Prayers for Sweetie

Yesterday while my wife and I were at work, the neighbor's dog jumped the fence, killed all of our chickens and attacked our dog Sweetie.

She is about to spend another night at the vet, because of her current condition.  (Hopeful, but bad).

The neighbor surrendered his dog today to avert having to spend money to keep it (potentially dangerous animal status requires the owner to jump through hoops to keep the dangerous animal).

The neighbor is so unreasonable, he actually blames us for his dog jumping the fence!

BUT I have $2000 vet bill that's growing and a neighbor that I feel is going to harass and possibly assault me over this situation.

Back story:

Animal control was notified a couple months ago about the neighbor's dog's ability to jump the fence at will. Animal control told the neighbor he had 45days to "fix the fence".

The fence wasn't the problem...the owner of the dog is the problem.

I've tried talking to him and it was all ass kissing and agreeing with me at first, but no action taken to control his dog.

Recently he called to accuse my wife of trying to "pet his dog through the fence" (paranoid much?).
I tried not to laugh at him as that would never happen! He himself has made comments about his own dogs unpredictable and aggressive nature...

He's a renter, has a screw loose, is unreasonable and I want to be reimbursed and feel safe in my own home.

We're beside ourselves.





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Tazer the dog.... Multiple times.... Owner too... Need to have a rowdy NCKA party at your place. We can set chairs up on his lawn and stare...... We can show him what people with a screw loose really look like.... Take him to court to get $$$ don't even talk to him. get PD to serve papers and if he even scowls at you, report death threat and get him on the police watch list.... NO MERCY

My daughter Sweetie

If you sue the neighbor, don't let his insurance company talk you into putting your dog down...then they would only be responsible for replacement cost.

i hope Sweetie recovers fully and all works out for the best.....she looks tough and full of love!

wishing for the best!   

Damn, I hope she recovers


I hate to be "that guy" but sue the neighbor, homeowner and insurance for reimbursement.  Thats the only way you will get what it costs.  If he was renting and Animal control put him (and home owner) on notice and the fence wasn't fixed, it should be a pretty open and shut case. (in my mind at least)

Damn, so sorry to hear.  I hope she makes a full recovery.  Tough situation with the neighbor.  Long term security first.  If the dog is the only trouble, then you will have to judge if the $$ recovery is worth any possible issue.  Maybe talk to the home owner?

Off the web.... Chickens are livestock and you can get reimbursement for each one. $40-50 More if it is a rare or show breed... Read below

hope your pup gets better soon. Good luck and when is the wild party?

HELP! How do you deal with neighborhood dogs? My neighbor's dog is killing my chickens, digging right under the fence! What do I do?

The biggest threat to our birds is not some bug or parasite... but roaming domestic dogs. Yes, we've lost birds to a fox, but a fox hunts at dusk, and if we'd had the chickens in the coop he would have left them alone.

Dogs are the problem. They come down a path above our place, off leash because they are "in the country," spot the chickens hopping around in the field catching bugs... and they're off. Sometimes with owners screaming in pursuit... sometimes not.

We have the legal right to shoot any animal interfering with our "livestock," including the chickens. This does seem, however, a bit drastic and hostile. Instead, we charge the owner $40-50/bird, depending on how furious we are and how apologetic they are. Nobody gets away without paying for the bird, period. If they don't want to pay for the bird, we call the police. Small town, we can do that. But don't go rushing out of the house, gun in hand, unless you're fully prepared for the consequences of shooting someone's beloved pet right in front of them. Frankly, I'd expect someone to club you to death, or rip you apart with their bare hands. Being in the right doesn't necessarily make asserting that right a smart move.

If you don't have a realistic expectation of the police coming, you could try calling animal control... or you could do what one person did who asked our advice and took the "charge $50" to heart... sue them if they refuse to pay. He ended up collecting for the birds, all court costs, and damages. Cost the defendant some $700. Bet the dog is kept under control now!

If we catch the dog on our property, and we can safely do so, we pop him in the back of our car (most dogs will jump readily into a car thinking they're going for a ride) and lock the doors. The owner can scream all they want, I've got a bird in pieces which they are either going to pay for, or the dog has a one way ticket to animal control... a $75 fine for being out of control and off leash.

That said, most people are simply horrified that their sweet pet just tore a chicken to shreds and are more than willing to pay for the damages. We've had women in hysterics they were so upset. Collect the damages, but make sure you explain that the dog is just doing what a dog does. Even my dogs, who know very well they aren't to touch a chicken, will give chase every once in a while. The fluttering, skittering, chicken excites the prey drive in any dog. The dog can learn to leave off, or be so well trained to come back it drops the chase... but most domestic pets aren't trained to ignore chickens... and aren't so well trained they'll come back on command.

The owner is clearly at fault, for not restraining their dog. But while you want them to pay for the damages, it is unfair to have them leave thinking their dog is some sort of bloodthirsty monster.

As a general rule, do not try to save a chicken from a dog you don't know. The dog may turn on you. Let the owner try to do it. Do not try and take a bird away, again, you could find yourself on the receiving end of a nasty bite. If you do feel threatened by the dog, retreat to a secure place and call for help. And teach your children to back away slowly from a dog attacking the birds. Do not at the dog, which will be the child's instinctive reaction, and do not run away from the dog (especially screaming) which can turn the prey drive from the chicken towards a young child. We've taught our children to "be a tree" (stand "rooted" and look at the ground) when confronted by aggressive dogs. But have a conversation with children, consider doing "fire drills," so that if they're confronted with a predator going after the chickens they have at least some idea of how to handle it.

Thanks for the support guys.

I don't have a lot of close friends, so I didn't know who else to turn to for advice.

I believe she will recover.

I haven't seen her yet, but the vet said she is stable.

She was in shock, overheated and couldn't walk when she was brought in by my wife.

Apparently she had a punctured airway and sustained a lot of tissue  damage to her shoulder, neck and throat.


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STABLE!!
i read that as good news.......stay positive my friend. She wants to come home, as bad as you want her there

Hope she recovers fully.

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Rooting for Sweetie, hope she makes a full recovery.

I visited Sweetie tonight @ the vet. They're going to keep her another night... She needs to eat, so they can get her on oral pain meds.

And boy does she need em!

I'm proud of her for protecting her neck! She looks like a Turkey with a big abscess like ball hanging under her neck, but most of the damage is to her front legs/shoulders/chest/armpits. She's got a bunch of staples and will be oozing for a while, but expected to make a full recovery

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If you're at the "one more night" stage, you're in good shape. I'm sure she'll be good as new in a few weeks.

Dealing with aggressive neighbor dogs is hard. We have a neighbor who's dog has killed multiple animals (another neighbor's cat and several other animals that belonged to the offending owner). We helped break up a dogfight a few months ago in their yard in which several of her dogs ganged up on and nearly killed another of her elderly dogs. Animal Control has come everytime and they refuse to do anything. Hope that your experience is better.

Good luck to Sweetie !