Untended dogs are a problem.
Had the neighbors two pit bulls shot a few weeks ago. Wasn't exactly
something I wanted to do.
As I posted a while back, my neighbor of many years passed away. Extremely
nice person. After her death, one of her granchildren moved their two pit bulls
in. Okay, they were on a chain only. Local law is that a Pit Bull should be both
chained and caged. (Pit bull killed a young girl here a year ago.)
The problem was that no one actually lived there. House was empty, with the
man coming over every few days to care for the dogs.
These dogs both got loose one night, came over my fence. My own dog, a crippled
lab, did what he had to do. Defended his property. Afraid it was a losing battle for
Jake. So I helped Jake out... a ball bat and a pistol, I got the Pits attention.
I didn't shot them yet. Just backed them up. Gave Jake a chance to get to the porch.
The two pits were pacing back and forth in the yard, looking for their chance.
Called the sheriff, Chris. I knew he was at the fire department, he was here quickly.
He assessed the situation, called the county dog catcher and was waiting on them to
arrive. Dogs made another aggressive move, and HE (the sheriff) put them down.
Dog catcher hauled them away. Game warden was called on scene. Not real sure why,
but I didn't care.
Point is that I myself did not shoot the neighbors dogs. In calling the sheriff, I was covering
myself. The pit bulls were going to die either way. Just a question of my covering myself from
irate neighbors suing me for shooting their dogs.
The dog owner didn't know for two days about his dogs. Like I said, he didn't live there. Sheriff
left a notice on his door.
I talked to the neigbor man when he found out. Told him what happened. I wasn't going to sue
him over my dog's vet bills. But I meant for him to understand I won't tolerate another untended
dog on the property.
If you find yourself in the position of having to put the neighbors animal down, make sure you cover
yourself.
.....
My lab, Jake, has free rein on our property. Our FENCED property. Jake is generally right close to
me. At least within whistle distance. Great dog, my buddy. Never bothered the chickens, doesn't
bother the cats. But I felt he was doing his job in defending his property against two invading pit
bulls. He took some wounds. But he won the war.
