Shooting a Dog to protect your dog justified?

[XoXSciFiGuy]

I understand you can shoot a dog if you feel your life is in danger from a dog attack.

But what if you are walking your nice retriever at the park and a pit bull attacks your dog? Say it has a hold of your retrievers neck and you know your dog is about to be killed. Is shooting the attacking dog justified?

I cannot find any info on this in the ordinance... I carry when I walk my dog and was thinking about the senario being a possibility when a pitbull was severely harrasing us and I had to fend it off with a stick. Thankfully the dog's intentions were to mount my retriever but what if its intentions were to kill my dog?

Here is my advice in two parts:

If you are out walking your dog, don't pack any weapon you really care about that much. Pack a weapon you would sell in a heartbeat if the price was reasonable. This is in case it gets confiscated for 'evidence' by the cops.

If you don't feel okay with packing a weapon, carry a good hiking stick and buy yourself some Frontiersman bear spray from Amazon. Even a pit bull will hit the ground and cry like a baby if it gets a whiff of that stuff. It will stop a polar bear in its tracks and the bigger size reaches 35 feet easily. The smaller size 30 feet. Aim LOW when you use it.



(My nickname on a Nissan truck support forum is 'SciFi Guy".)

 

[rednek80]

If you need to get a dog to let go of something in it's mouth just insert a finger in it's south end. Instant let-go.

 

[American123]

If you need to get a dog to let go of something in it's mouth just insert a finger in it's south end. Instant let-go.

Total domination lol

 

[CamoDeafie]

RallySoob

Last seen Nov 22, 2013

Well. 6 years and 11 months ago.

Safe to say they're probably not gonna come back?

 

[bbbass]

Totally agree.

Consequences be damned. This is a LIFE we're talking about, and in our case it's also FAMILY.

Ours is a beta female Rott and a total sweetheart at that, in her ninth year. We've NEVER allowed her to be aggressive with other dogs, other than when she's being attacked, usually by smaller dogs. I just don't want her to trigger that instinct for fightig and blood.

However recently we had a conflict which caught us by surprise. There's a large old school nearby that's now a privately owed thrift store. We'd been there before, without our dog, and they had their very friendly dogs running throughout. We always told ourselves we'd have to go back there with our Rott.

We entered and a couple of the dogs greeted us, escorting us throughout the building. All were havig fun, ours was unleashed as well.

We rounded a corner and heard a deep barking coming from an out-of-sight location. Suddely this huge Great Dane mix came directly toward our dog with an aggressive look and growl. I'd have jumped into its path to distract it but the dog was on a mission and I had no idea if it would attack humans as well.

It immediately cornered our Rott and turned up the heat, as hostile as one can get without the actual attack. Our dog was absolutely baffled. I hadn't given her the command to attack, me thinking this was yet another posturing episode that would end with sniffing and eventual boredom.

It was clear that it was elevating and that this dog could easily kill ours if intended. I wasn't going to get between them but let out a swift kick to the dogs flanks. That triggered the attack. I continued to kick until the owner materialized and intervened, removing his dog from the premises with apologies. We'd met them before and they were really good people, but this was clearly beyond the pale.

Should this happen again I'll immediately give the command so she KNOWS she has permission to be aggressive, putting herself on full guard. The thing I FORGOT to do when kicking from the flank side was to do a STOMACH KICK. Dogs are extremely sensitive to be kicked in the stomach, between their legs and below the rib base. It'll shut them down in a hurry.

Because of the setting and the fact that we'd already screened the place before, we were totally caught off guard. I didn't even carry into the building for exactly that reason, very small town setting, population around 200.

Had I been armed and my dog was in a death thro and pinned by the neck by this huge dog, I'd have shot him without hesitation. If the owner suddenly showed while this was going on, and attacked me in the process, I'd have done all I could to set some distance between us but I may have shot him as well.

I see this as no different than having my child attacked. What would ANYONE do to protect their child from a deadly situation?

Yep, I owned a large brindle colored Great Dane... I used to buy it huge soup bones and to watch that dog power thru a 3" bone was fearsome. My ex had a barky lil Pomeranian and it made the mistake of attacking the Dane, which casually leaned over and "chomp" on the dogs head... knocked him out for 2hrs. The Dane was pretty calm, but did not like the mailman, would stand up against a 6' high block wall and still be head and shoulders above it... so a lot of times we didn't get our mail.

OTH, here in Island City my current wife goes for walks. There was one property owner that had a Rottie fenced in the backyard. That dog's barking at passersby terrorized the entire neighborhood. And one day when the wife was walking our beloved Bichon past their house, that Rottie came zooming past her and attacked our Bichon. Made it scream as she pinned it down to the pavement by her neck. Somehow my wife got Chloe away from the Rott. So we asked around, people we knew in the neighborhood, and found out there had been lots of incident, but nobody ever filed a complaint. We did. In court the owners claimed their kids had left the gate open and that their Rottie was gentle and just playing with my dog.... NOT!!! They got a fine, dog was designated as aggressive, they had to post signage on the fence, and were told not to let it happen again. Out in the parking lot, the owners asked us if we were from California, because here dogs run free and everybody lets their dog(s) run free. Again..... NOT!!!

A few months later, the wife was walking our Bichon on a major road next to the neighborhood. That Rottie comes barreling out of some new construction and again menaces and attacks our Bichon. This was witnessed be several motorists that stopped on the street to help. The wonderful owner of the Rottie was working at the construction site and allowed his Rott to run free while he worked. So we file another complaint, and had witnesses to what really happened and that the Rott was indeed dog aggressive. They got a bigger fine, and were told that if it happened again their Rottie would be destroyed. They moved out of the neighborhood... HALLELUJAH!!!

My USCG buddy (retired) raised Rotts, my best friend's daughter had one. We've been told repeatedly that the breed is territorial. Much as I love to pet dogs, I was not to approach the daughters truck bed when her Rott was in the back, and when we visited my USCG buddy in Wasilla AK, we were not to get out of the car on his property until he called off his dogs. So I'm wary of the breed.

People keep saying that it's the owner, the training, the lack of training... IDK I've met some lovable Pitties, but I've also been bit by one unprovoked. My wife now carries pepper spray and a .357 snubbie.

 

[Gunguy931]

I'd shoot a bubbleguming person to protect my dog. You try to hurt my boy, you're done.

 

[bbbass]

Bigger problem is feral cats dominating the neighborhood and crapping in our yard. The Bichon seemed to think cat crap was lovely perfume and rolled in it. Ugh, it's the worst. So I declared war on feral cats. Trapped and delivered to the shelter but they will no longer take them.

 

[tdawg]

Even though this thread has been revived I'll offer some thoughts,

1. People, do NOT use bear spray unless it's for Bears! There is the common misconception that because it says "bear" it is somehow stronger, and will be more effective. In fact the opposite is true, "bear spray" is actually weaker and less effective on non-bear targets than regular pepper spray, if you are going to use pepper spray of some variety make sure it is the good stuff, and NOT bear spray.

2. If you intend to use a firearm, make sure it is one that you have actually practiced with and can shoot confidently. The last thing you want to do is frantically popping shots off in a gun you bought simply because you were worried that your favorite gun may be confiscated. Firearms are tools, and as such are replaceable, friends, family, dogs, etc. are obviously not.

 

[bbbass]

I'd shoot a bubbleguming person to protect my dog. You try to hurt my boy, you're done.

You let your large dangerous dog run free and it attacks me or mine... BRING IT ON!!!

 

[wired]

I wouldnt hesitate. Thats the main reason I carry a gun while walking my dog. I dont care about your unleashed dog if it attacks my leashed dog. End of story. Your dog is getting shot.

 

[wired]

How about:

Kick the offending dog. If it does not immediately retreat, then shoot it "because it was going for my leg!"

Having had a staph infection from a dog bite that nearly cost me a foot...no thanks. A dogs mouth is NOT cleaner than your mouth. ( OK maybe YOUR mouth ) Dogs getting shot.

 

[JRuby]

If someone were to shoot my dog I would think that I may be next. Shooting someone else's dog may bring undesired consequences

 

[RVTECH]

I'd shoot a bubbleguming person to protect my dog. You try to hurt my boy, you're done.

Better hope that also includes justifiably protecting yourself as well or you too are done.

Dogs don't get a whole lot of defense in court.

 

[wired]

If someone were to shoot my dog I would think that I may be next. Shooting someone else's dog may bring undesired consequences

You could be next

 

[JRuby]

You could be next

Hopefully we never find out

 

[CamoDeafie]

If someone were to shoot my dog I would think that I may be next. Shooting someone else's dog may bring undesired consequences

If your dog was unleashed, aggressive, not obeying commands, lunging towards other dogs, even biting them or biting people; then yeah, that be the consequences, dog gets killed, either by a gun or a doctor.

 

[JRuby]

If your dog was unleashed, aggressive, not obeying commands, lunging towards other dogs, even biting them or biting people; then yeah, that be the consequences, dog gets killed, either by a gun or a doctor.

Dogs are part of my family, they sleep in our bedroom at night - I spend a great deal of time working with my dogs. They are the first thing I do in the morning and the last thing I do at night besides kissing my wife good night. However dogs will be dogs and they rarely cross the road or chase the cat but they are not prefect and I think needing to shoot someone's dog says a lot about the individual doing the shooting. I have had to pull a pit bull off my old dog at the dog park because some individuals think that an off leash dog park is a free for all. So yes I have been involved in violent dog attacks but there has never been a need to kill someone else's dog.

 

[CamoDeafie]

My friend had a vet put down his 6 year old German Short Hair Pointer after she bit a child at the dog park, even though he raised her from a 10 week old pup... she was always a good dog, and had good manners most of the time, being very affectionate with people.. it didnt matter, she bit a child unprovoked... his belief... no matter the prior behavior, if the dog bit someone with no prior provocation, that dog didn't get to stay alive long. He grew up with farmers and ranchers in his family, so that colored his views.

 

[CLT65]

Better hope that also includes justifiably protecting yourself as well or you too are done.

Dogs don't get a whole lot of defense in court.

True. It appears that some dog owners are as blindly territorial as their dogs. Shooting a person to protect your dog will land you in prison for murder.

For the record, I would never shoot a dog unless I had absolutely no choice to protect human life. As wonderful of companions that dogs can be, they are not people, they are dogs. I do however, know two different people who have had to kill their own dogs because they snapped and attacked visiting friend in their homes. What a terrible thing.

I know this is a bit different, and probably sounds crazy to some city people who view their pets as human, but farmers are allowed to shoot and kill dogs that come onto their property and attack their livestock. We lost one of our dogs that way when I was young. The first time we were able to catch him and the neighbor let it go. The second time he had a taste for blood and was unstoppable. The neighbor shot him and my dad willingly paid for the dead sheep, with an apology. I wonder how many people here would have gone over and murdered the neighboring farmer...

 

[bbbass]

Better hope that also includes justifiably protecting yourself as well or you too are done.

Dogs don't get a whole lot of defense in court.

Yes, AFAIK legally dogs are "property" not beings. Like it or not, you can't shoot humans over property and call it justified. The law regarding use of deadly force is very clear on this!!!