So a neighbor around here (very rural N Arizona) had a run in with a nearby rancher. Her dog(s) kept getting out and bothering the ranchers livestock....even nipping and injuring them to the point of them needing veterinarian care.
The rancher warned her about it a couple times and the dogs kept 'getting out' .....finally the rancher shot and killed them - which is completely legal in Arizona.
Now the lady is all over Facebook about it....but she neglects to mention all the details. When I saw her original post I found myself siding with her, but then I heard the complete story and that changed my mind.
What would you have done? Was there a better way to handle this?
In rural areas, some people let their dogs run. Once the dogs get used to going in one direction, or to one place, it is hard to get them to change that. I know that the rural thing is to put the dogs down.
Options? Catch the dogs (can be a challenge and even dangerous) and then put them on a lead in your (neighbor's) yard making sure the dogs have adequate water.
What about using a bb gun on them?
Bad neighbors exist, and they think they are always in the right and no one else's needs matter. I'd have been sending Karen the vet bills for every injury. Nothing wakes some people up like a bill.
Not even closely related to injuring livestock, but something I witnessed and I've probably talked about here before. A friend was at the dog park with her Doberman who is typically all about chasing balls. One day, on the smaller side of the park, with a fence dividing the two sides, was a pit with docked ears and tail, and a studded collar. That alone says something about some people's mentality. Doberman and pit kept running up and down the fence line, being a bit fierce with each other. The fence between these two sides has horizontal wires that many dogs have been able to pass through. Pit decided to go through the fence line, while its owner said, "You can't get through there." I told her he could and just like that, he went through and attacked the Doberman. Pit's owner stood there and watched, made no move to stop her dog or intervene. Doberman's owner immediately got in the middle of it and worked to separate the pit from her dog. There had been a light skiff of snow, and now there was a large circle where the fight had ensued and the snow had been removed by the three bodies involved rolling around there. Doberman's owner finally got the pit off her dog. Pit's owner comes over, leashes up her dog and heads out, no words exchanged.
Doberman's owner asks what she should do. "Follow her. Take her photo. Take a photo of her dog, vehicle and license plate." Doberman's owner runs out and starts taking photos.
Pit's owner, "What are you doing?"
Doberman's owner "Taking photos, because you are paying for the injuries my dog got."
Pit's owner: "I'm not paying. My dog was injured as well."
Doberman's owner: "Your dog started it. It came through the fence and attacked my dog. My dog is injured and we are going to the vet. You are paying or I am going to the police and reporting that your dog attacked mine. There is a witness who can back me up."
Pit's owner now gets that she might lose her dog and agrees that she will pay, but doesn't want to.
Vet bill was over $400 and pit's owner paid. It could have been much, much worse. After Doberman healed, her owner pulled into the parking lot at the same dog park and who was sitting there in her car? Pit's owner, with pit in the car. Doberman's owner told her she had to leave and not to come back to the park again. I haven't seen her or her dog since. They are probably terrorizing another dog park.
Nothing against pit's, but in that dog park there have been a few incidents where they came in the gate and went into attack mode, once doing major injuries to a small white dog, another time killing one. There have been more incidents. Do other kinds of dogs fight and hurt dogs? Yes. Are all pit's killers and bad dogs? Nope. But once it is seen that a dog is not good around other animals, it is time to get a grip on dealing with them. I know people who have dogs who can never be in dog parks around other dogs, and they are not even partially pits.
This is all the same truth for dogs that run around in the country and wreak havoc on other people's livestock. Get a grip, get your dogs under control, or lose them.
