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I have a pitt bull that comes into my yard at night and chases my cats. He will sit there and back at me and show his teeth. I do live in city limits.

I am asking for opinions. Do I have a right to shot this dog if I go outside and he is attacking my cat or starts coming at me?

Tie a pork chop to the end of a 12 guage! I AM JOKING

Seriously, I do not know what the correct legal response is, but I would kill the dog if it was on my property acting agressive toward me. I would kill the dog in the middle of the street if it came towards me in agression. I believe that the breed and circumstances would warrant discharging your firearm. Remember that you are still responsible for where the bullet ends up!

Jason

Do you know who owns the dog? If yes, I'd let them know about it and ask them to keep their dog in their own yard.
If no, I'd call animal control or your local PD whichever one will answer the phone and ask them to handle it.

If neither of the above works, a fire extinguisher and air horn makes a lasting impression on most critters.

Of course, if all else fails, you'll have to use your best judgement as to what to do.

We have called on them. Now they let the dog out of the yard when the animal control officer is not on duty.

My first impulse for that situation would be a metal bat or a tire tool, not a gun. A club of some sort.

I chased a rottweiler out of my yard once with a length of metal pipe. It proved very effective.

What would prove even more effective, however, would be a declaration to the negligent neighbors along the lines of:

"Your dog is being a public nuisance and a potential threat. If I catch him in my yard one more time, he's going to the pound. If I catch him attacking my cats one more time, I WILL kill him to protect my own property."

After I ran that one aggressive rottweiler out, that's what I told his owners. He was never allowed to run around unsupervised after that.

1. Call the owner (if known).

2. Call animal control (to establish a paper trail about this problem animal).

3. Get video of the dog in your yard, with a time/date stamp, preferably threatening you or your animals.

And then, as quickly subsequent to #3 as possible:

4. No. 4 Buck, center of mass.

Kevin

Call the police. They will get tired of coming to your house and hopefully go and have a talk with the owner. Please don't harm the dog unnecessarily. Its the owner that is primarily at fault.

Surely, there is a resolution that doesn't involve shooting the dog.

The owner is known, you have a police dept., and I'll bet animal control can be called out for an emergency.

I certainly understand your concern and frustration.

jbirds1210 wrote: Tie a pork chop to the end of a 12 guage! I AM JOKING

I laughed out loud at that, but I'd rather toss the pork chop on the ground and get a good shot from a distance.

TxBlonde, these stray dog situations are really difficult. The police generally don't want to deal with stray dogs, and animal control works bankers' hours.

If the neighbors own a pit bull in the first place and let it wander, they probably have zero regard for the law. If you shoot the dog, you could find yourself in a Hatfields and McCoys feud.

You might be justified in shooting the dog under state law, but in nearly every city it is illegal to discharge a firearm under any circumstances. I don't know of a city in Texas that allows it.

Can you build a fence?

- Jim

Thane wrote:My first impulse for that situation would be a metal bat or a tire tool, not a gun. A club of some sort.
I chased a rottweiler out of my yard once with a length of metal pipe. It proved very effective.

What would prove even more effective, however, would be a declaration to the negligent neighbors along the lines of:

"Your dog is being a public nuisance and a potential threat. If I catch him in my yard one more time, he's going to the pound. If I catch him attacking my cats one more time, I WILL kill him to protect my own property."

After I ran that one aggressive rottweiler out, that's what I told his owners. He was never allowed to run around unsupervised after that.

Some dogs would react the opposite way to this and attack you. I take it you don't have a fence, if you did you could trap it and then call the AC or police. I would call both each time the dog is in your back yard or aggressive.

Keep your cats in the house, then the dog will have no reason to be there. Your cats have no more right to roam free than the dog.

Cosmo 9 wrote:Keep your cats in the house, then the dog will have no reason to be there. Your cats have no more right to roam free than the dog.

Cosmo 9, I agree that the cats have no more right to be out than the dog.

In HUMAN terms, the dog might not have a reason to be there if the cats were inside, but dogs don't necessarily think that way. At least the cats would be out of harm's way, but the real problem is not solved. The dog's owners are letting an aggressive dog run loose for at least some periods during day and/or night. If the dog no longer goes to THAT yard, where will he go? What other animal might get chased, or what PERSON might the dog finally decide to pick on?

It seems the dog's owners don't want to think that their dog would actually hurt anything. Hopefully they are right, but there have been enough horror stories of other animals and eventually people being attacked that I would not want to take the chance.

Thanx,
TraCoun

I just keep thinking and believing that for the most part its not the dogs fault...Or any other domesticated "pet" for that matter...

(i.e.: cats, ferrets, snakes, hampsters...etc etc)

Like many have said if the owners do not take their charges and responsibilities seriously...All bets are off...

I would hate to be the one to have to shoot another nieghbors (pet) animal because their owners don't take proper responsibility to protect them from situations like this...But that action is certainly not my first option...

Thats why I have a good fence to keep in what I want, and out what doesn't belong in there in the first place...

"Good fences make good neighbors" was one of the 1st statements that came out of the settling of the West.

My suggestion would be to try negative reinforcement. A nice, 5M Scovill pepper spray might be a starting point. As a bonus, the owner would never know about it, unless, of course, he played with the dog and then went to the bathroom.

AV8R wrote:My suggestion would be to try negative reinforcement. A nice, 5M Scovill pepper spray might be a starting point. As a bonus, the owner would never know about it, unless, of course, he played with the dog and then went to the bathroom.