Roaming Dogs coming in and killing yesterday

[Sue Gremlin]

Do you know someone else who could take care of it, or would dispatching it at all make you feel awful? Live trap might be an option.

My husband would, but I do not support it and would be very unhappy about it. I don't think the dog should pay for his owner's a**holery. It is not ethical, and I want no part of that. I would catch the dog if he will let me, and try to find his person, or would take him to the animal control officer.

 

[Acre4Me]

Just went to check on him, he has passed. I will bury him next to his buddy. I’m so tired of this sadness.

I'm sorry that both your guineas died due to marauding dogs!

 

[pntdhorses]

Thanks everyone for your kind words and support. I am really going to miss their goofy little antics and their guinea alarm calls at literally everything....lol. Doesn’t seem right not having them to call to them to go in their coop every evening which they would dutifully do. I won’t get anymore seems how they need to free range and I can’t guarantee their safety so that makes me doubly sad.

While I’m sad, one of my poor FB friends lost pretty much his whole flock today to a wandering dog. Chickens, ducks and turkeys. He is absolutely gutted. It’s just so sad that we all have to deal with these situations. They take a big toll on us all.

 

[AmyJane725]

Thanks everyone for your kind words and support. I am really going to miss their goofy little antics and their guinea alarm calls at literally everything....lol. Doesn’t seem right not having them to call to them to go in their coop every evening which they would dutifully do. I won’t get anymore seems how they need to free range and I can’t guarantee their safety so that makes me doubly sad.

While I’m sad, one of my poor FB friends lost pretty much his whole flock today to a wandering dog. Chickens, ducks and turkeys. He is absolutely gutted. It’s just so sad that we all have to deal with these situations. They take a big toll on us all.

I'm sorry they're gone and that you won't be getting any more in the future. I just want to say though, that that's a very big/responsible thing of you to do. I'm sure you'd like more, so it takes a lot of caring for animals to put their well-being above your own desires.
Are guineas basically obligate free-rangers? They can't even survive in a big run? (Like several hundred square feet?)

That's awful about your friend/his birds. What a tragedy. Did he find the owner of the dog that did it?

 

[Rooster_Tyranny]

I'm very sorry for your loss, that sucks.

This is just my opinion, so take it whichever way you want. And you're pretty much in the right no matter what, this is just what I would do:

Get to know the story first. Shooting someone's dog is big business, it can lead to a lot of heartache for the owner and a LOT of future trouble for you. There seems to be an idea going around that if you see a dog roaming freely that automatically makes the owner irresponsible and it means they don't care about their animal. I don't think that's the case, I know dogs that are just straight up escape artists, no matter what the owner does to stop them they find a way. What if the dog escapes because their clueless friend left the gate open? What if the dog gets out because they were planning to build a better fence 3 days later? What if this was the first time the dog got out and the owner's haven't even realized it's gone yet? Maybe these are unlikely, but it's still possible.

I wouldn't immediately shoot the first time they attack (depends on what it's doing though, like is it chasing the birds while they free range or is it in the run wiping out everything? If the latter, I would shoot immediately.) unless your birds are priceless to you, like if they're extremely important breeders or if they are your primary source of income or something. But I would try everything to scare it away/apprehend it, I would hurt it if I had to. Then I would try to see if I could to contact the owners, and tell them what happened and see if we can work it out. If they apologize, offer to compensate, and promise to make changes I wouldn't shoot the dog even if I saw it again once or twice, because they're working on it. But if it keeps happening, and it's clear they're not doing anything, after lots of warnings, I'd shoot.

If you couldn't contact the owners whatsoever, or if it really did seem like the owners didn't care. I would also shoot.

But that's just me, and I can be a bit too forgiving sometimes. I'm sorry people are so upset at you, we put dogs on waaay too high a pedestal these days. Best of luck.

 

[AmyJane725]

I'm very sorry for your loss, that sucks.

This is just my opinion, so take it whichever way you want. And you're pretty much in the right no matter what, this is just what I would do:

Get to know the story first. Shooting someone's dog is big business, it can lead to a lot of heartache for the owner and a LOT of future trouble for you. There seems to be an idea going around that if you see a dog roaming freely that automatically makes the owner irresponsible and it means they don't care about their animal. I don't think that's the case, I know dogs that are just straight up escape artists, no matter what the owner does to stop them they find a way. What if the dog escapes because their clueless friend left the gate open? What if the dog gets out because they were planning to build a better fence 3 days later? What if this was the first time the dog got out and the owner's haven't even realized it's gone yet? Maybe these are unlikely, but it's still possible.

I wouldn't immediately shoot the first time they attack (depends on what it's doing though, like is it chasing the birds while they free range or is it in the run wiping out everything? If the latter, I would shoot immediately.) unless your birds are priceless to you, like if they're extremely important breeders or if they are your primary source of income or something. But I would try everything to scare it away/apprehend it. Then I would try to see if I could to contact the owners, and tell them what happened and see if we can work it out. If they apologize, offer to compensate, and promise to make changes I wouldn't shoot the dog even if I saw it again once or twice, because they're working on it. But if it keeps happening, and it's clear they're not doing anything, after lots of warnings, I'd shoot.

If you couldn't contact the owners whatsoever, or if it really did seem like the owners didn't care. I would also shoot.

But that's just me, and I can be a bit too forgiving sometimes. I'm sorry people are so upset at you, we put dogs on waaay to high a pedestal these days. Best of luck.

I do agree with giving people/dogs the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the owner is completely panicked that their dogs are missing and are actively looking for them at the time. Seems a bit odd that they wouldn't have responded at all to the OPs post on the neighborhood app, but maybe they just didn't want a confrontation. I don't know. Doesn't scream overly responsible owner to me to not make any kind of contact at all after the incident. No apology, no confrontation over the threat to their dogs, nada.

Regardless of the situation, even if the owner is "working on it", the fact remains, if they're hurting my birds, they're dead. If they were just chasing/hadn't actually managed to maul/kill one yet I'd definitely try to catch the dog, but if it's already in the middle of an attack it's dead. OP can do what they like, as can you, this is just my opinion. I love dogs. I don't blame you for being "too forgiving", but I basically take the momma bear approach. You touch my babies, you die.

 

[Chelsa'sChicks]

In my state any dog off leash is against the law unless its a farm dog on agricultural land/private property/fenced yard. Dogs are not to roam here either unless they are on these areas and even then your dog must be maintained in "reasonable control" and cant be a savage wild thing. Also I do have the right to shoot anything that interferes with my crops, animals, or livestock to protect them or myself per state law.. I have never shot a dog, but I have shot predators out of season. If I was in your shoes I think my first move would be to find the owners and tell them what happened, they owe me money for my animal/bird, they need to keep their dog on their property and if not then I'm calling animal control and I'll see you in court. I have dogs and we live on a farm and are allowed to run free. NONE of my dogs ever have went off the property or injured my animals, but if they had I would think it would be fair for me to pay for any/all damages caused by my dog. I would be extremely upset to put my dog down and it would depend on the extremity of the situation for me to do that..

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I’m guessing that you are either young and don’t understand the full responsibility of pet ownership or don’t live in and understand a rural setting/lifestyle. Maybe both. Whichever - let me explain it to you as best I can:
Your dog on your property is your beloved pet. No one would dispute that. But the minute your dog leaves your property and enters mine, killing or injuring my livestock it becomes a predator and where I live, I am well within my legal right to kill that predator.

It’s not “just a few chickens” to many people. They may be rare, valuable breeds. They may also be beloved pets. They may be a family’s source of food for the year.

Sure, keeping them in a run protects them somewhat, but there are cases of large, strong dogs tearing into runs and wiping out a flock. A run doesn’t keep a dog from running around it causing the chickens to panic and kills them selves. A dog will kill a whole flock in minutes where many predators will just kill what they can eat.

Now let’s move on to larger livestock. Cows, horses, sheep and goats. Roaming dogs may not kill a full-grown cow or horse, but they can chase them, causing injuries that can result in thousands of dollars in vet fees. They can kill calves, foals, sheep and goats. If I’m planning on selling any stock, your dog may have just cost me a year’s income.

So maybe it’s your dog that needs to be kept in a run for its own safety instead if my chickens who don’t ever leave my property.

Amen, Sister! And most state laws say so. Keep that "beloved pet" at home or face the legal and logical consequences. Not only can said dog be shot dead on the spot, but the owner can be sued for damages, which can run into the thousands, hundreds of thousands of dollars, or more.

Edit: there is no "e" in "dollars," sigh.

 

[pntdhorses]

I am so sad I didn’t get to call my guineas in to go to bed tonight. And make no mistake, they could be little shits to my chickens sometimes. I just miss them... for some reason this has really hit me hard. I guess cuz I know I can’t get anymore because I would be putting their lives at risk. They are not animals that you can keep in a coop. They need to free range for bugs and ticks. The only thing that gives me some comfort is that they had a wonderful 4 years in guinea paradise on our property. I know it’s not the dogs fault and to be honest I couldn’t shoot them. I was just so mad and just wanted to threaten that. Most likely won’t ever find the owner and maybe it was a fluke that day, bad timing, crappy dog owner. I will never know but now I have to be xtra diligent and that just sucks.

 

[pntdhorses]

Amen, Sister! And most state laws say so. Keep that "beloved pet" at home or face the legal and logical consequences. Not only can said dog be shot dead on the spot, but the owner can be sued for damages, which can run into the thousands, hundreds of thousands of dollares, or more.

Yes, that is our State law but I doubt I can ever find the owner. It just sucks period.