So mad I could spit bullets (loose dog AGAIN) - Letter rejected

[svaha storm]

In the area I live in, a person can shoot any animals that are attacking your livestock,it doesnt matter if it is a cow or a chicken,no need for letters or anything, as long as it is on your property attacking your livestock.

 

[joymusa]

I live in the sticks, but if it were me I would warn them next time "I will have the right to shoot them", and then I would do so if they did it again.
You have the right to protect your animals.

PS- if it was me i would have involved the police which you should do next time.

 

[joymusa]

Quote:
I wish I could have but livestock is not allowed in my town (while chicken is not included in the livestock definition in our ordinance, I try not to draw attention to them) so I use "pet" instead.

Thanks Brenda! Thanks everybody for your thoughts and experiences.
JJ

If this is the case then just get a better fence for your animals; its all you can do. Or put up an electric fence.

 

[kees]

What a nightmare you've endured! Where I live (NY), any dog that has bitten someone is automatically quarantined for ten days and the owner must provide proof that the dog has been vaccinated against Rabies. If the dog bites someone three times, it is euthanized.

Insurance companies raise the premiums on homes with dogs that are considered to be dangerous. Rhodesian Ridgebacks are beautiful dogs, but they are bred to chase large game and to protect their owners. Again, the parentage can make a large difference in how the dog behaves (or not)!

It would be difficult to set a trap for a Ridgeback because of their tremendous size and power.

The Jack Russell would be easier to trap. However, I once read in a dog magazine that this particular breed was known as the "Anti-Christ". No flames please. My ex-husband had one and this dog was stubborn, stubborn, stubborn.

Once there was a large Rottweiler that came onto my property and started growling at the Jack Russell after I had returned home with the dog. Of course, the little dog starts yapping away as if she could hurt him. The Rottweiler had that look in his eyes, an aggressive, scary look. I summoned up my firmest voice and yelled, "No! Go home! Go!" while pointing with my finger. My ex picked up the Jack Russell and threw it on top of my car. Now the car was all scratched up. The Rottweiler kept circling the car trying to get at the Jack. I threw a full bottle of Snapple Ice Tea at the Rott. It bounced off of him and he didn't even feel it! I started beating the dog repeatedly with my purse and that didn't help. My ex brought the Jack inside and I called the police. A cruiser showed up after 15 minutes but the officers wouldn't get out of the car! I showed them where the dog lived but they were too scared! I thought that if they knew that there was an aggressive dog, they'd come with a tranquiler, but they didn't. I don't know why they bothered coming out at all. I waited and waited until the owners came home. They apologized profusely and offered to pay for any damages. (Their dog was vaccinated.) I forgot to mention the scratches on the roof of my car. Darn!

On the flip side, I had a neighbor who knew my male Rottweiler since my dog was a puppy. The neighbor would come over to dogsit on occassion and I would return the favor by buying sod for him, planting it, and making him food. One day I found out that he had filed a claim with my insurance company claiming that my dog had bit hiim! I had erected a 6' high chain link fence between the two properties. There was no way that the neighbor could have been bitten unless he had stuck his finger through the fence.

As a result, the "neighbor" received a $10,000 check from my homeowner's policy even though I offered pictures of the property to show that he couldn't have been bitten without sticking his fingers through the fence. My homeowners' policy went up. By the way, my dog had never been loose, was trained to obey hand commands and the like.

You're in a very difficult situation. I can fully understand that it's hard to deal with irrational people. Perhaps you can really, really, really lean on the police and animal control. Everyone has a boss. Make the waves and make them big. Don't let up. You don't have to hurt the dogs but you don't have to deal with this nonsense either, if you're persistent.

Good luck!

Suzy

 

[Patsy's Chicks]

Wow, that is so horrible, the situation with your neighbor's dogs. I knew people who had a RR and the dog was not a good dog, it would not listen, was impossible to control. They had taken the dog to classes and to no avail. It is a breed that is meant to hunt and run and is not happy unless it is doing just that. I'm pretty certain that the dog would only listen to the guy in the relationship (not very well I might add). I think they are one person kind of dogs.

I love dogs, I have two labs that are great, are never on a leash and I can let them out with my chickens and know that the younger one will chase the one loner occasionally that happens to stand away from the rest of the flock. My dogs will wait sniffing around until it is their turn to eat some pasta or bread when I give the chickens treats. Really funny! I think that the chickens think that they are really furry versions of themselves. Enough said, my labs have been trained by exposing them to the chickens since we got them. They know the chickens are mine. I would not trust any of my friends dogs to come over for fear of the chickens getting hurt or killed. I just wouldn't do it.

I have had instances in our neighborhood where there will be random dogs in our front yard and I shoo them away and luckily have never had issues with them coming into our fenced backyard. We do leave a loaded air soft gun by the back door of our house just in case we see foxes in the backyard or herons in our pond. I know that people mentioned that a pellet gun would not work, but maybe an air soft gun would? It fires like an automatic until there are no plastic pellets left, or there is no more gas in the gun.

The RR I knew was pretty scared of loud noises like the vacuum, I know that could just be that particular dog, but maybe getting hit a couple of times with the pellets could work. It does leave bruises if shot point blank (don't ask....boys will be boys). It may work for you. I know that the heron stealing my koi did not like it nor did it come back, but another one came and ultimately ate the rest of them when I was not around.

Another option that may be cost effective is to put up a run for your birds and put electric fencing around it. I know they have ones that are meant to keep deer out with votage boxes and polyrope cables that keep the charge live.

I wish you the best of luck. I hope that your neighbors received the letter that came regular mail. Keep us posted!

 

[liberty]

I too live in NJ and I have a RR - no, I am not your neighbor. RR are hunters by nature, my invisible fence will not contain my dog if she is in hot pursuit of a deer, but fortunately she does return when she is called. I love my RR, she has kept many bears from wondering around our yard (we have children in addition to our chickens). I was sorry to read that you were bitten as it gives the breed a bad reputation when they are not aggressive dogs. Please do not poison, shoot, or otherwise harm the dogs. Just tell your neighbor that I will happily rehabilitate her dogs and teach them to love chickens if she wants.

 

[Cara]

Quote:
I think the OP would prefer they kept them home and had nothing to do with her chickens.

 

[vermontgal]

I have not read this entire thread, but from reading the beginning and the end:

• The dog bit the original poster (a human), on his/her own property.

THEREFORE this has nothing to do with chickens, livestock, or anything else. While you may be concerned for your chickens' lives, this is about an unrestrained and dangerous dog biting a person.

Forget the chickens and proceed based on the dog threat to YOU.

 

[Chicken03]

Man sounds like you have some crazy neighbors. Sounds like a very frustrating situation.

Good luck I hope they realize that they need to keep their dogs under control.

 

[jjthink]

Well, the Ditz's did a great disservice to their dogs. A neighbor told me last night that while loose very recently, the Jack Russell got hit and killed by a car. Very sad. The dogs definitely have the wrong guardians. I wonder if they will learn anything from this?
JJ