Coffetym
Songster
Yes, I’m in Mississippi & according to the law here, any animal or human that is endangering my family, pets, or food supply, I can use force to protect.Oh those irresponsible dog owners! (I have shed plenty of tear over my lost ducks…)
No money in the world can replace your beloved pets!
As your neighbors are of the learning-resistant kind, there is only one way to deal with them:
I am sure that Kentucky, being the horse-farm state, has some very strict laws against feral dogs. Yes, feral dogs! As soon as a dog is outside the owner's property it is considered to be a feral dog - unless it is wearing its registration tag...
There will be a plethora of laws and regulations that you can use to get those neighbors into more trouble they can bear.
For starters, have you or anybody in your household been injured, even scratched by that dog? [Or do you have scratches on you arms and legs that could be from a dog?]
Present yourself at the nearest urgent care and tell them your neighbors dog has injured you and that you need to know that dog's vaccination records, especially for rabies. The law requires the urgent care clinic to call animal-control, which then has to send an officer to the dog's owners investigating the records. Should they not have vaccination records, the dog is being seized immediately and put into quarantine and the owners receive a hefty fine. And by the way, they have to pay for the quarantine...
I found an interesting link for you:
https://www.animallaw.info/statutes/us/kentucky
KRS § 39F.040; KRS § 258.005 - 991; 150.390 (the fourth box on that page)
»Under Section 258.235, any person may kill or seize any dog which he sees in the act of pursuing or wounding any livestock, or wounding or killing poultry, or attacking human beings, whether or not such dog bears the license tag required by the provisions of this chapter. «
We have a similar law here in WV and the two irresponsible neighbors that i have confronted with that were shocked and scared.
One neighbor constructed a kennel for their dogs, the other one sadly did nothing with dire consequences: Their dogs ran on the road and caused an accident, resulting in one person being airlifted to the hospital. I hope they have a good insurance for their dogs…
We have hunting dogs that stray onto our property at times & if any we’re attempting to catch or harm my chickens I would take quick & drastic measures to not only protect my flock but I also to ensure that the attacking animal would not return & also the owner would be sure to restrain their animals from coming onto my property.
In the event of an attack, a lawsuit in small claims court is always an option. However, this can be time consuming & there is always the possibility of not winning the case. If a suit is your option, you can claim not only the monetary value of said pet, but any amount in the feed, vet & upkeep of this pet/pets for their complete lifetime. This can become quite costly for the owner of an animal that destroys your flock.
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