Scary experience/neighbors dog

[Bob_Skurka]

KNOWN is the key word here - his wife had a similar experience with the same dog two months earlier - read the very first paragraph posted by JoeR

So does one incident 2 months ago mean that she can never use the street again? One would presume that she has been up and down that same street many times since then and had no incident. In this case the owner said the dog was tied up but broke free. It is reasonable to assume that the dog did not break away from his bindings every day.

I can KNOW that a mean dog exists, and I can KNOW where he exists, but I can never KNOW when he is free and when he is confined. The odds are that he is probably normally confined in some way. The odds are that he is not going to be free every time I pass. The odds are that most times I travel will be safe.

 

[JoeR]

As I stated earlier, I was not with my wife on the first event, so I really didn't know if she exaggerated the issue or not. Boy, was she not kidding about that dog!

Yes, the lots are 2 acre minimum to build. There was one house to the left about 300 feet away, and then there are no other houses within 2,000 feet of where I was located. Some of us own more than one lot, so the density is not uniform. Although, I refuse to live in fear, and will walk down my street again. I will leave the baby at home until I know it is safe.

Overall, the laws should be changed. My analogy: If I threaten someone, I can be fined and go to jail. If a dog does it, nothing happens. The dog must bite first in order for the law to take action. I know this is not a one for one analogy, but my point is that the law waits until harm is done before acting on a problem with a dog.

Joe

 

[Paddy]

Circlelake,

How do you put a gunnysack in a hubcap?

 

[Kubotasrking]

I think the correct path is legislation of some sort and proper animal control and enforcement.

Hmm...do you think the dog would care if it were breaking the law? Do you want to have millions of more tax dollars collected to "protect" us from the dogs who just keep disregarding the law ?

Maybe we should consider the ideal that as citizens, we have the right to protect our family and property. Maybe we should also consider that many municipalities (Wash. DC, NYC) have the strictest gun control in the nation, but the criminals don't care (take a walk at night there...the legislation doesn't help). Maybe, it's not a problem to be solved by academia or other well-intended pacifists. Animal attacks...kill animal...situation over.

I still wish Joe were my neighbor..I'd buy him a bottle of single-malt and thank him for being a great advocate and role model.

 

[johnk]

It definitely is a dangerous world out there. If you don't think so you are quite naive. Reading the post where he shot the dog with a .45 I had a similar experience with a Rabid Raccoon. I actually had to shoot him 3 times{All good shots} with a .45. I now carry a 10mm and wouldn't hesitate shooting a dog or criminal that put my family or my life in danger.. All you have on the other end of the spectrum is a very suprised or very dead dog or criminal. Respectful citizens have every right to walk where they please and shouldn't have to worry about someone else maiming or killing you in a public place where you did nothing wrong. And life goes on. {Hopefully for the law abiding citizen.}

 

[keving]

Guns were designed to kill the enemy. In this case the enemy was the dog.

Textbook example!

Joe sounds like a responsible, skilled American who did the right thing. We need more responsible people like Joe to do the right thing!

I'm guessing you'd doubletap next time...

 

[riptides]

Hmm...do you think the dog would care if it were breaking the law? Do you want to have millions of more tax dollars collected to "protect" us from the dogs who just keep disregarding the law ?

Maybe we should consider the ideal that as citizens, we have the right to protect our family and property. Maybe we should also consider that many municipalities (Wash. DC, NYC) have the strictest gun control in the nation, but the criminals don't care (take a walk at night there...the legislation doesn't help). Maybe, it's not a problem to be solved by academia or other well-intended pacifists. Animal attacks...kill animal...situation over.

I still wish Joe were my neighbor..I'd buy him a bottle of single-malt and thank him for being a great advocate and role model.

Man, your really stretching. I have been unable to follow your flawed logic.

Let me put it plain and simple. This is NOT a gun control debate.

Understand that?

Now about that dog. It is still there. It has a bad history. As does the owner.
Hey, the owner said it broke loose. OK. Now about that dogs attitude. Hmmmm. Seems to not like people.

Hmm. Dogs fault? Perhaps. Owers fault. Of course. Be responsible for your dog.

Joe, his family, his neighbors are still threated by this dog. Joe has suffered from this incident.

In my neck of the woods we have - leash laws, roaming laws, insurance clauses, and recently *dangerous* dog owning, laws. It didn't cost millions either.

-Mike Z.

 

[LMTC]

If laws stopped crimes......well, we'd be in a different reality, wouldn't we? Laws punish those who commit crimes. They may act as a deterrent, but I have never heard of any one who has ever been saved from being murdered by reminding their assailant that his/her actions would violate a law. A gun in the hands of the victim would have been far more effective.

If it's a yea or a nay on Joe's response, I vote yea. Faced with the same situation years ago, I ventured out by myself to check out my wife's concerns....in this case it was 2, maybe 3 Rotts coming from a farmhouse and attacking her on a bicycle (biting at the tires, running into the bike--she was seriously scared). They may or may not have attacked me on foot, but they came onto the road and when I stopped they threw themselves against the truck door as if to get at me. All three died that day.

I've faced similar situations many times, perhaps because in a rural area some folks DO assume it's ok to have a mean/vicious dog and let it run ("it never leaves our place" usually means it only attacks people on the road in front of their place), and I have the same response every time. I have never found it productive to ask people who are clearly not being responsible to suddenly start to take responsibility for their dog....that only makes it clear what may have happened when Brutus doesn't show up anymore. Better that they just notice Brutus isn't around anymore and wonder. We have one "family" down the road that replaces every big, mean dog they lose with another of the same ilk. Don't understand it....they just let them run, 24/7, don't seem to provide vet care (we've seen them with parasites so bad that dispatching them was a kindness), yet always replace one problem with another. Literally probably 12-15 in 20 years here. Go figure.

Glad you and the family escaped being bitten.

 

[rback33]

If laws stopped crimes......well, we'd be in a different reality, wouldn't we? Laws punish those who commit crimes. They may act as a deterrent, but I have never heard of any one who has ever been saved from being murdered by reminding their assailant that his/her actions would violate a law. .

I'll give an amen to that. I think Mike is right in that he does not want to make this a gun control debate, but I disagree (see first sentence) that legislation solves everything. This can quickly turn into a political debate (where this is the wrong forum) so I'll leave it at that. I will however relay my own personal experience from when I was a kid. I have been basically born and raised in the same small town my whole life. My dad and his family have lived either here or within and hour their entire lives. We know everyone and everyone knows us. This would have been + or - 20 years ago, but the two of my siblings that follow me and I were up at our local college running and playing on the track at the stadium. While playing we were suddenly surprised by a dog jumping out of the shadows of the stadium. It chased us for a couple of blocks with the bigger and faster big brother ( me) taking up the rear to deter the animal. When we got home my dad.. lets call him JOE
was livid. He grabbed his 12 Gauge, called his cop friends and was out the door. The dog had been running loose for months, but had never caused any major issues till that day. He had my dad, the on duty cop, the off-duty chief and one more off-duty cop hunting him. (town of 2500 there is usually only one cop on duty at a time) There was no question what the result would be. Dad and his Remington won.
Now I live 16 miles out in the country. My nearest neighbor is a mile away. I have three outside dogs that run a fair amount. They used to get as far away as a few miles, but since the passing of one, don't get much further than a half mile now. I am well aware that if they get into trouble (chasing cows or something) they may not come home. They have never done anything like that, but my neighbors know I will fully understand the consequences if they do. Come in my yard and things can be different. They are the most loving bunch of idiots you'll ever meet, but they WILL protect my house. The biggest if half black lab and half golden... he sounds NASTY when he growls. He has never snapped at much less bitten a person, but he makes strangers think twice about getting out of their car. What they don't realize is if you get out and scratch his ears he'll follow you all over and lay on yer feet so you have to pet him.

Sorry this got long winded, but Joe you did the right thing. It also further points out how lucky I am to be a small town Kansan with responsible and reasonable friends, neighbors, and law enforcement officers.

 

[MikeD74T]

Hmmm, a 99-100% chance that the dog is going to injure or kill a loved one vs. a POSSIBILITY that a ricochet MIGHT hit someone in a crowded neighborhood (which it wasn't). Even in a crowded neighborhood, there is a lot of space between people. I would use the gun even in a crowded neighborhood. No different than taking out an armed robber in a convenience store.

I agree 100%. We have a government, backed by a majority of it's citizens who think laws make them safe, that makes concealed carry ( along with implied self preservation) difficult to impossible. Lately concealed carry includes toothpaste in carry on luggage. If 4 concealed carry citizens were flying on 9/11 maybe several hundred more would be alive today, but wait, they might have hit another passenger ??????? Which of those passengers would willingly take that chance today? MikeD74T