I am so sorry to hear of your loss. I think people who own dogs should be more aware of what one small whoopsie can do to farmers. My father used to say a dog is not really different then a loaded gun. Handled properly you and the people and animals around you are safe. Mishandled and you have some sort of travesty. I really do wish there was more farmers could do to keep from this sort of thing happening. We spend all this money and time to keep our animals safe just to be at such a loss when someone else lets their pets out.
Neighbors and pets are sometimes your worst foe. Humans are selfish and prone to mistakes. They do not think their pets would ever hurt a fly. Let them out then OMG NO!. I really never thought my Fluffy Wubsie would do something like that!
There should be a farming law of some sort that will allow you to hold pets until a fine is paid (to make these people more responsible), or allow you to dispatch problem animals and fine the owners. Maybe even make it mandatory to microchip all pets so that you can find these people too. In my case it is people dumping their dogs, then the dogs make short work of our animals.
**I am sorry if I am sounding too harsh. The elderly couple two farms down from us just had something similar happen to them. Someone bought an acre and had a mobile home put on it, then let their dogs run free to wreak havoc with everyone's animals. They lost all their fowl in one night. They too live off their animals. He shot the dogs the next morning, and now from what I hear they might get jail time b/c of shooting them.
