Dogs again

[Watchdog]

Talk to the school bus driver. She has dispatched three pit bulls on our loop. They weren't mean dogs either, just bad at chasing school buses.

The school bus driver supposedly "dispatched" three dogs in the course of her duties as a bus driver?

Are you saying she killed them?

If this is true, exactly how did she "dispatch" them?

This sounds like baloney to me.

 

[Watchdog]

This issuse could happen around us. My point is what would you do?

You're basically asking for advice on something that hasn't happened yet, but which might happen one of these days, correct? And you're asking advice on something which would probably turn into some sort of a legal issue for you.

You really need to be asking these questions of your local law enforcement agency, or an attorney who practices in Florida...instead of a bunch of guys on an Internet forum, only a couple of whom actually live in Florida. That's because it doesn't matter what the laws are in South Carolina, Texas, or wherever...and it doesn't matter what someone else did x-number of years ago or what they say they saw another someone else do in similar situations.

You're wasting your time asking here.

 

[robertrwalsh]

Is there a leash law where you are? If not, and the dog was on a public right-of-way you could maybe have a problem if you shot the dog. As noted by several others, REPORT aggressive off-leash dogs. Establish a track record.

That being said you have a legitimate medical issue where dog bites would be very bad for you. Does the dog have it's shots? Does it wear a collar with tags so you KNOW or at least reasonably suspect it's had its shots? Being able to articulate all this if push comes to shove is important.

 

[Cal-MI]

A warning shot is usually unadvised and often illegal. It may delay or negate effective action. But dogs are very sensitive to noise, so in this case it might be effective if the dog is not too close. If he is charging, it might be too late for a warning and you need to make an effective shot.

 

[SMSgt]

Sometimes troublesome dogs disappear in the night.

 

[blues7]

I would speak to the county sheriff or the local LE in your area and explain both your condition and the circumstances. Offer to accompany them to the dog owner to explain the situation and what might result out of necessity if your life is put at risk by dogs not under control by the owner.

Once this is documented, should the dog make an aggressive approach, all bets are off. Better the dog than you.

You may need to consider moving, if that is a possibility, simply because elimination of the dog does not equate to elimination of the larger problem.

 

[SATX]

Talk to your neighbor, then the police. Shoot the dog if you are in fear for your safety. Don’t shoot the dog because you’re pissed your neighbors let it run free.

 

[IAhunter]

Yes, shoot the dog if you are in danger and an attack seems imminent. Do not fire warning shots, shoot the dog.

Co-worker of mine just had a very similar issue. His dogs are penned outside at night. At 4AM he hears a racket at the kennel and grabs a 12 gauge and flashlight to investigate, as a mountain lion has been seen cruising the neighborhood at night. He finds two large (100+ lbs.) mastiffs attempting to get through the chain link of his dog kennel to get at his smaller dogs. He yells at and throws rocks at the mastiffs. They turn their attention from his dogs to him and start heading his way growling and showing teeth. He fired two rounds of OO buck, one at each. The first mastiff ran off, the second was DRT.

Police arrive along with animal control. Animal control recognize the dead dog (of course without collar or tags) and are familiar with the very irresponsible owners. Yeah, the Officer has dealt with these dogs previously. Obviously, no charges against my buddy. Animal control visited the mastiffs owners to ID the dead one. It was their's, and they were fined $500 per dog. My buddy's dogs held their own against the mastiff's, but they were both injured and needed to be stitched up to the tune of $1000 total at the vet's office. Guessing he will have to sue the idiot mastiff owners in small claims.

Not much blood to trail on the mastiff that ran, but it is believed he was hit and he hasn't returned home. I'm thinking it ran off into the hills and dropped. "Buzzards gotta eat, same as the worm." Monday morning will be three weeks ago this happened.

 

[Oldfrt]

They make ultrasonic dog repellents, I had one but wore it out after several droppings from the trike and about 5 years of use (they do work on most dogs). Also, I would only use a pepper spray such as HALT on a domestic animal, it is approved by the SPCA and I always have a can on the trike (available at most bicycle shops for about $10).

I would try talking to the neighbor, if you do have to go the gun route, I would recommend something not concealed, large with maybe a 410 game control load for the first round.

I had a problem with one neighbors dogs jumping on my fence while I mow, a short burst of HALT is all it took to keep the dogs off my fence, so far that burst has lasted several years. You don't have to directly spray the dog, I just put a screen between me and the animal, if they run into it they usually turn tail pretty quick.

 

[Smoke]

Here's my hypothetical

The response I'm looking for is "shoot the dog" so I'm going to construct a scenario that closes absolutely every other option. Then I'm going to ask

"Should I shoot the dog?"

 

[Watchdog]

Here's my hypothetical

The response I'm looking for is "shoot the dog" so I'm going to construct a scenario that closes absolutely every other option. Then I'm going to ask

"Should I shoot the dog?"

Among a certain demographic, the answer will always be "yes".

 

[Wise_A]

Call a criminal defense attorney that works your county instead of asking the internet for good ideas.

 

[max503]

Shooting a dog is a big responsibility. Almost like shooting a person.

My neighbor's dog poops and digs in my yard. It growls at me, but it's a wiener dog. If it came at me I would boot it into tomorrow. I thought about shooting it with a paint ball gun so it could go home with a splotch.
It's owner is a teacher who should know better. People should know better, but they don't.

I'm a bicyclist. We used to like in a rural area where people let their dogs run free - against the law. I used Halt on them. It is what the mailman uses. The trick with Halt is to let the dog get real close then give them a good dose right in the kisser. You have to hold off shooting until "you can see the whites of their eyes." Wait until they are almost in contact distance. I've actually used it a good number of times and I can testify to it's effectiveness.

 

[GeoJelly]

Good thread with some very good info - Thanks! I have had hesitation to walk in our area because of a potential dog threat. There haven’t been any issues but it only needs to happen once when it comes to pitbull’s. I had never considered bear spray until this thread - I found it on Amazon and I’m going to order at least a “live” can and maybe an inert/training can. I can legally carry a handgun, and still will, but the bear spray seems like a very good alternative to shots fired.

And $40 for a can of bear spray is a great alternative to paying $250 to some scheister lawyer!

 

[NYlakesider]

This issuse could happen around us. My point is what would you do ? Here goes . You live rural aera. Your property is on fenced chain link. You have had neighbors pit bull type dogs loose that have chased folks in past.Fridays are trash days so you have to take cans to front road. Roads aren't paved. Let's say you have major health issuse and on massive blood thiners also a dog bite could be very bad news . Ok your takeing trash out your gate. The bad dog comes running down your fence line. Growling showing teeth. You say stay or stop loud voice . Dog keeps comeing. What do you do put a round off in ground to scare off dog or do you drop dog? My thing is what is cop gonna say either way?

Understand you as I'm on Coumadin!

At age 72 and had a couple cancer surgeries I'm not too good at hands on any more.

Did a lot of thinking and made my mind up about what I will or will not do under most situations. I used the word most because you can not figure everything out before hand some times.

What I will say here is understand the 21' rule and realize that for me covers more than a person with a knife. Of course dealing with much faster moving animals I would increase the 21' rule to something much longer.

 

[misswired]

The school bus driver supposedly "dispatched" three dogs in the course of her duties as a bus driver?



If this is true,

This sounds like baloney to me.

Some Friendly advice: you need to update your crystal ball.

 

[Minorcan]

Seek legal advice by talking with local LEO and file a report. Document dog activity with photos, show to local LEO for further documentation. Ask the LEO to talk with neighbor, may help or hurt if you are present, the LEO will advise. Some states allow for a “Peace Bond” specifying your neighbor or agent (the dogs) to come within so may feet of you. Then legal charges could be brought against your neighbor, whiteness and photos would be best (further documentation).

As a last step shoot to protect yourself but expect ill will and vandalism from your sorry neighbor.

 

[Watchdog]

Some Friendly advice: you need to update your crystal ball.

I don't have a crystal ball, nor am I clairvoyant. I don't see what crystal balls have to do with this, anyway. I asked you a serious question about something you posted in this thread.

Since you quoted me, but edited out my questions, I'll ask them again:

The school bus driver supposedly "dispatched" three dogs in the course of her duties as a bus driver?

Are you saying she killed them?

If this is true, exactly how did she "dispatch" them?

This sounds like baloney to me.

Will you answer the questions or not?

If not, it'll still sound like baloney to me.

 

[smoothshooter]

File a complaint first if there's time.
You need to start creating a paper trail.

Then apply the Golden Rule of dealing with troublesome dogs:

SHOOT
SHOVEL
AND SHUT UP

 

[Mainsail]

Report EVERY single, aggressive dog act / incident to your local Animal Control Department. If there isn't a designated AC, then the local police. Document every call, date, time, name of person you spoke with, names of responders, etc. You need to establish a record of reported aggression. The "response" isn't the important issue. You documenting your call to authorities is very important.

Definitely.

Along with your handgun, purchase and carry a good quality Pepper Spray, the same kind carried by police, postal workers, UPS, FedEx, etc. I've used it, it's very effective.

If the aggressive dog comes within range of the pepper spray, give him a good dose right in his face.

Wise counsel. I would suggest the smaller canisters of bear spray as they tend to put out a greater volume of product with a larger cone. You may not be super accurate and with the smaller-stream sprays there is a better chance you might miss.