What a bunch of idiots (the protesters). And what gives them the right to harass the poor guy?
Dog owners were totally responsible for their pet’s death. What is so difficult about keeping your own dog in your own yard?
[QUOTE=pezk;6776509]
… My grandmother would keep chunks of fat from slaughtering one of the cows in her freezer. When a new dog showed up, barking at the chickens, she would go grab some chunks of fat, get the dog’s attention and throw a couple of chunks. Most dogs are opportunists and rapidly found my grandmother a lot more interesting than the chickens. …[/QUOTE]
ummm, you do know that eating excessive amounts of fat can kill a dog right?
For all those who say “I would kill a dog if it were chasing my horses”. Uh - really? That idea scares me just a bit. I’d personally try bird shot or a bb gun. Trying to hit a rapidly moving dog with a rifle while chasing rapidly moving horses sounds WAY to risky for someone like me (e.g. hitting a horse instead!)
Even when we dispense of varmints - it’s a careful, stalked shot with a stationary target…
What do we say when we hear a series of rapid fire shots during deer season? Deer probably got away…
To me, it seems like both sides have a lot hubris and/or hyperbole…
IMHO, the dog owner was in the wrong. The gun shooter was also in the wrong if he shot something he did not recognize or he is lying.
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[QUOTE=millerra;6780328]
For all those who say “I would kill a dog if it were chasing my horses”. Uh - really? That idea scares me just a bit. I’d personally try bird shot or a bb gun. Trying to hit a rapidly moving dog with a rifle while chasing rapidly moving horses sounds WAY to risky for someone like me (e.g. hitting a horse instead!)
Even when we dispense of varmints - it’s a careful, stalked shot with a stationary target…
What do we say when we hear a series of rapid fire shots during deer season? Deer probably got away…
To me, it seems like both sides have a lot hubris and/or hyperbole…
IMHO, the dog owner was in the wrong. The gun shooter was also in the wrong if he shot something he did not recognize or he is lying.[/QUOTE]
Well, h would have been very much in his right if a coyote or fox had gotten to his rabbit hutch. And those are wild animals one has to expect to come onto your property.l
Hyperbole? Maybe.
However, those who do own appropriate firearms also understand the need to practice the skill of using it. Like with any other tool.
But of course, there is always option c): Run around and scram hysterically…it might not chase the dog away, but hy, you didn’t shoot it.
Point is, the rabbits are protected under the status of lifestock, as are your horses.
One does not have to take it when a 3rd party is endangering your possessions.
The dog was where it didn’t belong, doing what is frowned upon.
Now where is this country coming to: Protecting private property! :no:
After you’ve seen what a dog or two can do to your animals, up close, in person, then sometimes your opinion changes.
I lost several goats to a dog attack. The worst was the buck I was leasing whose throat was torn out…and he was still alive. After I cleaned it out I knew I had to put him down.
I used to try and catch dogs that were harassing my livestock. Until one turned and came at me with aggressive body language.
I love dogs. Before I lost them all in our fire, I had six loving beautiful dogs. None of whom were EVER allowed off our property without supervision. The Boxer wasn’t even allowed in our own pastures without me.
And I love my goats too. And yes, their lives ARE worth more to me than a stray or neighbor’s dog that is not just where it doesn’t belong, but is actively attempting to harm what is mine.
(I have chased away many dogs who were just having a look or passing through. Deadly force is saved for those with deadly force on their own predator minds.)
This. My neighbors had to put down their goat after dogs got to it. It was still alive, walking around, guts dangling. Not something one easily forgets. When I think that a dog could do the same to one of my minis… no second thoughts about killing a loose dog that goes after any of my livestock.
Alagirl and rest - you missed my point, I guess.
Shooting at a rapidly moving animal that is chasing a herd with a handgun or a rifle is quite dangerous as it’s very hard to actually HIT. Worse case you hit your animals OR something else rather than the target. One horse was shot and killed in this area by someone shooting at a running coyote. There is a reason bird hunters use shotguns and not rifles (and they still miss)
Shooting and killing something that is going after a domesticated animal is NOT something I have a problem with. It just so happens, the reality of actually doing something with a gun is often far more difficult than you all make it sound.
The problem with the shooter’s story is that, according to what was posted here - is that he didn’t identify it as the neighbor’s dog until it was dead. Huh? What? Either he knew it was a dog or he didn’t. If he knew it was a dog, he’d have known it was a brittany and known it was the neighbors dog. If he didn’t identify it as a dog, he should not have been shooting. And lying always raises suspicions about the story and the motives.
[QUOTE=millerra;6780527]
Alagirl and rest - you missed my point, I guess.
Shooting at a rapidly moving animal that is chasing a herd with a handgun or a rifle is quite dangerous as it’s very hard to actually HIT. Worse case you hit your animals OR something else rather than the target. One horse was shot and killed in this area by someone shooting at a running coyote. There is a reason bird hunters use shotguns and not rifles (and they still miss)
Shooting and killing something that is going after a domesticated animal is NOT something I have a problem with. It just so happens, the reality of actually doing something with a gun is often far more difficult than you all make it sound.
The problem with the shooter’s story is that, according to what was posted here - is that he didn’t identify it as the neighbor’s dog until it was dead. Huh? What? Either he knew it was a dog or he didn’t. If he knew it was a dog, he’d have known it was a brittany and known it was the neighbors dog. If he didn’t identify it as a dog, he should not have been shooting. And lying always raises suspicions about the story and the motives.[/QUOTE]
You’re assuming the reporting is accurate. It’s been my experience, first hand, that quite often it’s not. Accurate.
[QUOTE=millerra;6780527]
The problem with the shooter’s story is that, according to what was posted here - is that he didn’t identify it as the neighbor’s dog until it was dead. Huh? What? Either he knew it was a dog or he didn’t. If he knew it was a dog, he’d have known it was a brittany and known it was the neighbors dog. If he didn’t identify it as a dog, he should not have been shooting. And lying always raises suspicions about the story and the motives.[/QUOTE]
Did you all read that to mean that they guy didn’t know he was shooting at a dog… or that, yeah, he could see his target and, yeah, it was a dog… but he didn’t know who owned it?
IMO, it’s bad form to shoot at the sound of an animal, not at sight.
I guess I’m like Sheriff Andy Taylor - or I try to be. I just don’t see the need for a gun most of the time.
I live in the land of the free-range canine. Yeah, they have occasionally chased my horses. I run out into the pasture and I chase the dog(s) the heck out of my pasture. I grab a big stick and I holler like a crazy woman and I lay into the dog if it’s stupid enough to let me close enough to make contact. But most of 'em aren’t that stupid. (BTW, I have also broken the neighborhood dogs from chasing my truck using the same method. It startles one’s passengers:winkgrin: but it works!)
Now I don’t dispute the right of the rabbit-owning neighbor to shoot the Brittany. Even taking the dog owner’s word that the rabbit-owning neighbor never warned him (which I doubt!) the dog owner still knew his neighbor had rabbits and his dog was loose. What the heck did the dog owner think was gonna happen?
But I get a little tired of the gun-toting self-righteousness of these threads. Yeah, you got the right to shoot the dog if it harasses your stock. But if know your neighbors and their dogs - why not just chase the animal off first and then go talk to the dog’s owner? That has worked 100% of the time for me. But if it doesn’t - why shoot the dog? Why not just fix it so the dog can’t hurt your stock again? I mean, this was a Brittany for Christ’s sake - not a Bengal tiger. Would it have been that hard to take it to a no-kill shelter in the next county? Or is Bwana so scared of 40 lbs of orange and white fluff he needs big firepower to dispatch it? :rolleyes:
I don’t know. Some folks live like they’re never gonna need a favor from their neighbors.:no: News flash - every one of us will at some point.
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[QUOTE=mvp;6780597]
Did you all read that to mean that they guy didn’t know he was shooting at a dog… or that, yeah, he could see his target and, yeah, it was a dog… but he didn’t know who owned it?
IMO, it’s bad form to shoot at the sound of an animal, not at sight.[/QUOTE]
I guess I was following the simple logic - if you can clearly identify what is going on and that it is a dog and shoot it, then you can see it well enough to identify it as a brittany. Logic would dictate that if your neighbor has a brittany dog that frequently runs loose, than it most likely would be the neighbor’s dog. Of course one can always argue that he didn’t know for absolute certainty who’s dog it is… but I would call BS on that story.
There was someone on backyardchicken.com I believe it was, that was put out of business because the neighbor wouldn’t contain their dogs. The person made her living raising heritage chickens and selling hatching eggs.
She never resorted to lethal means. She said she repeatedly talked to the neighbor, she reported it to AC and the sheriff. Nothing was ever done about the dogs.
She is now out of business and the dogs are still out there to menace other people’s animals.
In this case it was not “just a chicken.” They were her livelihood.
But I get a little tired of the gun-toting self-righteousness of these threads. Yeah, you got the right to shoot the dog if it harasses your stock. But if know your neighbors and their dogs - why not just chase the animal off first and then go talk to the dog’s owner? That has worked 100% of the time for me. But if it doesn’t - why shoot the dog? Why not just fix it so the dog can’t hurt your stock again? I mean, this was a Brittany for Christ’s sake - not a Bengal tiger. Would it have been that hard to take it to a no-kill shelter in the next county? Or is Bwana so scared of 40 lbs of orange and white fluff he needs big firepower to dispatch it? :rolleyes:
I don’t know. Some folks live like they’re never gonna need a favor from their neighbors.:no: News flash - every one of us will at some point
It’s always great when chasing off works. I think it’s fantastic that it’s worked for you every single time. And that none of your animals were ever injured.
And I truly wish that worked all of the time for everybody.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t.
IME, I know:
*3 horses run through fences with extensive injuries from loose dogs, all repeat offenders. All reported. (Aussie, yellow lab, setter)
*2 dead horses, broken limbs, from blind panic running away from loose dogs. Both repeat offenders. (1 pit, 1 choc lab)
*Young couple up the street, euthanized 3 sheep from damage caused by 2nd time loose pitbull got in with them.
*Niece’s neighbor, her dogs chased and harassed by neighborhood loose dogs. Pair of deerhounds, Reported each time, she put up no climb fence last year. 3 months later one deerhound jumped in and killed her english bulldog.
*Mauled goats, those that didn’t die had to be PTS. 2 pits, reported NINE times from different area properties. Owner who lost goats also had a broken and mauled hand from trying to chase those two off, they turned on him.
*62 year old woman, leases fields to dairy farmer for summer grazing for some cows. Couldn’t chase off beagle in field before it ran the cows through the fence. One cow had to be euthanized, 2 others aborted.
*a 15 year old who lost 2 fingers to a JRT that she tried to yank out of her coop while it was killing every chicken in there. Screaming, hollering and kicking didn’t work. They had talked to that owner many times for the JRT trying to dig into the coop and had stopped letting them free range due to that little dog. (JRT was PTS over injuries from being kicked)
The 40 lbs of fluff…the JRT was maybe 20 lbs? Young lady is missing 2 fingers. Many times when dogs get really into going after something, you just don’t get near them. Even normally calm, sweet dogs can be dangerous then.
If you haven’t seen your animals being injured, you tend to think it’s not that big of a deal or that it’s easy to stop. Or that talking to the neighbors helps. I had to shoot a dog twice AND talked to the owner each time and even before I shot it the first time. (paintball) He got rid of the dog, and was extremely apologetic each time. The dog was coming after my dog on my property. They couldn’t stop it from racing through the door every time it was opened. Took him some time to get rid of it, the rescue refused to take it back at first.
As for those assuming the shooter didn’t see or fully ID the dog before shooting it…when a dog is after your animals and actively trying to get them, you can easily ID that it’s a dog, of ___ color and ___ size but you’re not necessarily actively thinking of the dog’s name, owners, etc.
I don’t see why he had to know whose dog it was though.
[QUOTE=millerra;6780527]
The problem with the shooter’s story is that, according to what was posted here - is that he didn’t identify it as the neighbor’s dog until it was dead. Huh? What? Either he knew it was a dog or he didn’t. If he knew it was a dog, he’d have known it was a brittany and known it was the neighbors dog. If he didn’t identify it as a dog, he should not have been shooting. And lying always raises suspicions about the story and the motives.[/QUOTE]
A) You assume way too much
B) Who gives a crap if he knew or didn’t know whose dog it was? Certainly not me.
[QUOTE=caballero;6780837]
A) You assume way too much
B) Who gives a crap if he knew or didn’t know whose dog it was? Certainly not me.[/QUOTE]
I think I’m the one who brought up ID’ing the dog, because I saw somewhere in one of the articles the ex-cop said that he didn’t know whose dog it was til after it was dead. I pointed it out because a few people in this thread are acting like he only killed it because it was that particular neighbors’ dog. Not like the dog wasn’t about to eat his rabbits, or anything.
My friend nearly lost a foal to a loose dog that burrowed under the fence. The dog had already taken a chunk out of the poor baby’s butt and was fencing off with the mare trying to get more. In that kind of situation, I don’t care whose dog it is. If they love their pet so much, it shouldn’t be out roaming around and harrassing other people’s pets. Why is the dog so much more important than the pet bunnies?
There was another news article with pictures of the protestors. I feel like I live on a different planet than these people. Take a look at the signs:
ETA: 50 people stood outside this guys house all day. 50 people. And they came from Massachessetts. What a crock.
[QUOTE=GotGait;6781079]
My friend nearly lost a foal to a loose dog that burrowed under the fence. The dog had already taken a chunk out of the poor baby’s butt and was fencing off with the mare trying to get more. In that kind of situation, I don’t care whose dog it is. If they love their pet so much, it shouldn’t be out roaming around and harrassing other people’s pets. Why is the dog so much more important than the pet bunnies?
There was another news article with pictures of the protestors. I feel like I live on a different planet than these people. Take a look at the signs:
I am amazed that there are 3 guys…I hope all six of them freeze their behinds off! (think they are PETA paid?)
This:
happened here last month. Why are people so reluctant to believe that poor precious Fluffy can be a killer? And in fact was so not that long ago in his evolutionary history.
[QUOTE=GotGait;6781079]
ETA: 50 people stood outside this guys house all day. 50 people. And they came from Massachessetts. What a crock.[/QUOTE]
Why am I not surprised?
BTW, I seriously doubt this will result in any laws being changed. NH, despite the invasion from its southerly neighbor, still has plenty of rural yankee common sense.
NH won’t change any laws on that. The Live Free Or Die state? Home of the Free Staters?
Pretty sure the right to protect your animals with deadly force will not be changed there. 
While the protestors creep me out with their lack of real-world knowledge…at least the comments under the article are mostly sane.
