do not know anyone that just enjoys killing. It is wrong and we should not have to bear the mental burden of having to kill because of a idiot owner in order of protect our animals. Why are the present laws not worded in such a way that before you can own a dog you have to show you are capable of caring for and having him controled without a chain. It's so sad and puts the burden on us.

OG, you have a kindred spirit here.

 

[Gargoyle]

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We don't even require any skill or competency or caring to become a parent, so we certainly can't expect our gov't to be to pass a law requiring skill or competency or caring to have a pet.

 

[dacjohns]

OldGuy,

First of all, thank you for your service.

Second, It's tough to kill an animal even if it is going after your livestock, pets, or a human being. If you are within the law then you aren't wrong. I've had to kill a dog or myself that was going after my stock. I didn't like it then and I still don't like it. I don't like culling but it is something I feel that needs to be done.

Third, what does your neighbor speaking accented English and Spanish have to do with anything?

 

[OldGuy43]

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Descriptive?

 

[Gypsi]

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Those kind of bulls can be serious predators. did you shoot it? Note that pellet guns aren't very effective on bulls.

No, but you won't believe what else happened. I really hate progress. I hunted on that land for along time. Well, when I left my only out was to move out to our family farm which has been in the family for 60 years. I'm an outdoors person. Well, here I am at the farm no neighbors peace & quiet life is great. Three months after moving to the farm I am woken up by more bulldozers. Yup, their putting a fricking neighborhood right next to my farm. I'm livid I can't believe some idiot is ruining the once most beautiful land in the world to build a neighborhood. I have no idea what I'm gonna do I'm not getting any younger & I can't keep moving & rebuilding .

I'm where I'm at because the great recession stopped the bulldozers for now. Trouble with development is, it takes water. Which we are running out of. That may slow them down too. I hope to earn enough money to buy the land hereabouts and block any further development. Not holding my breath on that. I may be limited to my 1/3 acre for life. We have endangered birds and all kinds of critters here mainly because the drainage is poor. My house is in 500 year flood plain, the rest of the area floods a bit more often than that.

 

[WILDaboutCHICKENS]

I totally agree with your philosophy... maybe it's cause we are both Texans

We used to live on a game farm in South Africa, and we had a small endangered antelope on the property (naturally occurring) called an "Oribi"... about 7 of the things. We started finding a neighboring rancher's two PET dogs on the farm hunting. We gave them the courtesy of a warning, telling them it is against the law for dogs to be running loose, and that we were concerned for the endangered species on our place, which are highly susceptible to dogs (like chickens!).

Well, it wasn't a few days later the dogs were back, and my husband shot them both. It is HORRIBLE because you know it's not the dog's fault, however if you have at least given a warning and the owner does nothing, no fence goes up, nothing, well what choice do you have?? Taking them to the shelter just means they'll get brought back home again. The owners will either take you seriously the first time because they really care for their pets too, or they just don't care enough and you have to protect what's yours.

Still an awful thing to do... I'm glad my hubby can do it without blinking an eye, although if I had no choice I think I would be able to also... I would just have trouble sleeping that night

 

[slim1986]

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Do the SSS. I admitted to a neighbor that it was I who shot one of his dogs when the whole pack of 6 was killing my flock (the rest ran off) and he called the sheriff and came out to my property with the sheriff and a big swagger to correct the incident. The sheriff looked at the evidence, confirmed the dog was on my property, and then turned to the neighbor and told him he was responsible for the livestock value. The neighbor's swagger visibly deflated and he slunk off back to his cityslicker fantasy life.
That cityslicker idiot still allowed his dogs to pack up and roam the countryside, I and other livestock owners gradually eliminated them with the SSS method even as he bought more to replace his lost pets. He eventually moved away due to overextended finances and foreclosure.
This happened years ago and the cityslicker dog pack problem recurs on an annual basis.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/36435_sunp0035.jpg

What is "the sss?" And, I personally believe that all animals have the right to life, the right to live a long happy life! There are exceptions to that rule, like when their rights to live happy lives infringe on my rights as a human to protect myself and my family and when it infringes on the rights of my livestock to live long happy lives! The 2nd exception naturally is modern rifle season! lol! (We eat what we hunt, its not just for sport!) So oldguy43, I'd say you are totally in the right when it comes to protecting your birds! We have dealt with several coons possums and skunks protecting our flocks. One time when I was young, we came home from vacation, I went to check on my 4H project (30 white leghorn hens) when me and my dad opened the chicken house door there on the floor were 13 dead hens (dead, not eaten) and 2 monster Rotts, one of them took off running at us so we slamed the door shut and hauled butt to the house and got my dads gun. Idk where they came from we lived out in the middle of nowhere and we knew the neighbors dogs, but we "dealt" with them all the same.

 

[OldGuy43]

Shoot! Shovel! Shutup! SSS.

 

[Ole rooster]

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Generally speaking to the last part of your post, it tells a good bit on the attitude to expect in regards to the animal control part. Whether you care to believe it or not it does make a difference. I hope you're not to sensitive to it. It would of been the same if he had said, 'he walked off mubbling in his redneck drawl'. Which would have been correct in my case. Why not just read the post and let it slide, or can you.

 

[schumanw]

I fear I am turning into an old guy too. I am already asking "What Happened!"

Are you a meanie if you shoot your own dog, as society also frowns on suicide. I am spending tons of time building a fence around the area where my chicken coop is located. My dog sits all day long and contemplates how to break through the fence, jump the fence, or dig under the fence. I'm not a very good fence builder, but I will get it, eventually. I will save my dog, and myself.