Evil neighbor dog kills our chicken

[OldHag]

I know its not the dogs fault. Its the owners fault for letting it run all over. We were going out of town so we put all the chickens away in their cages. Well, that darn dog pushed open the gate to our back yard and somehow got into the cage with my daughters beloved silkie hen and killed her.
It was horrible. When we got home my daughter ran back to see her favorite pet and there it was, on the back yard dead. She just sank to her knees sobbing.
This is the second time this dog has killed something. It killed the other neighbors kittens a week or two ago. Im always chasing it out of my yard too. The hard thing is, the owner is my good friend so I really dont want to call the cops and make bad feelings... just so frusterating. She, my friend, does feel bad about it and has appologised, but Im just so mad about it its hard to forgive. Its something that just didn't need to happen!!!

K, rant over.

 

[Mina]

I'm so sorry!!!! Your poor little girl!!! I know the neighbor is a friend, but maybe you need to have a talk with her anyway.
At least she should buy your daughter another hen.

 

[GailC]

Sorry for your daughters loss. I used to raise silkies, they are very nice little chickens. I know the owner is a friend but she needs to understand that her carelessness has hurt your daughter.
I'd shoot the dog if it came back, that is, if its legal in your state. In my state you can shoot any dog on any property if said dog is attacking or harassing livestock and chickens are considered livestock.

 

[Drachenjager]

in Texas its the same way. AND they are pretty leinient on what livestock is. ALSO you can shoot anythign or anyone one if you are in fear for your life.
ahem, any thing that kills my animals could theoreticaly kill me, right?

 

[AneesasMuse]

Friend or not... I vote for shooting the darn dog, too!

 

[Taceas]

If it were me, the dog would be dead in my yard. Or at least captured and taken to a shelter and turned in every time I caught it in my yard. Around here every time its turned in as a 'nuisance animal', it costs the owner $40 to get it out, so after a few times of that it adds up. Sometimes that's about the only way to make people see the real problem, is hitting them in the pocket book.

Some people just do not understand what a nuisance their "pet" can be, some just flat out don't care. I would tell your friend exactly what their dog has been doing, tell them you're not going to put up with it, and that you're going to do whatever is necessary to ensure the safety of your livestock. They can either give your daughter money for her loss, buy her a new hen, or tell you to go screw yourself. But all of the blame and responsibility rests on their shoulders, so I would make them aware of that.

I love all animals, but if they're not mine and they're causing property damage (yes, chickens are property) then I'm going to handle the situation accordingly. I try to live trap cats if possible, but when I turn them in the shelter is always so overcrowded with cats, they're generally euthanized in a matter of days if they aren't socialized enough to adopt out.

So I've got to where I shoot any cat without a collar I find in my yard, the same goes for dogs. We have a high feral dog and cat population around here due to people's unwillingness to spend $40 to get their pets fixed, my 10 cent bullet helps take care of that. And in my area there are a couple of packs of feral dogs that have killed larger livestock, so I'm not taking any chances with my own dog, cats, or chickens. It's bad enough having to deal with hawks, snakes, coyotes, foxes, opossums, raccoons, weasels...but to deal with other people's responsibilities is not my thing.

On a side note I know exactly how your daughter feels. My own precious bantam hen, Brownie, was mauled to death by a neighbor's dog...broke into her cage and killed her and her chicks. The damn thing never even ate her, just wanted the thrill of killing her. I bawled my eyes out as I wrapped them up, put them gingerly in a boot box, and helped my dad to bury them. Dad called up the neighbor and complained, got the usual "Oh we'll keep him penned up from now on" spiele.

One day a week or two later, we heard the other chickens going crazy in their pen...the same dog was digging in under the fence to get in. Dad went up there and shot it. The neighbor called about an hour later saying, "Bud didn't come home for supper, have you seen him?". Dad replied, "Bud ain't coming home for supper anymore." and hung up the phone. To this day, not one of her other dogs has ever made it out of her yard. And after losing one of her precious goats to another neighbor's dog, she now truly knows how it feels.

If you were closer, I'd give your daughter one of my two Black Cochins I affectionally call the "Pajama Sisters".

 

[MissConnie]

Your poor daughter and chickie!

I agree with the others...talk to your neighbour...or take it to the shelter and make her pay over and over to get it taken out.

to be honest, if i had a dog that had killed kittens...I would make sure the dog cant get out!

 

[Cirith Ungol]

I'm sorry to hear about this! I think I know how personal you (/family) get with your animals.

Not sure if something along those lines has been said already - but if for some reason there was an animal in your yard that killed the dog, I'm pretty sure the neighbour would be all up in arms about it. At least it wouldn't surprise me. I'd expect something along those lines of "Ok that it killed your chicken, but hey, it's just a chicken! This *thing* killed my dog!"

I guess I'm persuing a line of phanasy thoughts though, and I'm missing the point.

The only thing I can suggest is to have a serious talk with the neighbour, let them reinforce their yard so that the dog stays in, or let them build a pen or whatever. Can't have it running arround killing other peoples animals left or right, at least not as long as the only reaction is going to be that they're sorry.

 

[zimbu]

Oh jeez, thats must have been awful, I'm so sorry for your and your daughter's loss .

Personally I don't advocate shooting the dog, because it's just a dumb animal and doesn't understand the consequences of it's actions (also, I'm from Canada eh? We don't have guns here ). On the other hand, I'd talk to your neighbor and explain to her that every time you see her dog in your yard, you're gonna trap it and bring it to the pound, like Taceas suggested. I'd also strongly suggest to your friend that she apologize to your daughter personally and buy her a hen if that's what she wants.

 

[RoachGirlRen]

I would call animal control or even the police about the dog, and inform them of the situation. Provide evidence, like photos of the chicken's body or video of the dog running loose. Depending on your state's legislation, this falls under the category of a vicious and dangerous dog. It can be confiscated, and the owners may be fined, forced to restrain or muzzle the dog, or even have the dog subjected to temperament testing and euthanized if needed. If nothing else, if you have ANY sort of leash law, they can be fined for a dog at large and have the dog picked up by animal control - which usually involves a fee to get it back. This is the best solution, IMO. Shooting an animal that is harming other animals due to a fault of the OWNER is not punishing the guilty party... plus, depending on the state, could result in legal reprocussions for YOU.

 

[OldHag]

Thanks all for the kind words. Its been very hard on my daughter, and me for that matter. We've cried a lot.
Misty, thanks for showing us the Pajama Sisters, they're darling!!! Thats kind of you to think of my daughter. She appreciates the offer even if your too far away.

I have talked to my friend about her dog. I let her know that we are VERY hurt by it. I really dont think I got across the amount of pain its cause my daughter. She did take cookies to the people whos kittens her dog killed. But she didnt bring my daughter any cookies.. .hmmmm....
Ive seriously thought about calling the animal control if her dog continues to come over. Now that the dog has actually killed one of our chickens, Im afraid it will come over more often for more "sport". She didnt eat the chicken, just killed her.
I think I can shoot the dog if it is killing my livestock. But I personally wouldnt do it because its the owner, not the dog, that is being negligent/bad/ignorant/stupid etc. Just seems that people who's dogs kill things just dont "get" it. Its like the animals their dogs are killing arent really real or something. Almost like, "Oh, the dog spilt the garbage can again, darn"
Maybe I should have taken the dead chicken over and stood on their front lawn screaming CHICKEN MURDERERS!!!!!!!! Waving the chicken all over... or maybe not..

 

[galeogirl]

Report her to animal control now and keep doing so. Keep a log of date, time, place of the dog being loose, get pictures, talk to your neighbors and have more than one person call to complain about her. A dog that roams loose is a nuisance, when it kills animals, it's become a menace.

 

[Drachenjager]

Thanks all for the kind words. Its been very hard on my daughter, and me for that matter. We've cried a lot.
Misty, thanks for showing us the Pajama Sisters, they're darling!!! Thats kind of you to think of my daughter. She appreciates the offer even if your too far away.

I have talked to my friend about her dog. I let her know that we are VERY hurt by it. I really dont think I got across the amount of pain its cause my daughter. She did take cookies to the people whos kittens her dog killed. But she didnt bring my daughter any cookies.. .hmmmm....
Ive seriously thought about calling the animal control if her dog continues to come over. Now that the dog has actually killed one of our chickens, Im afraid it will come over more often for more "sport". She didnt eat the chicken, just killed her.
I think I can shoot the dog if it is killing my livestock. But I personally wouldnt do it because its the owner, not the dog, that is being negligent/bad/ignorant/stupid etc. Just seems that people who's dogs kill things just dont "get" it. Its like the animals their dogs are killing arent really real or something. Almost like, "Oh, the dog spilt the garbage can again, darn"
Maybe I should have taken the dead chicken over and stood on their front lawn screaming CHICKEN MURDERERS!!!!!!!! Waving the chicken all over... or maybe not..

I never have had a pet chicken, i actually never heard of pet chickens. And i am sure thats part of why they dont seem to care about yours. To them its just food. Even at that tho, its YOURS and thier dog killed it, and should take care that it stops

 

[GailC]

I know the idea of killing a dog is tough for some people but what will happen when that dog is attacking a animal and someone tries to get in the middle? Even a friendly dog can get aggressive during a attack.

Have you ever seen a dog kill a small animal? I watched MY dogs kill the neighbors cat in my front yard a few yrs ago, the little girl who owned the cat was there and got in the middle. She was very lucky not to get bit.
Horrible experience for all and I ended up having to take the newest dog back to the shelter because she got it in her mind to try and eat every living thing after that.

Since the owner is your friend, next time the dog is in your yard, catch it and take a drive to the local shelter. If the authorities get involved maybe the owner will take some responsibility then.

Chickens are great pets. When I was a kid I had a hen who would come to me when I called her and follow me around while I caught grasshoppers too feed her.
I recently had seabrights, a small fighting type chicken. The rooster was so mean, would run down the road after my daughter when she was coming home from school but he was only the size of a pigeon LOL. He also came when I called. I miss my chickens.

 

[AneesasMuse]

I must be a really cruel person because the dog would never kill another kitten or chicken and the owner/friend would know the feelings of a dead/lost "pet".

The city that I live in doesn't allow firing a weapon within the city limits.. or some such crap... but I assure you that I protect my pet tortoise when she's outside in HER backyard, foraging and the feral cats and whatever else come into HER space. I just do it very quietly.

 

[Okitasoshi]

I must be a really cruel person because the dog would never kill another kitten or chicken and the owner/friend would know the feelings of a dead/lost "pet".

The city that I live in doesn't allow firing a weapon within the city limits.. or some such crap... but I assure you that I protect my pet tortoise when she's outside in HER backyard, foraging and the feral cats and whatever else come into HER space. I just do it very quietly.

...you live in San fransisco, you're backyard is the size of my TV (exaggerating), but yeah I'd hope nobody shot a gun in San fran in their backyard.

I got a good idea, why don't you...hmm...not keep a chicken? yes I know your neighbors dog should stay out, but I wouldn't shoot him or take him to a shelter, why don't you...hmm...I know this sounds like a crazy idea, but secure your property? sounds like a quick day job to me.

 

[Taceas]

Why don't you....think outside of your California-polluted brain?

Are you seriously kidding me? Did you neglect to read that her pet chicken WAS secured in a cage and the dog, got into her yard by pushing open a gate, broke into said cage, and killed the chicken? Just because its a chicken doesn't mean its any less of a pet.

What people do in your area of the country is not what other people around the US do, nor care to do. I own my property, I paid for it, and I protect it fiercely against any invader. Whether it be human trespassers by aggressively telling them to leave or shooting animals that aren't mine.

So why should she have to limit what she does or enjoys because people have no respect for her family, pets, and home? She did everything she was expected to do to maintain the safety and security of her animals. It's not her fault the chicken died, its the fault of the owner who has no respect for other people and their property. Capish? Oh that's right, you're from California...where it's all expected to revolve around everyone else.

I'm sorry if I'm a little gruff, but this is an issue that's very near and dear to my heart. I get sick to death of city people telling me what I can own and can't own, what I can and can't do on my own bloody property. If you don't like chickens crowing, manure smells, slow tractors in the road, and dust from harvesting...here's an idea, stay out of the bloody country!

A few years ago someone moved into the house through the woods from us from Indianapolis. They actually had the gall to tell me I don't own the creek because "people can't own water ways", like hell I can't. This was after their kids were leaving trash down on my property and after their son shot a deer on my property and drug it back over. I told them I didn't want them trespassing.

They let their 3 German Shepherds run amok around the neighborhood and didn't give a rat's behind what happened as a result. My dog was attacked twice while asleep in our driveway, I was trapped in my own garden for an hour till my husband got home, on Easter Sunday my grandmother was trapped in her car in our driveway, and they killed the neighbor's 30 some odd geese.

When confronted about it all, they got arrogant and said they can do what they want and we couldn't do anything about it because we didn't have a leash law at the time in the county. But, to their surprise we did have the legal right to shoot their animals.

In the following months after repeated warnings of what would happen...one dog died in our yard after tearing into our dog, the second one the neighbor shot in her chicken coop, and the third went home and needed surgery to remove the buckshot from its rear-end and had permanent nerve damage. Needless to say their lone remaining dog never left their yard again and they moved back to Indianapolis within 6 weeks.

So again, tell me why should they have to give up something they love because of someone else's responsibility?

 

[Cirith Ungol]

So again, tell me why should they have to give up something they love because of someone else's responsibility?

My thoughts exactly and good riddens to your former neighbours

 

[OldHag]

Well said Misty!
I was going to rant about that "secure your yard or dont have chickens" comment as well, but you said it all!! And much better than I probably could have.

 

[JColt]

I wouldnt hurt the dog but the owner would recieve a good ass whipping! First time an apology is fine, after that I turn a*s hole on ya! Sorry for the loss