Should I warn neighbor that dog might get shot?

morgdanielle · 2022-07-15T10:05:11-0500

Two dogs came into my yard today and chased my chickens and killed one of my roosters. I kept them away with my next door neighbor with a stick and shovel. I wasn’t upset at first, but they came back and tried to get more. I think they belonged to two different neighbors because they kept driving by and one time I heard one car saying I don’t know whose brown dog that is. Then the other car kept circling the block. When the dogs came back one had bubbles all over its chin so my husband got the gun. The dogs ran away but when the neighbors drove by again I yelled, “if your dogs keep killing chickens they’re going to get shot”. I don’t want to shoot any dogs but my husband said I probably shouldn’t have told them that. I’m from a middle of nowhere small town where no one gave a warning. If there was a dog getting the chickens, it would just be a sad day for the dog. What advice or opinion do you have? I am a fairly new chicken owner.

ChickyWhicky · 2022-07-15T10:09:02-0500

You can contact your local law enforcement and let them know the dogs are continuing to come onto your property and kill your livestock. They may intervein or give you advice.
Personally, if the dogs have killed a bird already and I saw them on my property again, I would shoot to kill. I suppose the morally correct thing to do would be to reach out to the owners and try to reach an understanding but if they continue to fail to keep their dogs on their property, I believe you have the right to shoot to kill if they are damaging/killing your livestock.

april29 · 2022-07-15T10:13:22-0500

Oh my goodness. I could never shoot a dog over chickens. How.about a tranquilizer gun or bait it and capture then turn it over to animal control. Killing th dog seems extreme

kcult · 2022-07-15T10:16:35-0500

Without knowing more about your property, your neighbor's property, and your location, my first bit of advice would be to apply the 3S protocol.

As I learn more, I may tweak my advice.

nuthatched · 2022-07-15T10:27:41-0500

I wouldn't shoot someone's pet, after all, it's the owner that needs to secure the dog and it's not the dogs fault for behaving how most dogs behave around chickens. I'd call the sheriff for loose dogs and killed livestock, and charge the owner for the loses. Not knowing how your set up is, or if it a fence in or fence out county, it's impossible to say how to handle your security.

Pampered chicken girl · 2022-07-15T10:36:44-0500

Trap it and handed over to the pound if the owners aren't going to keep control their dog and it's wandering around killing your chickens I wouldn't kill it but you have the right to trap a random dog and give it over to animal control

Pampered chicken girl · 2022-07-15T10:38:31-0500

Or like @nuthatched said call the cops next time you see the dog let the cops take the dog away.

BlueBaby · 2022-07-15T10:41:46-0500

morgdanielle said:
Two dogs came into my yard today and chased my chickens and killed one of my roosters. I kept them away with my next door neighbor with a stick and shovel. I wasn’t upset at first, but they came back and tried to get more. I think they belonged to two different neighbors because they kept driving by and one time I heard one car saying I don’t know whose brown dog that is. Then the other car kept circling the block. When the dogs came back one had bubbles all over its chin so my husband got the gun. The dogs ran away but when the neighbors drove by again I yelled, “if your dogs keep killing chickens they’re going to get shot”. I don’t want to shoot any dogs but my husband said I probably shouldn’t have told them that. I’m from a middle of nowhere small town where no one gave a warning. If there was a dog getting the chickens, it would just be a sad day for the dog. What advice or opinion do you have? I am a fairly new chicken owner.

You mean that the owner is driving past and knows that their dog is in your yard, but fail's to call the dog back to them?

ashcons · 2022-07-15T10:46:06-0500

Are you able to secure your birds to buy you time to manage a solution other than SSS?

If you don't have a secure area, then shoot them. Other posters here sometimes forget that 1) dogs are predators too, 2) free-roaming dogs aren't pets, 3) trapping/catching to turn over to AC will take time you may not have while your birds are being killed, and 4) LEO in a small town may tell you to hash it out with the owners and in the meantime your birds are under threat from uncontrolled predators.

Document what has happened, phone it in, but SSS if you need to protect your birds.

Idaho Chicken Bungalow · 2022-07-15T10:55:42-0500

Get a video camera for security if there is retaliation. And work the next few days keep the dogs out and consider them a predator. I can't tell you the number of times I have heard or read a story starting, "We used to have chickens, but our neighbors' dog killed them...

Should I warn neighbor that dog might get shot?

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