Can you shoot a dog if attacks you or your family?

[dustyb]

In my view, pit bulls are dangerous animals. If one were to wander on to my spread, I would probably shoot it on sight unless it immediately turned and ran off when it spotted me.

Legal? Don't know and don't particularly care. I don't want any damgerous animals on my property period. Pit bulls, coyotes, cougars, it's all the same. To me, it's just pest control. If my neighbors want to own pit bulls or other dangerous animals, they need to keep them confined on their own property.

I agree 100% Frankie. I love dogs. I own three, but there is a "zero tolerance policy" for pitt bulls on my property. I have two small children, and as far as I am concerned, a pitt bull might as well be a cougar or a bear. I don't care if they are someone's "baby", they are hard-wired to fight to the death. In my opinion, someone who owns one and does not keep it restrained, is criminally negligient.

I live just outside the city limits of a small town on six acres. The house next door to me is a rental property, owned by some other people in the town. Two weeks ago a new tenant was moving in, and I saw a lady load up two pitt bulls in her truck after unloading furniture. I immediately called the property owners, expressed my concerns, and told them about my "zero tolerance policy" for pitt bulls. I let the property owners know they would also be held responsible, if God forbid, anyone in my family, or one of my dogs was attacked. Our dogs have an invisible fence to keep them in, but it does not keep other dogs out. My 7 year old daughter loves dogs, so we had a long talk about how dangerous pitt bulls are and what she was to do if any strays came in the yard.

It turns out the pitt bulls belong to the tenant's mother. The dogs have not been back, so I guess the property owners either told them not to bring them back to the rental property, or that it was not in the dog's best interests to wander next door.



Charles, I am sorry for your cousin's misfortune, and hope she has a swift and complete recovery. I hope the owner of the pitt bull is held accountable to the full extent of the law.

[Kerbouchard]

You can shoot somebody for keying your car at nighttime(criminal mischief during the nighttime). You can shoot somebody for pulling a knife on you.(response to deadly force) You can shoot somebody for stealing your hub cab(protection of property, theft during the nighttime).

Why would you even wonder if you could shoot a dog that was attacking you?

Yes, you can shoot anything that is attacking you or your family, be it a dog, a racoon, a rabbit, or a person.

Did you guys even take the course? Or read the laws on use of force?

This forum came as one that was recommended to me, and as it was local, I thought it would be a great idea, but are you guys serious?

Hopefully, I am just having a bad day, so I'll apologize and maybe I will try this forum again in a few days.

[tallmike]

1 person asked the question and got more than 2 pages of responses stating that it was legal. Did you read all of those responses before (seemingly) lumping the entire forum together "Did you guys even take the course? Or read the laws on use of force?

We all come here to ask questions and learn from the vast knowledge that many of the members here have. None of us knows everything (except maybe Charles) but we all know something that we can contribute to the general knowledge base.


I think you will also find that most of the people here would not shoot someone who keys their car after dark, despite any arguments that could be made about its legality.

[flintknapper]

You can shoot somebody for keying your car at nighttime(criminal mischief during the nighttime). You can shoot somebody for pulling a knife on you.(response to deadly force) You can shoot somebody for stealing your hub cab(protection of property, theft during the nighttime).

Why would you even wonder if you could shoot a dog that was attacking you?

Yes, you can shoot anything that is attacking you or your family, be it a dog, a racoon, a rabbit, or a person.

Did you guys even take the course? Or read the laws on use of force?

This forum came as one that was recommended to me, and as it was local, I thought it would be a great idea, but are you guys serious?

Hopefully, I am just having a bad day, so I'll apologize and maybe I will try this forum again in a few days.

We will assume this to be the case.

Everyone is entitled to a "bad day" once in a while.