I had to shoot

[Dietrich]

I spent the Christmas holiday in a remote fishing village in North Carolina that is the homeplace of my wife and her family.I was walking one of our Daschunds in my in-law`s back yard when a Chesapeke Retriever charged us.I knew the dog.It had a history of killing small pets and has bitten two people including a child.The dog is usually kept in an enclosure but gets out on occasion and wreaks havoc.Its` owner owns the fish house in this small town and nobody wants to make these people angry,especially the wife, who has an army of flying monkeys if you get my drift.
Anyway the dog made a beeline for my beloved Maggie who escaped into the crawlspace under the house.The Chessie couldn`t get through the small hole but stayed there barking and snarling despite my yelling and throwing anything I could lay my hands on at it.Eventually I must have made him mad because he turned his attention to me and started to advance with his hackles raised.Bad mistake.I dropped that bastard with one shot from my PM9.The owners wife has threatened to sue.I told her to go to hell.I hate that I had to do this thing but I was given no choice.

[REACT]

Wow, that's too bad that you had to kill a dog, but the owner of the dog made that decision for you. They negligently allowed their dog to roam free to do whatever it wanted to do and you reacted accordingly. I'm glad you’re safe and your little dog too. I have two Dachshunds (great dogs) and would have done the same thing.

Let the witch sue. She has an obligation to control her dog on her property. If the dog is a known menace around the neighborhood and it was on your property (or somewhere you had a legal right to be) wreaking havoc then you have the right to protect yourself and your property including the safety of your dog.

If she sues, countersue for...mental stress or something for the maximum allowable. You may not win, but it may discourage her from going forward with her lawsuit. If she sues anyway, maybe you can be compensated for your time. I doubt it, but it’s worth a shot since it will be a small claims court action anyway. Bullies like her only back down when confronted with like pressure. If you don’t stand up to her, the lack of action will only empower her more.

Again, I’m glad you and your dog are both safe.

[pacific nw guy]

my opinion

I wonder at times if the fact that I carry a gun might open me up to using it in a situation I may not have "needed" to.

You are asking for honest rebuttals by posting this on line and that is the question that immediately comes to mind.

What you wrote leaves too many opportunities to make assumptions and without being there and seeing what happened first hand I wont attempt to draw any right or wrong conclusions.

I will say if her dog was off the leash as you describe she is in the wrong, but if she decides to sue she probably can. Whether or not she will win who knows but it will cost you some money to defend yourself.

[Dietrich]

I wonder at times if the fact that I carry a gun might open me up to using it in a situation I may not have "needed" to.

You are asking for honest rebuttals by posting this on line and that is the question that immediately comes to mind.

What you wrote leaves too many opportunities to make assumptions and without being there and seeing what happened first hand I wont attempt to draw any right or wrong conclusions.

I will say if her dog was off the leash as you describe she is in the wrong, but if she decides to sue she probably can. Whether or not she will win who knows but it will cost you some money to defend yourself.

The sheriff`s dept.was called before I ever made the shot.Response time was 35 minutes.Like I said,this area is remote.I wasn`t about to stand there and let this dog tear a hole in me or anyone else.There is a leash law in the county that this occured in and these people were in violation of it again.Let me further state that I am a dog lover.I contribute to the animal shelter where I live and to the SPCA.The deputy who finally showed up said that he would talk to the owners and that was the last I`ve heard.If she wants to sue,that may be her right,but she`s not the only one with legal representation at her disposal.If I were faced with the same circumstances,I would react the same way.

[Ol'coot]

IMHO the decision made to use deadly force is only acceptable when your or another person is in harms way unless action is taken. In the same circumstance I would have probably made the same decision as I firmly believe the dog's owners are responsible to make sure that me or my dog is not in any danger from their animal at anytime. Being a dog owner myself, I am so sorry the Chesapeake Retriever had to be dispatched, but much better an outcome that reading another story of a person be killed or mauled by a dog. I am a dog owner and take much care to ensure that I know where my dog is all the time and in my control when outside. If I had an animal that had any history at all of attacking other dogs or people I would not have waited on it to happen again but would have put the animal down myself before it harmed anything else, worst case a small child or elderly person not able to defend themselves.

Dietrich,

I hope that all works out well for you after this incident, but the court system and trial lawyers don't give a damn about what is right only how much they can profit form this type of incident.

[pacific nw guy]

The sheriff`s dept.was called before I ever made the shot.Response time was 35 minutes.Like I said,this area is remote.I wasn`t about to stand there and let this dog tear a hole in me or anyone else.There is a leash law in the county that this occured in and these people were in violation of it again.Let me further state that I am a dog lover.I contribute to the animal shelter where I live and to the SPCA.The deputy who finally showed up said that he would talk to the owners and that was the last I`ve heard.If she wants to sue,that may be her right,but she`s not the only one with legal representation at her disposal.If I were faced with the same circumstances,I would react the same way.

sorry to ask but you state that you had the time to call the sheriff's dept. This point leads me to believe there is more "time" available in this situation. Initially I read this as mad dog charges dog, changes direction and goes towards a human with reckless abandon, now somewhere in that scenario there was time to call the sheriffs office with what I will assume, the time to wait for them to arrive if they would have been there sooner than 35 minutes later.

I was not there and my first response to your post was a question I would ask myself in the same situation.

Hopefully the woman, who considering the dog was loose, is completely in the wrong comes to her senses and actually offers you the apology.

[jocko]

I have never had to use a gun in defense of a dog. a dog onwer myself, I feel I know when the agression is going to go to the next stage. I walk 4 miles every day in teh coutnry and come across barking growlng dogs all the tiem. None has ever tried to attack me, they have threatened, but again I might bein their territory to, I do not know that. I have stated before, that I willgive a dog the first bite, thena fter that he is bought and paid for. alot easier to convince a judge or jry when bite marks or torn clothing is evident.

Not saying you are wrong Deitrich, just that I would not want to be in your shoes over this either. A killed dog owner sometimes has ways of gertting even without the law being involved....

I owned a sporting good business for over 40 years andone time I caught a young boy maybe 16 stealing a holster from me. Caught him outside the business and confronted him. He gave backthe holster, that night I had a brock through my plate glass window at a cost of over $400 for replacement. I knew it was payback but could not prove it..

Point, set, match....

[Dietrich]

sorry to ask but you state that you had the time to call the sheriff's dept. This point leads me to believe there is more "time" available in this situation. Initially I read this as mad dog charges dog, changes direction and goes towards a human with reckless abandon, now somewhere in that scenario there was time to call the sheriffs office with what I will assume, the time to wait for them to arrive if they would have been there sooner than 35 minutes later.

I was not there and my first response to your post was a question I would ask myself in the same situation.

Hopefully the woman, who considering the dog was loose, is completely in the wrong comes to her senses and actually offers you the apology.

I didn`t call the sheriffs dept..My mother in law did when she heard me yelling and cursing and saw what was going on.The whole incident was over with in less than two minutes.But perhaps you`re right.Maybe I should have turned tail and ran for the house,leaving my dog and the neighbors to fend for themselves and their pets as well. Who knows? I might have outrun the dog.Yep,in retrospect,that`s what I should have done.Too bad I didn`t have the convenience of time to make that decision.

[mr surveyor]

in my neck of the woods this whole situation would have been a non issue, particularly in a rural setting. Whether or not the animal in question has a "history" or not, if it's on another person's property, showing signs of agression, it's apt to "disappear" with nothing ever said. Most of us value our pets, but also respect other's rights to enjoy their personal property (and personal safety). A few years ago one of my best friends had a couple of his pet dogs get excited one day and turn "ferral" on another neighbor's newborn donkey (apparantly from his rather expensive collection). Upon being notified by the owner of the donkeys my friend immediately "dispatched" both of his pet dogs. Once an animal has attacked the odds are they never lose the desire to show their agression, and someone is apt to get hurt.

I don't normally comment on these type situations, since they are normally very subjective in nature, but this one to me is very easy to understand. The only thing I may have done differently was to make the "corpse" just silently disappear. I love animals as well as the next person, but in my opinion dogs are NOT "people too".

surv

[pacific nw guy]

situation

I didn`t call the sheriffs dept..My mother in law did when she heard me yelling and cursing and saw what was going on.The whole incident was over with in less than two minutes.But perhaps you`re right.Maybe I should have turned tail and ran for the house,leaving my dog and the neighbors to fend for themselves and their pets as well. Who knows? I might have outrun the dog.Yep,in retrospect,that`s what I should have done.Too bad I didn`t have the convenience of time to make that decision.

you brought this situation to a public forum to which I posed a few questions for you. This response, in my opinion, validates my initial point "I wonder at times if the fact that I carry a gun might open me up to using it in a situation I may not have "needed" to".

You stated your dog was safe. I am not fully convinced you were in harm's way, or to a point where the dog should have been killed or shot. Yeah you had the "right" to shoot the dog as it was off the leash and being aggressive but I would venture a guess that if you were not carrying a gun you would have found another way to control the situation.

[Dietrich]

you brought this situation to a public forum to which I posed a few questions for you. This response, in my opinion, validates my initial point "I wonder at times if the fact that I carry a gun might open me up to using it in a situation I may not have "needed" to".

You stated your dog was safe. I am not fully convinced you were in harm's way, or to a point where the dog should have been killed or shot. Yeah you had the "right" to shoot the dog as it was off the leash and being aggressive but I would venture a guess that if you were not carrying a gun you would have found another way to control the situation.

I found myself in a dangerous situation,confronted by a dangerous animal that was being aggressive and I was in fear for my well being.I did nothing to invite this situation and I made the decision to shoot to defend myself.The alternative was bleak at best as I didn`t think the dog was in a mood to negotiate.If I thought that I could have run him off by other means I would have been glad to have done that but yelling and throwing things at him did no good.He was advancing on me and I knew if I tried to run he would have been on me before I went 10 feet.I guess it was one of those things where you really had to be there.And by the way,the deputy who investigsted thought that I was justified in shooting.

[jocko]

a dog off the lease is absolultely no right to shoot it. No way will that fly anywhere.

[zena]

Ah, Dietrich. So sorry that had to happen on your holiday. It's hard enough to deal with the in-laws never mind a rampaging dog. Are you sure the dog was not channeling the mother-in-law? (If humor wasn't appropriate here, accept my apology.) It sounds to me like the neighbor left for you to do what they should have done several bites ago. I do lots of rescue and foster work with dogs, especially the "scarier" breeds (rotties and pitbulls) and have found that once a dog of ANY breed has "fun" chasing prey and killing, they need to either be in double-triple lock down or put down. Hope you hear no more from the neighbor on this one.

[Chief Joseph]

I didn`t call the sheriffs dept..My mother in law did when she heard me yelling and cursing and saw what was going on.The whole incident was over with in less than two minutes.But perhaps you`re right.Maybe I should have turned tail and ran for the house,leaving my dog and the neighbors to fend for themselves and their pets as well. Who knows? I might have outrun the dog.Yep,in retrospect,that`s what I should have done.Too bad I didn`t have the convenience of time to make that decision.

Exactly what I was thinking, I'm sorry to ask, did he read the first post at all? People shouldn't post unless they have read and if not understood, reread before posting something that wasn't there in the first place. One of the many reasons I wanted a conceal carry permit was because on 3 occasions in the last year and a half, people on the next street over have 2 pitbulls that have gotten loose. The first time was on a Saturday morning when the Sheriffs deputies knocked on our door telling us they had trapped them in our backyard. We watched the whole thing through our windows. They had to taser the male 2 times and he told us if the last one hadn't of worked, they'd have shot him. They have gotten loose on 2 other occasions and made it down our street with me and the neighbors calling 911 again. I have a child and my next door neighbor has a daycare. I will not hesitate to put any one of those pitbulls down if they in any way threaten my child, period. And I wouldn't give a damn what anyone thought. Especially the bleeding heart dog lovers.

[n0igu]

Dietrich,

The only thing you did different than I would have is you took too much time. I had the same trouble a few years back with a neighbor that thought he had the right to run his dogs on my acreage. the problem is they chased and bit my pets. I went over and informed him that they would be shot if I saw them there, I also notified the local sherrif. three weeks later here came the big male and the 12 ga stopped him before the smil left his face. I was nicce and delivered him to their front door. Never had another problem.