O/T Lousy Neighbor...advise please...

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
I have a neighbor behind me about 1/8 mile away, I bought the farm 6 years ago, and they were there before me. I grew up in this area 2 miles from my farm. These people are obvious "cidiots". Recentlty in the past week they got another dog. Tuesday I cught the dogs on my property trying to get in the hen yard to my chickens. The result was some tore up wire and a broken eye hook. I chased off the dogs and repaired the damage. Today the dogs came back tore throgh the wire and killed one of my chickens. I repaired the damage again and paid the neighbor a visit. This lady acted like she didnt care and it was no big deal! She said he husband was out of town, and i told her when he returns I would like to talk to him..hopefully he is a little more caring than she was. I dont want to shoot their dogs but its getting pretty darn temping. And its not the dogs fault, its the stupid lazy owner is what the problem is..What would you do??? Get the Sheriff involved??? or next time coax the dogs into my truck and take them to an animal shelter in the next county??
 
SSS would have worked GREAT if you hadn't messed it up by going over and arguing with her first!
 
what do you like better? your chickens or a bad dog.i came outside one day and had 2 dogs chasing my chickens. went in got the gun shot the dog with my rooster in its mouth. Rooster lived dog didn't. found out later it was my neighbors dog and when i told them what happened they could care less. Sad for the dog but you think an animal shelter will be different results? Never saw the other dog again.
 
Shooting them or taking them anywhere (other than back to the owner or LOCAL pound) would likely get you in legal trouble. If talking to the husband doesn't change anything, call the sheriff/animal control officer. Pictures/video will go a long ways in proving your case, if it comes to that.
I know what you mean about cidiots. We have them here too. Dogs running free, don't put up snow fence and 4-wheeler/blade can't handle the snow, so can you plow my driveway, pull me out of the ditch... etc., etc.
 
Call me hard-hearted if you must. Any dog I catch on our farm that I do not recognize gets a dose of lead, or at least chased off. Any dog I do recognize as a neighbors, gets chased off. Any dog doing anything 'antisocial' on our farm gets a dose of lead and disappears. I would expect the same of any of our dogs, if they roamed and caused trouble.

Christopher
 
Take pictures of the damage, and dead birds. Send them a bill for both with pictures. Include your labor cost on fence repair.
 
You now have to talk to the womans husband and then see what happens.
If the guy doesnt care them wait a month and shoot the dog with a rifle bullet. Hopefully you are a good shot cause you dont want to fire 3 times to hit the dog and they know the direction of the shots.
I have ZERO respect for people who let their dogs run loose and tear up property, livestock, possibly kids.
 
I applaud you for your attempt to reason with them first, shows you are a good neighbor. However, if I saw the dog after my chickens again I would shoot it,bury it and keep the whole episode to myself.
 
Do you have animal control in your county? After a couple of people got killed by loose dogs, they take animal control pretty seriously. The woman whoose dogs killed 2 people is in prison for 10 years, and the white trash that let his dogs kill a neighbor's mininature bull got jail and had to pay restitution for damages. Stupidity has consequences. I have some pretty big dogs, but they are never allowed to run loose.
 
Call the Sheriff and find out what the laws are on that one. O know in my area it is legal to shoot the dog and also you can take them to court for any and all damages to your property. Either way get the sheriff involved with it so that if you have more problems you have the law on your side maybe if the law in your area is any good that is
 
Yup.

SSS is best, but ya do what ya have to. Maine state law is clear, if the dog is molesting your livestock you can shoot it. Been there, done that, while the owner watched.

He called the cops. Cops asked where my property line was, looked at the dog laying right where I dropped him, said "Nice shot." and told the neighbor he could pursue a civil suit if he wanted but I was within my rights to protect my livestock.
 
Got to agree with other in that since you allready went over to the owners , go the legal route , take photos and keep records of all labor and expences. Animal control will do the first part and they will enter sherriff if needed. Make the owners pay....NOT the animal. I would like to know this from all the posters...if their COW came over and tore out your fences and ate your corn and trampled your beans , would you shoot it??? WHY NOT?
 
After the second episode, I"d be inclined to SSS myself.
Along the same vein, when I was a kid (a long, long time ago) my Dad told me how to cure a dog of killing chickens. Beat the dog with the dead chicken! I guess that was generally when your own dog was killing your own chickens.
 
In Pa if you call the dog catcher they take them to an animal shelter for free but owner has to pay to get them back. and depending on the violation all damages the animal did. It is law you must have control of your pets at all times.

Maybe Dave 2 will reply on this--- I heard long time ago in Germany if you run over a chicken they take into consideration how many eggs they would possibly lay the rest of their lifetime and you paid for those too.
 
Here in South Carolina in would be LEGAL th shoot the dog (if it's killing/harming farm animals) and the owner of the dogis liable for the damage (cost of fence, and dead/injured) animals, I would just shoot the dog and be done with it!
 
definaltely legal in KY to shoot the dog, but since you have already made contact with the family I would call the sheriff and advise him of the situation Before they do, then I would certainly go and talk with the husband and politely let him know that you cannot allow loose animals to harm your livestock and that this is your second request for them to keep their dog off of your property.

If it comes back, take care of it then make sure your pets are contained
 
Shoot the dog and get it over with. We did that with one that was chasing cattle. Gave the cityfied neighbor fair warning and he didn't listen. Sheriff came and said where was the dog we showed and he said no problem. It was on our side that we had given a fair warning. But that was many years ago when the farmers had rights in this world. You can bet the dogs will be back and you will loose another chicken.
 
I understand your problem and I have a Neighbor
the same way: This is my answer: THE FIRST IS ON ME THE REST IS ON YOU; And I have shot my shair; I shoot to kill. I now it is not the dogs fault,
But the owner needs to be held responisble for it.
Every dog that I shot I took a PIC off it just to Cover my A--. and call"d the sherif and told him what just happend now it is on record.

My Neighbor and I have been at it for about 10 years I say he has a real thick head. At the price of his dogs. I look at it this way I dont feed them so there for it dose not bother me to shoot them, JR FRYE
 
LOL
Not quite the same as a dead chicken but my little rat terrier when I got her would eat the butt out of my dirty underwear. Scolded her a couple of times but it did no good. Finally caught her in the act and whooped her a few times with - you guessed it - the dirty underwear.
She never did it again.
 
I'm with you. No calls, no nothing, they just disappear. One and only one time somebody came asking I made the statement 'probably chasing someones cattle, those kinds dont last long around here'.
 
EXACTLY RIGHT!!! Too late now; it's been my experience that you can never reason with those kinds of people. Missing dog? What kind of dog? Don't know nuthin about no dog........
 
shoot it... sorry its the law of the wild. eat or be eaten.. and its up to you to protect the farm or lose the farm...
 
Now this is true.
Had a guy from big city move in where houses all couple acres of land and was in a small town. He bought chickens and a neighbors dogs killed some. City guy warned him but didn't do any good so he shot one of the dogs next time. Neighbor got mad and called cops. Cops told city guy that you can't shoot gun in town and that he and neighbor would have to work it out. City went to neighbor again but no good. Dogs came back and city guy caught one and hung it. Neighbor was mad and called cops again. Cops told him no law against hanging the dog and after they are all hung he won't have any trouble with any ones dogs because everyone will keep them up. Cop was right. City guy didn't have to hang any more cause neighbor kept them up.
 
a neighbor that lets a dog run loose all the time doesnt care about the dog anyway, got the same problem here except these dogs are smart when they hear the four wheeler start they quit barking, its just a matter of time, if you dont get them they will be back.
 
Shoot them (the dogs)... First mistake you made was talking to the neighbour. Now there will probably be trouble when the dogs disappear... Might not hurt to check your laws there with regard to dogs and livestock... but around here at least... it's free range on the dogs.

Rod
 
You did good by being civil, ask the sheriff what you can do to stop this without killing the dog just yet. The wife sounds like she could care less if you shoot the dog. If the husband doesn't care either, you could drop the dog off at the shelter.

I have two pitbulls and I know first hand how some people should not own dogs, period.
 
IMHO you have already messed this one up. Now that you have complained to them, they will know you killed the dog. Then they can ger even using a 22 like one old fellow around here that is dead now. He gut shot 7 cows with 22 shorts. Dont know how many died or what became of them. NEXT TIME dont say one word, just SSS and tell no one, not even you own family. End of story, no revenge, no hard feelings, etc. Once you envolve sherrif, animal control, or the owner, its too late to keep it simple. Tom
 
(quoted from post at 21:52:13 02/12/11) Got to agree with other in that since you allready went over to the owners , go the legal route , take photos and keep records of all labor and expences. Animal control will do the first part and they will enter sherriff if needed. Make the owners pay....NOT the animal. I would like to know this from all the posters...if their COW came over and tore out your fences and ate your corn and trampled your beans , would you shoot it??? WHY NOT?

Yeah, I have that problem. I keep my pitbulls in a big fence, but I have my neighbors, horses running through my nice smooth yard, goats eating my landscape srubs and geese ( hundreds of them) like to feed on my lot (they come from the 10ac pond they own).
 
Different twist on the same situation- I bought 70 acres from an old guy who had owned 150, and he kept the 80 adjacent. When we closed the sale, he said, "Now my old dogs are used to going on that land you just bought, with my cows. I don't want to tie them up, but if they ever give your cattle any trouble, just shoot 'em. And if you don't have a rifle, let me know, and I'll shoot 'em."

Needless to say, the old dogs "adopted" my cattle, hung around and ran off coyotes, guarded the calves, etc. Seller came by one day, and said that he noticed his dogs were gone a lot- were they hanging around my cattle? Yep, I said, and everything is working out just fine. He gave me a little smile, and said, "I guess they miss having my cattle around- but what I said still stands."

I miss the days when neighbors could work things out.
 
Years ago I bought an 18 month old Lab. He seemed to be housebroke so I let him sleep in the house. I got up about a week later and discovered he had shredded a $200 Stetson hat. Nothing but pieces all over the living room.
I gathered all of them up, put them in his food bowl. Every night for a week at mealtime I put that food bowl full of "hat" down for him.
Finally I gave him a normal ration. He never, ever chewed on another thing.
 
If you not comfortable shooting the dog with a rifle, a properly aimed BB gun (especially on a male) will encourage the animal to stay off of your property - just sayin'
 
I agree it's more the owners fault than the dogs. They could tie the dogs up with a long cable or chain, get a dog run, etc. I would talk to the sheriff and/or animal control and see if they could go with you to talk to both the husband and wife. Perhaps if they get the official word that you're within your rights to shoot their dogs on your property, they'll take it more seriously. Dave
 
The front of my barn has shotgun pellets imbeded in it in about a six foot diameter pattern. Within that circular pattern there is a bare spot with no pellets that happens to be in the shape of a dog. Neihbor's dog was really a howlin when it ran back home but it never came back to visit me again. It was some expensive purebred and I'm sure they weren't very happy about about it, but I didn't let my expensive livestock run loose and neither should they. Jim
 
A family was riding bicycles by with their dog running along, until he saw my daughters sheep near the road. He went through the fence and knocked one of the lambs down before I chased him off. The owners weren't aware. I called the police and they got here in about ten minutes with a photo copy of the law that said to shoot the dog if it so much as looks at livestock.
 
Ain't that a sick feeling. I came home one day to see what looked like popcorn scattered all over the front yard. My young german shepherd had somehow gotten the new seat off of my 50 John Deere and chewed it into tiny pieces. I briefly thought about killing him.

Paul
 
Lets give this a try first. Maybe the guy will aplologise and keep the dogs tied up. Nice ending, but doubtful.

I just heard last week on the radio that a farmer had a wolf pay a visit in his hog pen. The wolf was part of a display for school kids that the guy went around to different schools so the kids could see the wolf.

If I heard right, the farmer called the cops, and the cops shot the wolf. The court case was lost by the farmer......three million dollars, plus his attorney fees.

The SSS treatment would of worked real good that time. But who in their right mind would have ever thought a court would rule in favor of the wolfs owner.

And to add to all the high blood pressures on this board, (in Iowa), a guy chased thirty hogs off a trailer into a kill pen for slaughter. One pig got caught in the chute, and the others piled over the top.........the whole load of hogs were rejected because it tramatized the whole load of hogs, and they were returned to the trailer, and thus probably home.

I heard this second hand by a eye witness (he was next in line to unload). I hope I'm telling it exactly the way it happened, if not, it is almost perfect.

What would grandpa say now? Parking a trailer full of hogs on top of a inspector probably is not accepted either?
 
anyone see the story In Michigan where a guys dog killed a coon damaging his property & they charged the guy with animal cruelty? Deputy arrested him & prosecutor won't drop it; going to jury trial next month. They'd probably lock me up & throw the key away. Without a killer dog I couldn't keep cats, livestock or crops. No dogs, no farming! I guess sheep dogs couldn't kill coyotes.
 
We raised sheep and some city folks with about a dozen dogs moved into a house close by our farm. Several farmers told them to keep the dogs penned or they would kill sheep and/or be shot. Well, one Sunday morning my brother and I were checking on the sheep and there they were, the whole lot of them, but hadn"t gotten to the sheep and all we had was a .22 Mossberg. We raced home, got rifles, went back and opened up. Two dogs made it home. Never told a soul. Several years later, some strays got into the city folks chickens and killed a bunch. They hanged the dead chickens on the fence in front of their house and put up a sign that said "all dogs will be shot on sight".

In your case, maybe a coyote trap or some 1080....
 
That poor dog, he's either going to get shoot in the stomach with a 22 and die a slow painfull death or spend the rest of his days tied to a tree. :cry:
 
Unfortunenately now that the dog has a taste of chicken he will be back. Options 1) owner keeps dog tied or penned up, 2) owner get rid of dog, or 3) you get rid of dog.
 
If the lousy neighbor won't confine his dog, why don't you confine it. Be a shame to shoot a dog that might make you a good farm dog. We had a dog that took to killin chickens so grandpa took the dead chicken and tied it around the dogs neck and let it rot off, Couldn't stand to get close to the dog for a while but it never killed any mor chickens.
 
I've done SSS a few times. If they come here and attempt to molest my animals, they will be shot. Just remove any collars or other forms of ID, and bury them deep.

I also like to use a shotgun over a rifle. Guess I've seen to many CSI, NCIS type shows.
 
Only one way to cure a dog from killing chickens once they got the taste. Lead. Same as with sheep, can't relocate dog as all that would do is make dog kill someone else livestock. When I was a kid we had a band of sheep feeding on the stubble after grain harvest. One night dogs got into the sheep and killed 3 of them. Next morning sheepherder told my dad that he had seen our dog in the sheep so dad cured the dog. Next night 3 more sheep killed again. In the morning the sheepherder told my dad that he got the dogs killing the sheep during the night, 1 of them was his sheep dog. He cured it also. He sure apologized about our dog.

Steven
 
Couple of years ago, I put down a pair of stray dogs. Didn't have much choice, they were chasing my tenant's kids, so I grabbed the first thing handy, a 9mm automatic, and put them down. (The dogs, not the kids).

Ya'll are probably aware that a 9mm pistol is not exactly heavy duty fire-power. When I mentioned it to our County Sheriff over coffee a week later, his only comment was, "Man, if you can put down stray dogs with a 9mm, I ought to make you a Reserve Deputy".
 
I gotta agree with rusty wheel. We had chickens back in the 60"s when I was 10-12 years old and I remember seeing my grandaddy tying a dead chicken "round the dog"s neck. Asked "im why"d ya do that? He said to keep it from killing anymore. It worked!! Otherwise as the others have said, use the SSS method.
 
MF1155, Here at my home in Central Texas. After 2 times and the owner hasn't done anything to stop the dogs from coming on to my place......
Shoot
Shovel
Shut-up
And if the owner comes around looking for Fido
I haven't seen it since the last time. Yes I lie about seeing it, and what happened to it.
Fido is in the back of the pasture in a hole or left for Buzzard bait, if far enough from public access.
You can tell the dogs owner when they come looking for Fido,,,,,You Know there are some of the other neighbors who think nothing of shooting stray dog on site when they are in their pastures. You still Ain't Seen Their Dog!!!! or know anything about it. But if Fido show up I will be glad to call you and let you Know!!!!!
Waaaay toooo many Fidos in holes in my pasture!
Hope this helps.
Later,
John A.
 
B maniac, to answer your question I agree with you it is really the owners fault, however a dog is a predator, it will attack and kill things. A cow is not. Even a non farm friendly state like New York recognizes this. You cant legally kill a cow for wandering onto your property. You can sue the owner for damages. You cant kill a dog for wandering onto your property and pooping, but if it is harassing, chasing, attacking or killing livestock you have the legal right to have the dog put down. A potentially aggressive animal like a bull may be a bit different. Maybe its hard for you to see the difference, but I think most of the people on this forum can see it.
 
When I lived in the city I had a dog jumping the fence and eating my dog's food, nice friendly Whippet so I caught it and hung a bullet around its neck.. Never say the dog again...message received.
 
Another approach is to ask your neighbor for their homeowner's insurance information. Explain to them that you intend to file a claim for your dead chicken. Give them your very best "perfectly reasonable guy" impression, like it is a perfectly normal thing to do. Unless your neighbors are complete idiots, they'll know the last thing they want to do is to let their insurance company know they've got a dog that is killing the neighbor's livestock. If they're smart, they'll pay you for your chicken and put their dog in a pen. If they're dumb, they'll file an insurance claim, which is guaranteed to get their policy canceled and they'll have problems getting insurance elsewhere, due to them owning a "vicious" dog.
 
Call the sherif and then get after them on their liability insurance that they will not have. Here the dog warden would take their dogs.
 
I had a similar problem with neighbors dog, I hate to kill it, so I bought a paintgun. Sounds immature but after a few hits the dog never came back again. And the neighbors got the colorful hint.
 
It doesn't sound like the neighbor is going to help so you may be stuck with the suggestions below, BUT if you ever have a dog that you want to keep and break a bad habit, use an electric dog collar.

Took in a rescue german shepherd and he thought it was fun to chase the cows. I let him wear the collar a few days to get used to it then let him out. Sure enough he took out for the cattle. I let him get to within about 5 foot of one then gave him a 5 second ride with the remote switch. The collar lifted him off the ground and to this day, he never takes a second look at a cow.
 
No it's not too hard for me to see the difference. BUT! You can kill dogs till the cows come home and the negligent owners will just keep on getting more. If you have a female in heat in an enclosed building you can sit on the porch for a month shooting males from every irresponsible dog owner within miles. What did you gain other than some well needed target practice? The whole country seems it would rather pull a trigger than to "man up" and fix the problem. It seems all too often it's NOT just dogs anymore! The "shoot first,ask questions later" mentality is unfortunately how a lot of our youth have been taught to solve problems. I go on record , though ,I do agree , if a life is being directly threatened , deadly force IS justified and me being in position to administer it , it WOULD be done! Unfortunately that is not the case most of the time.
 
Have you ever seen a Border Collie herding or just watching over a herd.You cant shoot a dog just because he shows up on your property.I keep my Border Collie tied up.Chains do wear,snaps break.If any one shot him just because he showed up in their yard they would be at risk.Hounds seem to be good at getting lost.I picked up a stray hound when I was doing animal control years ago.The s hook was open so no tag.I called a farmer to see if he was missing one,he said no but call John M.It was Johns dog .Maine has a state wide leash law now your dog must be under your control or on your property.Around here shooting a dog that wasnt doing any thing wrong could get you some return fire.I made every effort to find a stray dogs owner.I had to take a few to the city pound because the owners were too stupid to put a phone number on the collar or buy a license.I found a few dogs that were starved.Friend who did the job after me found a dog chained to a tree out in the woods and found my sons hound about 2 miles from home.A female dog in heat will bring males in from miles around.Too many dog killers on here.If my dog kills your chicken I will pay for the chicken.This is the right way.
 
Cattle are kept to sell at market to earn a living. Most dogs are not. One of the neighbors cows got out several times and considering their value, they absolutely wanted them back no question.
 
I was told by the state dog warden here in PA that "a farmer not only has the right to protect his livestock, as they are his livelyhood, but he also has the responsibility to do so" I had 3 goats killed by a dog that was running loose. The dog warden came out and determined that the goats were killed by a dog and told me the above quote. Said it was directly from a PA dog law book. Also told me to shoot the dog and make it disappear if I ever saw it near my livestock again.
 
I know alot of you big farmers here don't always have the time to go around and find the dogs owner. Dogs do get lost, so they kill to live. Just think if your dog ran off, don't you won't someone to cut your dog some slack, atleast one time. :wink:
 
(quoted from post at 23:42:27 02/13/11) well a chicken or a calf or your dog or cat . 3---5---7 . no one will change......

Only a fool would think no one will change. Sounds like going to church might do you some good. :wink:
 
My uncle told me how to break a dog from killing livestock.You need to have to handle the dog though.Get the carcass of what animal the dog might have a taste for and put it in a garbage can with said dog.Then roll it down a hill.Works everytime.

Stan
 
The problem is the neighbor, not the dog. Like someone else said, they'll just replace a missing dog. Deal with the problem however you have to and the dog won't show up again.

For the trigger and poison happy folks, I hope you use better judgement than you sound like.

We don't have to worry about farmers in this area because livestock is inside or guarded. Hunters are a different story. They have the right to shoot anything not on a leash if it's harrassing wildlife. One of them exercised that right without exercising his brain and we lost a cat.

Went to a meeting of the area hunters to ask about it and got there in time to hear him bragging about it. He learned that that right and the bragging rights afterwards didn't last near as long as the shame of being punked out in front of his buddies.
 
I picked up a stray dog while doing animal control,couldnt find his owner so I kept him.He was tied because he was a runaway.He was no threat to live stock, afaid of cattle.I came home many times and found him laying down surounded by chickens.He paid no attention to them.Old age finally got him.Ihere too many posters on here itching to kill a dog.Dogs do get loose, Abe broke his chain twice in one day.Ive found that coyotes will waste no time running away from a rifle shot that just misses them.
 
I've got 2 dogs that I take to our vacant property (over 50 acres) for exercise. They love to run in the fields/woods/snow and track scents all over the place. They don't know property lines in the woods and occasionally do stray over the line. I'm in the process of fencing the entire parcel (couple of thousand feet of fence) over time so that they stay on my property. Neighbors are upset because they like to use my property as their personal recreational area. Too bad. I tell them that I'm doing it to establish and protect my property lines as well as theirs.

I understand the need to protect livestock but my first choice would NOT be to shoot the dog. We've got a large Weimeraner in our neighborhood that is an escape artist. When we see him running loose, we get dog treats and get him in to our house to protect him and get a leash to take him home. The owner is grateful and although it may be an inconvenience to us, I prefer to think of it as doing a neighborly good deed and would hope that someone would do the same for me instead of pulling out his hunting rifle.
 
If a dog has done actual damage,OK.There are people who shoot dogs if they pee on their flowers.Maine law required that dogs couldnt run loose when snow was on the ground.I had a dog that stayed home except when a female dog was in heat about 2 miles away.I found my dog laying behind the barn with a groove in his chest.Took him to the vet, he said it looked like a pistol wound.It took a while but I found out who the shooter was,He had no livestock, dogs, cats or flowers, just liked to shoot at dogs passing along the road.Shooter died before I found out ,lucky for him.I worked for a tv appliance shop for 2 years The owner had a springer spaniel that liked to visit the village about a 1/2 mile away.We would pick nim up when ever we saw him.He would pretend not to see or hear us at first when we called him.He was a nice dog and caused no trouble.The local game warden had a dog that looked like a fox.He was loose around the village until snow covered the ground.The old law made sense.
 
When did this discussion turn from shooting a dog that was killing livestock to shooting dogs just to watch them flop around in pain?

One is legal in many jurisdictions, and well within the rights of a livestock owner. The other is sick and cruel.
 
Get the Sheriff involved,and get everything documented and make sure his/her FIRST stop is to your neighbor.(do a follow up)If nothing gets done you will have some recourse,like going to the city,county,etc.and raising some cain (loudly)know your rights..
 

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