Why always the favorite?

Well it finally happened to me. The neighbor's dog tore into my bantam coop and killed my beloved OEGB rooster, Monty, who was the most beautiful boy I owned and my absolute favorite of his girls, Ellie Mae the OEGB hen. Luckily I caught the dog in the act and ran him off before he could kill any of the other 4 girls. He killed Monty first because Monty rushed out to protect the girls and then he got Ellie. I am so sad. The neighbor is a relative and while she was apologetic and offered to replace the birds, I can't replace such special pets. What bothers me is that the dog is aggressive to other small animals too and while they have promised to keep him put up, I worry that they will get lax again. The last time I caught him attacking my cat, they promised to keep him contained and it lasted <1 month. I'm just really sad about my favorite chickens. The bantams are just so cute and they were so friendly...

I know they wouldn't have intended for this to happen, but that doesn't change the fact that my most adorable birds are now deceased.




Ellie Mae and Monty, RIP

And yes, I know that chicken wire isn't sufficient, but I close them in the coop at night, and I don't believe that so far as neighbor's pets go, I should have to "Fort Knox" my coop as the neighbors' pets shouldn't be there at all.

 

Thank you, CMV for your kindness. Unfortunately, I am in no position to ask them to rehome the dog. Long story short, my own dog killed one of their chickens when it escaped their pen, but my dog has since been under containment and that was almost a year ago. To be honest, they own many dogs and I think one of their own animals killed it but my girl got the blame and I took it to save a fight. I replaced their bird and all has been okay since except that this particular dog of theirs had a high propensity to run around my coop upsetting my birds. Trouble was brewing but I have to add another wrinkle that will explain my situation: the dog owner is my sister and she is also my landlord. My dog was an issue for them on occassion when she was a puppy (she is now 2) but, other than the chicken she was blamed for, has never injured or killed an animal of theirs and now we go with her to supervise if she goes out. Also, I work with my sister and she admitted that getting rid of the dog was not an option. Like I said, my dog has caused them some problems with tearing a screen once and chewing a cord twice, but all that was a good long while ago, and I can replace their property that she damaged, they can't replace my pets and it be the same. I guess in this situation it is a give and take on blame but I would have much preferred this dog to have torn a screen or chewed a cord.

 

Thank you all for your kind words! You are probably right, BooBear, I guess principles aside, we will have to "Fort Knox" the coop. I know my sister loves me and wouldn't hurt me for the world, but this seems to be an issue of her obtaining a dog and getting attached and refusing to see the damage it is causing to my pets or my feelings. I love dogs and cats, but I just can't understand this particular dog. He seems to be the most "unloyal" dog I have ever seen, he won't come when called, he attacks anything small that runs away (except for kids....yet) and basically just seems to be a completely useless animal. He skulks around my yard and runs when he sees me; at least runs around one side of my house and then I find him peeking around the other to see if I have gone in so he can resume harassing my birds.