Roaming dogs and livestock

[Jim]

Floyd County is a very rural/agricultural county. There's a lot of livestock out here, ranging from chickens to cattle. On occasion, livestock owners have problems with roaming dogs attacking and killing their livestock.

A friend and local blogger, Fred First (http://www.fragmentsfromfloyd.com/photoimage/a-bird-in-the-bush/), here in Floyd County posted this morning that he's had problems with dogs attacking and killing his chickens. I read his blog and when I saw the post, I left a comment.

I then went to my email and sent him a message that I'd be happy to come out and help him solve his problems with this when he gets his new flock this coming spring.

A coupla' years back, I posted here that I had found a place to shoot about 250 yards in a man's pasture. This is the same man. He and I have become good friends and I'd be very happy to help him with this.

There are those that would scream bloody murder at the suggestion of killing someone's dog. Usually, it's the dog owner. If not the dog's owner, it's usually somebody that's never witnessed a dog ripping an animal to pieces as it screams for it's life.

If you own an animal, you are responsible for it's conduct, on your own property or not. If the animal you own has a habit of attacking someone's livestock, you are responsible for that.

If you don't want to wonder what happened to your dog, don't let it run loose.

[jcwit]

I agree completely.

[reg293]

You have my vote!

[Pb2au]

I agree completely.
Growing up, I split my childhood between my grandparents farm where we raised beef cows and my parents home where we raised chickens. At both places, packs of dogs were an issue. We lost chickens and had calves attacked. In both cases, the only solution was to kill the dogs. It was a shame as we found more often than not, the dogs had collars.
In my mind, if you are the steward of dogs or cats, you absolutely have the responsibly to make sure those animals are controlled, fully vaccinated and spayed/neutered if they are not for legitimate breeding purposes. It never made me feel good about shooting someones dog, but it was the responsible thing to due. Today a chicken gets killed, maybe tomorrow someone's kid who is out playing.

[snuffy]

Jim, I agree 100%. If the owners cared about their dog(s), they'd keep them penned up.


If you own an animal, you are responsible for it's conduct, on your own property or not. If the animal you own has a habit of attacking someone's livestock, you are responsible for that.

Here in Wisconsin, if you have problems with dogs roaming, doing damage to your farm, you have to contact the game warden. He then contacts the "supposed owners of the dogs with the edict, "if you value your dogs, keep them cooped up". Otherwise I'll shoot them. He CAN authorize you to shoot them yourself, then he doesn't have to take the time himself.

I love dogs! Plain and simple. BUT I have shot more than a few under the above criteria. They were wild animals. Domestic dogs that have the room to run, soon become pack animals, reverting to the wild.

[TheDoctor]

I had to put a wireless containment system in place for my dogs. Neighbor has cattle, and I have a border collie. Needless to say, the dog loves playing with cows. Now while it wouldn't hurt the cattle, it did love running them. Had to explain to the wife that it could not be allowed to continue. Just a matter of time before the dog got popped. Couldn't blame the neighbor if he did, running the cows stresses them and they lose weight. Less weight, less money. Dog still gazes at them an dreams of running them around the pasture. Dream on pooch.

[rockrat]

I agree.

Seen what happens to cattle/calves when dogs are on the roam. Aso, good friend had a 1 mo old colt run thru barbed wire by dogs, the colt had to be put down, because of all the damage. Dogs came back again, 30-06 and a Speer 130gr HP took care of them. Sherriff called, person claimed he had shot the dog on his front porch, friend took sherriff to where the hair/blood was in his pasture, told sherriff , "guy came on his land and took body and put it on his porch". Sherriff had "chat" with dogs owner, then left.

Usually, when dog is "dispatched" and they took vet bill to owner (if collar had tags on it), the owner always claimed they sold the dog last week, but could never remember to whom it was sold. Those $800 vet bills added up, not to mention, death of calves.

Don't get me wrong, I love my dogs, but if they are out killing/crippling livestock, you have every right to do what you need to do.

[Blacksmith]

My parents had a dog that was seen in the company of some other dogs. The other dogs had been seen running sheep so Dad found a home for his dog in the suburbs with someone with a fenced yard. Dad said he didn't want the dog to get bad habits and get shot or have to shoot the dog himself if he caught him.

[Love Life]

I agree completely Jim. It is a shame the animals have to pay for their owner's lack of responsibility, but there are consequences and repercussions to all actions (or lack of) in life.

[fatboy]

were on the same page Jim.

[john hayslip]

I personally agree with all of the above. When I was teaching in Boerne, Texas someone had a problem with roaming dogs killing sheep. The rancher shot the dog and the owner spent a lot of time and newspaper space trying to crucify the rancher. Found I agreed with the rancher. Unfortunately there are a lot of yuppies who don't. My border collie is fenced.

[chboats]

My father's dogs usually were loose in the yard. Got a call from a neighbor that his dog was attacking one of his calves. Dad checked the dog and found blood on it. That dog didn't chase any more calves. He also offered to pay for the calf. Be responsible for your animals!!

[Jim]

While y'all were responding to my post, I was calling it like I see it on my blog site (http://jgcphotos.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/roaming-dogs-2/).

[P.K.]

Jim,

Your neck of the woods isn't that diffren't from my old area near Lexington, KY. Dog's if they are harassing horses get shot. Collar or not. If an owner cares about their animals will lead them or pen them up. Folks back there don't give a flying you know what about "fluffy" being a great dog and a family member. If said family member is chasing a heard of brood mares and they go into a wall/waller/gopher hole what have you, the breeder is out thousands, sometimes millions depending on the mare if you figure in the lifetime of breeding.

I almost shot a represenatives dog ( good lookin' bird dog) for running down a mare and her foal. I didn't kill it but clubed it hard enough to daze it and toss it in the pick up. Told the reps wife what would happen the next time and they kept them penned from there on.

[dakotashooter2]

Even the "best" dog a can succum to "pack mentality"........... I have dogs and would find no fault in someone that had to dispose of a dog because it was causing a problem. I would hope they would contact me first but that isn't always possible. That is why I try to keep my dogs contained.

[Olevern]

Shoot, shovel and shut up?

[Smitty's Retired]

Shoot, shovel and shut up?

:goodpost::goodpost:

[Charlie Two Tracks]

I agree. Goes for cats on the loose also. They kill a lot of wildlife around here.

[Jim]

Shoot, shovel and shut up?

I ain't wastin' my time an' energy to bury the likes of that. I'd just throw the carcass in the dumpster or the creek.

[Hickory]

I ain't wastin' my time an' energy to bury the likes of that. I'd just throw the carcass in the dumpster or the creek.


Turtles need to eat too.

[Freightman]

Uncle had a remote ranch I hunted on while he was alive he said if you see a dog shoot it no dogs within ten miles of the place. He had a old PD town that had been poisoned and the feral cats people throw out took up residents spent hours with a 22 shooting them as a kid.
Dogs need to be restrained as a man loosing cattle might loose all his profit for a year if it gets to bad.

[Cactus Farmer]

My Dad was raising rabbits and collared dogs were just killing them,not ever for food. We trapped a few and took 'em to the owners. Owners turned him in for the trapping. We ask "what do we do?" Animal control said "shoot them". I loaded some 1 1/4 oz of nickel 6's and dug a few holes with the auger. Some day years from now they will think there was a weird religious cult that buried dogs in round holes, collar and all.
It seems the word got around and dogs quit bothering Dad's rabbits.

[Down South]

I've killed one or two chasin my cows. Where I had my cows at though would be a long way for a dog to roam from home. But still, a fellow has the right to protect his property from 4 legged and two legged critters.

[shooterg]

Similar problems on our family farm growing up. Nicest dogs ever when you petted 'em in their yard in the little subdivision my Gramps put on a few acres of what was a great rabbit hunting spot. 5 or 6 of 'em start running together, next thing you got a dead calf or pig. Careful nowadays, they have some severe penalties for killing the neighbor's dogs - bury 'em or take 'em to a faraway dumpster. Ain't no way to explain to a dog owner that his was chasing cattle/etc.

[Down South]

I ain't wastin' my time an' energy to bury the likes of that. I'd just throw the carcass in the dumpster or the creek.
They make good fertilizer, I just leave em laying where they bite the dirt at.

[CWME]

Same could be said for cats. Not destructive like dogs but they can sure make a mess of a property. Guy down the road likes to collect strays and they like to poop under my leanto at Camp. Stepped in poop/urine one to many times and called animal control. Animal control said I couldn't shoot them. I told him that what he didn't know didn't hurt him. He started trapping them the next day and taking them to the shelter to be fixed. Must have had 75-80 of them roaming around. The smell was something else with all those cats pooping and peeing in the sand. They would have them fixed and then the owner would go and get them back. Made no sense to me. I accidentally left a gallon of antifreeze in a pan and more than a few died by lead poisoning. The owner came down with the ACO and said I was poisoning his cats. I told him that I forgot to put the antifreeze away, my bad. He was given a warning for trespassing/snooping on my property. Cats slowly dissapeared for a while and now I only see a few here and there.

[Chicken Thief]

Lead enema?

[Gator 45/70]

Well i guess the shoe fit's both way's sometime's...
When we were kid's there were some sheep herder's pushing a large flock or herd of sheep down this country road we lived on which in itself was the way they moved their sheep in the area...

Problem was is that the day before some of the herder's passed on the road throwing out poisoned weiner's to kill off ALL the dog's,Which it did and did well killing 3 of our dog's...

Dad was chapped to say the least since my brother and i were at that time 5/6 year's old...

We could have very easily picked up a poisoned weiner and you know how that would have ended...

So..Dad goes the pasture of the sheep herder's and lay's down about 50 head of sheep...

We never lost another dog after that due to poison.

[deep creek]

Ive been called to trap coyotes and wild dogs by ranchers that have calves or sheep killed. I always tell them to tie up their dog.They say hell he never leaves the porch. yip next morning theres rover! Funny thing is they get mad at me!Go figure?

[429421Cowboy]

Yep, as much as i'd hate to have one of our dogs killed, by state law chasing livestock on your property is a shooting offense, just like any dogs chasing my cows gets. This time of year most of my cows haven't calved yet and would likely abort their calves if chased around by dogs, so dogs get no free pass if they are chasing cows. Back when i was a kid we had two thousand head of sheep in addition to the cows, and two Great Pyinese guard dogs with the sheep, i'll never forget the look on dad's face when he drove up on one of those doogs eating a calf, he didn't care how much they were worth, the dogs took a dirtnap and the sheep left not long after.

[bruce drake]

I grew up in the country in Maine and I will tell you the first time we saw a pack of dogs running a deer through the woods, you made your mind up quick that old Snoopy needed to be put down.

Dropped several with my Dad's 32 Winchester Special or his Garand (whichever was handy) before we finally eliminated the pack. 3 were "family dogs" from down in the valley that the neighbors would let out to "do their business" only... It took 3 weeks of seeing them kill deer before we were able to take down all 7 of those dogs.


Bruce

[bob208]

back when i was still at home the farmer next door would take his artilery luger with him on the tractor. that took care of the dogs running his cattle.

[joesig]

I don't know how they do it down there Jim but up here, the dog(s)'s owner could be held criminally responsible. The Animal Control officer is obligated to shoot a dog in the act of killing livestock or poultry. Any other person has the option to kill said dog(s).

If dog owners loved their pets so much, they'd keep them on their own property. The only shame is the pet has to suffer for the owner's stupidity.

As much as it sucks to loose a chicken to a fox or raccoon, at least they are just trying to survive. The dogs do it for sport and will kill /maim a dozen or more if they get the chance. That was last year's lesson.

[LUBEDUDE]

When I was first married many years ago, our dog was our Baby. It got to chasing our neighbors cows and calves. Even injured one calf's mouth.

I would not have blamed the rancher one iota if he had killed that dog. To this day, I can't beleive that he didn't .

[bayjoe]

Shoot, shovel and silence.
Never tell somebody you're going to or you had to shoot their dog. It never ends good.

[Lefty SRH]

Yep, I've taken out a few dogs running deer while I was deer hunting. AND NO these were NOT deer hunting dogs either!

Jim, do need or want some help with that there problem? :)

[Jim]

Shoot, shovel and silence.
Never tell somebody you're going to or you had to shoot their dog. It never ends good.

Dog? What dog? [smilie=1:

[Bullwolf]

As others have said, the nicest mutt you may ever pat on the head can become a completely different animal when you get 5-6 of them running all together in a pack. Things get worse once they start chasing and killing livestock.

If you have ever been unfortunate enough to encounter a pack of wild dogs, you can easily understand why they get shot. I love my dog, and I adore dogs in general, but I also don't let my Labrador run wild or unattended. Living in a remote area, you often see dogs that have gone feral, even some that bad pet owners simply get tired of and have abandoned.

A few of my neighbors have shot dogs that were chasing cattle. I totally support them for doing this, and I understand why it happens. I would deal with it in exactly the same way. It may happen more often than I am aware of due the three S's policy.

It is our responsibility as a pet owners to take care of our own animals. Livestock also falls under that category.



- Bullwolf

[KYCaster]

I've taken care of a few problem animals, but the incident that really torqued me the most was finding four horses harassing a two day old calf.

They were in a circle around it, taking turns biting and pawing at it. When I ran them off they reminded me of a gang of punks caught at a mugging....didn't seem to be too concerned about it.

If I had been carrying something besides a 22LR, I probably would have gotten myself into trouble.

I know there are lots of horse lovers on this board, but I'm not one of them. I've seen them do quite a bit of damage, apparently just for the fun of it. AFAIC their only purpose is turning expensive hay into fertilizer.

Jerry

[DIRT Farmer]

I had a coworker that told another coworker whose dog had bitten for the second time, anyone who wouldn't shoot their own dog should never be allowed to own one.

A dog crossing my pasture might get the first pass free, if it is just crossing, 'course it might be scouting for a hunt later with it's friends.

I love the ads from the local humane socity describing a dog as needing a country home with room to roam. Lazy $0m could put it down and not expect me to do it.

[Down South]

I've taken care of a few problem animals, but the incident that really torqued me the most was finding four horses harassing a two day old calf.

They were in a circle around it, taking turns biting and pawing at it. When I ran them off they reminded me of a gang of punks caught at a mugging....didn't seem to be too concerned about it.

If I had been carrying something besides a 22LR, I probably would have gotten myself into trouble.

I know there are lots of horse lovers on this board, but I'm not one of them. I've seen them do quite a bit of damage, apparently just for the fun of it. AFAIC their only purpose is turning expensive hay into fertilizer.

Jerry

Yup, I've seen more than one mean horse. FIL, back when he was alive had a half Shetland, half Appaloosa. That was the meanest pony I ever saw. I remember when he wanted it broke. I told him it wasn’t worth the trouble plus I wasn’t gonna break it. Well, he got it green broke. That thing never was worth riding. I never tried to ride it but I watched my BIL try a couple times. Those were good shows. It was just plain mean. It would chase a dog down and kill it if it could. I hated that horse beyond means. When it came time, that was about the only horse that I never minded putting down.
I’d have sent it to the sale barn yrs back if it wouldn’t have caused a divorce. It probably wouldn’t even made decent soap though.

Oh, it started out in life as a stud. I had the pleasure of cutting it. Didn't help the meaness though.

[Chicken Thief]

I don't know how they do it down there Jim but up here, the dog(s)'s owner could be held criminally responsible. The Animal Control officer is obligated to shoot a dog in the act of killing livestock or poultry. Any other person has the option to kill said dog(s).

If dog owners loved their pets so much, they'd keep them on their own property. The only shame is the pet has to suffer for the owner's stupidity.

As much as it sucks to loose a chicken to a fox or raccoon, at least they are just trying to survive. The dogs do it for sport and will kill /maim a dozen or more if they get the chance. That was last year's lesson.

Foxes in Denmark will do the same in a killing spree!

[Chicken Thief]

I've taken care of a few problem animals, but the incident that really torqued me the most was finding four horses harassing a two day old calf.

They were in a circle around it, taking turns biting and pawing at it. When I ran them off they reminded me of a gang of punks caught at a mugging....didn't seem to be too concerned about it.

If I had been carrying something besides a 22LR, I probably would have gotten myself into trouble.

I know there are lots of horse lovers on this board, but I'm not one of them. I've seen them do quite a bit of damage, apparently just for the fun of it. AFAIC their only purpose is turning expensive hay into fertilizer.

Jerry

Not so Sir!
Horses are way good tucker.
Most tender and good meat i have ever put my pearly whites into ;-)

[dilly]

I can see both sides of this. If it isa recurring problem then obviously the owners care little about their dog anyway. However anyone who has ever owned a dog knows that sometimes they get out. I could see a grumpy farmer shooting every dog he ever sees immediately causing problems too. Problems occur when EITHER side of the fence line fails to exercise a reasonable amount of good will toward his neighbor.

[Chicken Thief]

Sometimes goodwill is measured from the stakes you have into the "game".
Dog owner 0-1 livestock owner

[johnnybar]

We lost two newborn calves one winter. The second one was witnessed by my wife being eaten, as it was being born, by a mans dog pound rescued heinze 57 mix. Sherrif was called and a deputy met me at his house to witness our conversation. There was no hassle in getting a check for the market value of the calf, had it made it to market size. The guy mentioned that he had to pop the dog a few times with a BB gun for running his horses and that he would find it a new home one way or the other. I think the $650 check he wrote dictated where the new home was really going to be. Point being, if you know who the dog belongs to or can get photos or videos of it living there now. The owner is liable for the damages. Often the neighbors pocket book takes care of future problems very effectively.

[Blammer]

need ammo?

go get'em!

[P.K.]

I grew up in the country in Maine and I will tell you the first time we saw a pack of dogs running a deer through the woods, you made your mind up quick that old Snoopy needed to be put down.

Dropped several with my Dad's 32 Winchester Special or his Garand (whichever was handy) before we finally eliminated the pack. 3 were "family dogs" from down in the valley that the neighbors would let out to "do their business" only... It took 3 weeks of seeing them kill deer before we were able to take down all 7 of those dogs.


Bruce

Bruce,

Yup, BTST. Alder bottoms around a small lake. Four foot of snow so far that year and the deer, at least a dozen in this group had yarded up down there and beat runs through the alders between a bedding area food and water. As long as there was deep powder, no worries. Get a 1/8 -1/4 of freezing rain and it's a slaughter.

[Wal']

When I was a kid & growing I had many dogs of questionable breeding, usually birthday, Xmas gifts from friends ??? but a couple of these loving pets for no known reason just went bad & started hunting & killing the local livestock.

Tried chaining & fencing them in sometimes for months, but the minute they were released they would make a bee line straight back hunting.

Learnt very young that the only cure once they tasted blood killing was a lead pill.

[SlippShodd]

Growing up on a cattle ranch, the dog was a valuable tool. We had the best aussie for herding I'd ever seen before or since. Worth his weight in gold for saving man and horse effort. Neighbors downstream fell on some hard times and moved to town, leaving a worthless bitch behind that took to running at night and dragging our dog as well as the neighbors' off with her. Can't much blame a randy male dog follering a female in season around all night. Been there myself. She's the only dog I ever used the 2 cent solution on (.22s were a bunch cheaper in those days), and I'm still sometimes haunted by the memory of her eyes looking back at me over the sights, but I don't regret it. It was a simple business solution and all human partys who took a say in the matter were in agreement, including her owners.
Same neighbors had some breachy horses that liked to get out of their pasture and try to invite our horses through the barbed wire to join them. Having lost a good horse years before to pawing through the wire at neighboring steeds, we didn't much approve of this behavior. I took them home nicely a time or two. The very last time they came for a visit they were hustled on their way with an ounce of #6 in their hindquarters.
The very last time they came for a visit.
A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

mike

[RP]

I had a lot of chickens ducks and a few other geese until the dogs started showing up killing them around 2 am. The next day I spent the time to go around to everyone house in the area that had dogs and let them know and they need to keep there pets penned. BTW it is a county law your dog must be contained in some way to stay on your property. Most told me there dog never left the yard it was there when they went to bed and there when they got up even the ones with dead chickens in the yard. That night with several firearms fully loaded with flashlights ready to go the dogs showed up again. Mom hit the flood lights as my dad brothers and I came out of the house like a swat team spreading out to pre picked areas for line of fire reasons. The lights were turned on and we started shooting. The next morning there were several dead dogs laying in the yard of all breeds some with collars some without. These went on for several nights until we were out of livestock the dog count was up to maybe 20. A few owners came looking their dogs and were mad as hell and going to sue us my dad told them to call the law and get their check book out to pay for damages and ammo used. All they had to do was what they should have done in the first place (kept their dog at home)
Now all that being said I hated shooting those dogs but sometimes you have to do it.

[375RUGER]

I can see both sides of this. If it isa recurring problem then obviously the owners care little about their dog anyway. However anyone who has ever owned a dog knows that sometimes they get out. I could see a grumpy farmer shooting every dog he ever sees immediately causing problems too. Problems occur when EITHER side of the fence line fails to exercise a reasonable amount of good will toward his neighbor.

Sometimes they do just get out. But if they "just get out" once and the first thing they do is go after livestock then I'm with you fellas.
my son's beagle got out once and got shot, it was a flesh wound and I just gave him a shot of penicillin and told him it was his own fault.

[TreeKiller]

Knew a man that rented irrigated pasture, lots of houses around and people with dogs. He went to all of them and ask them to keep there dogs under control. All said that they did. He bought a male Lama and put in with the cows and would go out each morning and pick up the dogs that were dead from a broken neck, found a coyote also. People could forge how there dogs disappeared.

[smokeywolf]

It's real simple. If you love your dog, keep it on your own property. If your hunting, keep the dog under close supervision. If you do neither of these, don't be shocked when you lose your dog.

smokeywolf

[crawfobj]

There's a pack of dogs that run our deer lease fairly frequently. I know of one that has gone missing. There were 2 more that would have disappeared last time I was there, but I didn't want to have to explain it to my 6 year old son who was with me.

It really is a shame that these animals have to pay the price for their owners' irresponsibility, but it is what it is. My parents had a dog that was shot by a neighbor. He was justified 100% in doing it.

[dilly]

Can we agree that it's irresponsible (not even legal, at least in my area) to simply shoot every dog you see on your property that's not yours, without having ever seen it before, talked to the owners, etc.? If it's attacking your livestock, a constant threat, or any of a number legitimate extenuating circumstances, that's a different story.

Think about the effect that will have on your neighbors, or on peoples' view of guns and gun owners, etc. Many people worship their pets. You've got to protect your livestock no doubt, but things could OFTEN be handled more diplomatically.

Grumpy neighbors can make a shooter's life pretty difficult.

Sorry, I guess I sometimes play the devil's advocate.

[waksupi]

If you have good neighbors, you don't need to worry about their dogs. If you let your dogs run free, you are not a good neighbor.

[nvbirdman]

I always figuered that if my dog caused a problem and never came home again it was the dogs fault.

[johnnybar]

I always figuered that if my dog caused a problem and never came home again it was the dogs fault. nv' That's a recurring thought pattern of dog owners that appear in court after a child is mauled or beloved pet is attacked and killed. Dogs are descendants from wolves and by nature, hunt and kill. It is unequivocally the owners responsibility to control their animal or be prepared to $PAY$ the consequences. With the price of livestock now, I would think that any dog owner would not want to risk the high cost of no chain vs the low cost of a chain let alone human attacks. No one ever believes their Fido will turn killer in a pack. My wife has had packs of 4 to 5 dogs try to chase her down on horse back and they weren't playing. Best guess was Great Dane mix, Lab mix and Collie mix ..not your typical attack breeds. Thanks to that hair raising event, she is now very proficient with a revolver and semiauto rifle.

[Bad Water Bill]

Neither of my dogs would leave the porch till they felt the snap of the restraining leash AND I said GO.

If you are a RESPONSIBLE owner your pet should be trained the same way.

If you do not assume those responsibilities do not be surprised if your pet never returns home again. You are the villain but your pet paid the price.

[Down South]

If you have good neighbors, you don't need to worry about their dogs. If you let your dogs run free, you are not a good neighbor.
What Ric said. I never let my dogs run loose when I had outside dogs. I spent a lot of money on containment. Either pens, above ground fences, under ground fences or chains. The only dogs that I ever chained were my Cur dogs. They were hog dogs and bad to the bone.


Can we agree that it's irresponsible (not even legal, at least in my area) to simply shoot every dog you see on your property that's not yours, without having ever seen it before
I never shot every dog I saw on my property. I only took out ones that were chasing cows or other stock. All dogs aren't bad. A lot of dogs get along just fine with livestock and they can get a free pass if they just happen to be wandering through.

[Jim]

Janet and I have been married just over five years now and in all that time, NEVER has one of our dogs gotten loose. 'Nough said on that.

As for shooting dogs on our property, we don't own livestock, so there's nothing for roaming dogs to attack. I did, however, pepper a dog with a load of #6s one day. I came home, got out of the truck and was confronted by a 60 to 70 pound mongrel growling and showing his teeth at me. "You ain't from 'round here, are ya', boy?" I reached behind the seat of the truck, pulled out my ol' 12 gauge single barrel truck shotgun and gave him a good peppering at about 50 yards. He left, post haste, and I have not seen him since.

On one other occasion, our four dogs were in the front yard inside the fence. I heard a heck of a rucus and went to the front door to find another dog outside the fence displaying his bravado. A load of #7 1/2s from a .410 quickly solved that problem. Like the first dog, that one has not returned either.

[Bad Water Bill]

When I moved here 40 years ago we had many birds nesting in the bushes and trees. Then some folks moved in with their kitty katz. One cat took out 4 cardinal nests in a week. Well living in the city presents a problem. SOLUTION a Crossman air rifle fired from inside my hallway THRU the door screen. Pick up the evidence place in a BLACK plastic bag and deposit in a nearby stores dumpster. Yes I am quite good at replacing screen wire.:bigsmyl2:

If a cat is STALKING in my yard it is a good target rich area.

Sorry but if I must control my dogs you MUST control your kitty katz or else accept the consequences.

[arkypete]

My ex's uncle raised sheep in Augusta County, near the town. We could sit up on the hill in the center of his farm and watch the dogs come out of the sub division near by, to run the sheep. The dogs were various breeds, some pure bred and some mongrel. Didn't make much difference, once the dogs were in pasture with the sheep they were shot.
The farmer would round up the carcass's and dump them in a gully for the buzzards.
Seems like this was a every two year event. Once the lead dog and the pack were killed off it would take a couple of years for new pack to form.

Jim

[jmort]

"I never shot every dog I saw on my property. I only took out ones that were chasing cows or other stock. All dogs aren't bad. A lot of dogs get along just fine with livestock and they can get a free pass if they just happen to be wandering through."

At least someone has an above par golf I.Q.

[Bad Water Bill]

Many years ago there was a problem with dogs in a local forest preserve.

Well by the time every one that could stick their noses in did there were over 20 different L E Os involved and a good thing it was. They found out there were over 35 dogs in a pack and VERY protective of their territory. At the end of the war ALL dogs were dead.

No reports of injured L E Os but some said they were awfully low on ammo when the battle was over.

Some people just get tired of their dogs and dump them anywhere it is convenient for the X owners.

[KCSO]

"Any dog running at large and either running or harrassing livestock may be destroyed..." The law here in Nebraska and we use to get calls every couple weeks. The worst one was a 1/2 wolf that somebody dumped and it went though town killing every thing it could catch.

[1Shirt]

Many years ago in south western N.Y. I shot 3 wild dogs that were running in a pack. I was grouse hunting in an area where there were no houses or farms within at least a half a mile or more. One was a big shaggy ugly poodle, the other two were cross breeds, one of which had at least some shepard in him. All three were males. From the looks of the poodle being unkept and mangy, had been wild for a fair number of time. One of the crosses had a collar, the other did not. There were a lot of people who camped in that area during the warm weather, and some dogs possibly just wandered off I am sure, and some people probably just dumped them off. It doesn't take very long for a domestic dog to go feral, and if they pack up they can be dangerous not only to livestock but to humans as well.

I have loved all of the dogs that I have had over the years, but I took care of them both at home and when hunting in the field. Agree with KCSO and Ne. law. Don't know about all the other states, but if they don't have the same laws it is a mistake.
1Shirt!

[Echo]

My wife's uncle raised cattle and chickens in NE Texas. Once, when visiting, he pointed out a dog and asked me to shoot him (Buddy didn't have a gun to do it - didn't trust his .22). Seems the dog had been abandoned by city folks and would lay in wait by the big screen door at the end of his big chicken coop. When a chicken came within reach, the dog would dive under the door enough to grab the chicken. The chicken squawking scared the rest of the chickens, with understandable loss to Buddy. So I shot the dog. Hated it, but had to do it.

[x101airborne]

Anyone who wants to reply to this via PM to me is welcome.

Some months ago, we had a little boy killed by a pit bull. When I put it on here to watch your kids and that I (I am responsible for my own actions) would kill any dog I saw that could pose a threat to my family, many of the same people talking here said that I was an idiotic, bloodthirsty Texan and eventually I asked the mods to close and delete the thread because of some of the nastyness posted in the thread.
You know who you are and damn shame on you. Running on me for watching out for my family, but getting all huffy over livestock. This is also why I treat trespassers like dogs. Yous pays yous debts and takes yous chances.

And to be CLEAR..... It was NOT JIM!

That's all I gots to say about that.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I recall back in the `50`s and `60`s we had a problem with dogs. Seems "city people" would bring `ole Fido out into the country and toss him out near a farm, those nice farm people will care for him they would assume. Well, `ole Fido would be almost starved to death by nobody feeding him when he would take to killing small farm animals or running them thru fences. We kept an old #4 Lee Enfield behind the kitchen door with 8 rounds in the magazine just for these wild pets. I recall 1 summer we dispatched 13 "pets" that had turned feral. We had a milk cow that had lost both ears to dogs gnawing them off her when she was a calf, she had no use for any dog after that.Robert

[firefly1957]

No complaints from me if the dogs are owned the owners should be held responsible for the damage. Jim you said that there is nothing to attack at your place but you had one challenge you I was attacked a couple years ago by a stay Rottweiler right in my front yard. Thank you Corebon their 45 ACP 165 gr +p load stopped the attack instantly animal control looked the corpse over and did not think it had ever been cared for. When i was 18 some friends asked me and another to clean out dogs after they killed their sons rabbits (4H project) . Later not far from there a guy i worked with had a dairy farm with his father he killed 30 dogs in a year and one of the owners went to jail over it (animal negligent charges allowing it to run causing death) . The main thing is to check the law and maybe talking to who would be likely to respond to a complaint. By the way don't put them in the creek leave them for the buzzards!

[firefly1957]

P.S. A good thing to say if asked: Yep your dog was barely ahead of the coyotes when it crossed the road! Pointing far from were it was last.

[dilly]

I kind of think there are two kinds of cats: inside cats and feral cats. Doesn't seem to be a whole lot of middle ground there.

Guess how I feel about feral cats.

[blackthorn]

x101airborne-----Good for you!! If its on my property and appears to pose a threat to my family--its dead!

[Freightman]

Had pit bull come after me on a walk around the neighborhood pulled my large knife and dared him to come on. His owner ask what I intended to do? cut his throat and whip his owner I said! two weeks later Sheriff came and shot the dog for attacking a child and fined the owner. I now carry my pistol and not afraid to defend myself. Had dogs my whole life but they were well trained and never were allowed out of the yard without a leash on, my dog now will not go out the gate unless I tell her so and has a leash on. Dogs can be trained if you care.
PS and you can see how vicious she is in my avitar !