in a dog attack situation , think of using deadly force as you would with a human. And be aware that there are some double standards.
I've trained quite a few people and encourage them to tell me their stories as it relates to self-defense,CHL carry, etc.
I've had two students who have been bitten severely, one's grandson was mauled by wild or uncontrolled dogs. One shot at the dog and the other shot the dog several times and managed to drive him off the grandson.
Both faced criminal liability in the form of animal cruelty/abuse charges. Not sure of the statutes but the threat was there from law enforcement.
As for civil liability, most of these folks who have mean/wild dogs that get loose have very little in the way of financial means or insurance . Suing poor people doesn't pay -anyone , especially the attorney.
A story I followed closely about 7 years ago, dealt with a man in the city of Lufkin whose son was mauled by a dog off his chain. The father, to save his son's life, shot the dog 3 times . It ran and later died. They showed the kid in the hospital, photos of the wounds, and neighbor's witnessed the attack. He was charged and convicted of an animal cruelty charge and was given 30 days in the county jail on the misdemeanor charge. People were outraged. I'm not sure what the jury and prosecutor were thinking. There's probably more to the story though.
My "moral" of these stories is: be very careful who that you tell about use deadly force on animals. Do it only when necessary and don't talk it up after the fact. Catlovers tend to call the cops on catkillers.
I had a student from Dayton in 1996 that bragged about killing cats during class breaks. A lady from Kingwood was shocked to the point of tears. Two nights later in class, she pretended to befriend 'ole catkiller',got his address and filed a criminal complaint against him in Liberty county.
Then she wrote a letter to DPS CHL service and asked that he not be given a CHL. After a month , I never heard anything more about it. But 'catkiller' was denied a CHL -reason unknown to me.
My neighbors at the farm in east Texas have about 40 feral cats (most of them white or part white -good contrast for that front sight post
)and one neighbor talks about killing half of them to 'thin' them out.
While maybe 5 neighborhood cats would be okay with me
, I have repeatedly told him to leave them alone because he could face some serious criminal charges for shooting 10-20 of them if caught. The latest good news for the cats will be that 8-10 will be "relocated" to a new hay barn.
The solution can usually be found by working with local gummint and letting an animal control officer take care of them (assuming that they are not trying to bite your leg or head off).
jay