Terrible Day Of Vacation

[Ala Dan]

Greeting's Folk's-

Not too rant, but my day ( Saturday, Nov. 18th, 06) went south in a
hurry; for as I arose from a wonderful nights sleep this morning, I
awakened to find that my 1996 Buick Century 4-door sedan had been
stolen right from under my nose while parked near (very close) to my
residence. The vechile is white over white, with minor damage too
the left rear quarter and tail light lens. It had just turned over too
100,000 miles; and just last week had a brand new radiator installed
in it.

And too make matters worst, and keep on a gun related topic two of
my guard dogs got too fighting this AM. These two pit bulls were in
the "kill or be killed" mood, and the meaner one had a death grip on
the other ones throat and neck area. After several blows too the dogs
torso (and head) with an aluminum crutch; I decided it was time to put
him down. I retrieved my 2.5" Smith & Wesson model 66-4 .357 magnum
and fired one warning shot into the ground to NO avail. One dog did
continue his death grip on the other; so I fired one round of 158 grain
JSP (Smith & Wesson ammo) into the aggressors left side. The dog
yelped one time, and retreated to die in peace. Lord knows I hated
doing this worst than anything in my life. This was an unsettling type
of experience for me, as I'm an animal lover at heart. I didn't want to
use a JHP projectile for fear that it would splatter the dog's remains
all over the place. Did I do right, or did I do wrong; you be the judge~!

 

[cslinger]

No judgement to be had here, just condolences. Putting an animal down is hard stuff and something I don't ever want to be a party to. I am sorry.

As an aside, anybody reading this who thinks taking ANY LIFE is a light thing, think again and think hard.

Sorry Dan,

Hang in and take care.

Chris

 

[merk]

You only shot it in the side? How long did it writhe until it died?

 

[XLMiguel]

My condolences on your dog and sympathies on the theft (may the heater core split and parboil the thief's feet). You do what you have to, I can't question your judgment, you know the players and you were there in the moment.

Tomorrow will be a better day, pax vobiscum, my friend.

(My name is Mike, I, too, am a SIGaholic)

 

[mustanger98]

I'd bet if he punched it's lungs, it didn't last long. Figure the shock and loss of blood... the lungs filling up with blood... and there usually ain't that much writhing to it. Death occurs fairly fast.

A guy I know locally to me... he had an incident where some loser turned a pit bull loose on his dachsund. The pit bull killed the dachsund and went to work on the golden retriever and the guy was out there beating on the pit bull with the flat side of a shovel because his wife won't let him have a gun. The guy's neighbor came running with a .357 and here comes the pit bull's owner who gets between them and says "don't hurt my dog". If it'd been me, there would've been a pit bull, shot dead on the spot, who's owner can pound sand.

I agree that ending a life isn't to be taken lightly. In the last several years, I lost a real nice dog and a real good horse to illness and injury respectively... they were both like part of the family. It's rough. And I'm a deer hunter... this subject puts killin' on a different level... figure we eat what we harvest, but killin' ain't for everybody and that's why we have those who don't understand. Thing is, whether we're talking about killin' to eat or killin' to stop a killin', it's the same whether we pull the trigger ourselves or pay somebody else to.

 

[kokogirl]

pit bulls

You are the 3rd person I know that owns multiple pit bulls that attacked each other til death. I have a neighbor who had to shoot his because one Pit Bull had killed his first lab and was mauling 'death grip' the other Pit Bull. 00 Buck to the side made him stop instantly (by the owner).

Not to rant, but I HATE PIT BULLS. People say it's "how they are raised" which makes them angry. Pshh...please... instinct.

Maybe you'll reconsider. Sorry about your losses.

-koko

 

[sd]

sorry about your troubles. sounds like you did what you had to. Thats not easy sometimes. hang tough, things will get better, there is a higher purpose to our troubles than we know.

 

[Raph84]

Sorry about what happened, that is a terrible situation to be in.

Anyone that has a powerful dog should look into a thing called a breaking stick. While I have no personal experiances with breaking sticks, I heard about it through a pit rescue website when I was considring buying a pit bull as a pet It is basically (as I have heard it described) a hammer handle sanded down to an angle on one side so it is like a really thick shim. My understanding is that you get it between their jaws and work it as far back as you can, eventually it will give you enough leverage that the dog can not maintain its grip.

They are considered dog fighting paraphenalia in some areas so make sure you know the law, but I have heard it said that no pit owner should be without a breaking stick for just the type of situations described above.

 

[Ala Dan]

Many thanks folks for the warm responses. Truth of the matter is, I'd had
this particular pit bull since it was born. NEVER, EVER have I raised a true
fighting dog~! I live in a really bad part of town, and its getting worst by
the minute. I only own dog's for protection; or too alarm the family when
danger is lurking. I don't know what caused this pit bulls attitude too go
south. I believe the other pit bull can be nursed back too health. That
leaves only he and a 1/2 doberman-rottweiler too guard our property.

 

[doncameron]

Sorry for your loss!
having to kill a pet is tough!
Been there and done that!

Hope youe week gets better.

 

[Ryder]

Did I do right, or did I do wrong; you be the judge~!

Either way you were bound to be left with only one dog. If it was me I'd of rather had the stronger and healthier of the two. Now you're left with a weak wounded animal. Coulda saved a couple of bullets too

 

[dbracin]

Sorry to hear about your day. This makes me think of the movie Old Yeller. Somethings things just have to be done.

 

[tellner]

A dog that will kill its pack-mates and won't stop attacking is dangerous to you and those around you. My condolences on the loss of your dog. You did the right thing.

 

[Lebben-B]

Tough day, Dan. Sometimes all it takes to make a day go sideways is simply getting out of bed. On the upside, "Tomorrow is another day." Any word on your car?

Mike

 

[Mannlicher]

gee what a mess.
Drive down to the 'hood, and see if you can spot your car. It will probably have 20 inch wheels on it now and have a new stereo installed.

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

damn

its a sign of your character and those responding heck gunny's in general that we all realize what a hard thing having to put your dog down was.
I've had to do it and always second guessed myself too.

 

[dfaugh]

A dog that will kill its pack-mates and won't stop attacking is dangerous to you and those around you.

Not true. There's dog-aggression and people-aggression. Unfortunately pit-bulls have been bred to be dog-aggressive (not saying ALL are, but some are). In several years of training dogs I've 'known quite a few pits that were geat family pets, and wouldn't harm their owners or anyone else for that matter. SOME of them were just fine with other dogs as well. Others weren't.

But, to elaborate on your statement...I currently have 4 German Shepherds (3 of which are trained as Schutzhund/personal protection dogs). Great with family, kids, even strangers (up to the point where the "stranger" shows aggression towards a family member). BUT, I can't let any of them out (well, any of the 3 females at least) together, as there WILL be a dogfight, and it'll be to the death. I just seem to end up with all the friggin' Alpha dogs! My females will even start a fight with a (much bigger) male.

And, breaking up a dogfight is VERY risky. In my years of doing training, the only significant injuries I've ever suffered were from breaking up dogfights. Still don't have complete use of my left hand, from injuries suffered breaking up a fight between 2 of my females. I just got in the way, they wouldn't EVER bite me normally.

I know how painful it is to lose a good dog, I lost my "one-in-a-million" dog a few months back(old age). I don't even know how I would feel if I had to put one down myself. I do hope, though, you made sure the dog went quickly, and as painlessly as possible.

 

[BigG]

Wow Dan, sorry to hear about all the trouble. Stolen car and pet going crazy. You had a lot on your plate, bud!

 

[rbernie]

If it was me I'd of rather had the stronger and healthier of the two.

I disagree - I'd rather have two or three dogs that I can count on to work as a team than a single dog that will kill its packmates.

Sorry to hear all this, AD. There are no perfect answers to any of this, but ya did what was best.

The good news is that the car isn't worth a whole lot on the chop market, so it's likely to be recovered in a week or two.

 

[Lennyjoe]

Dan my friend, sorry to hear about the loss of your dog. Hope your other dog will recover soon.

Any word on the vehicle yet?

 

[R-Tex12]

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles, Dan. Seems to me you did everything right. Hope things take a turn for the better quickly.

 

[dm1333]

That
leaves only he and a 1/2 doberman-rottweiler too guard our property.


Sorry you had to put your dog down, I'm an animal lover and I hate having to do things like that. Your statement above leads me to believe you may look for another dog. Have you considered a Great Dane? My dog experience is very limited but from what I have seen Danes make great guard dogs. Gentle and loyal most of the time but with a very intimidating bark. Mine has stopped a number of people from coming onto the property just by standing there looking alert as they come to the gate. The one time another dog growled and barked at me I thought he was going to turn into Cujo. The other dog backed down real quick. Again, I'm sorry you had to do it because I am sure the dog was a part of your family.

 

[telomerase]

Too bad about the dog. Dogs (all carnivores, actually; their telomeres don't control cancer like ours do) get cancer pretty easily, that's one reason they can develop bad attitudes.

We keep pepper spray around for such dog occasions. I'm very impressed that you hit the right dog, that's damn difficult in a dogfight. (To the guy who thought he should have shot it in the head... how many moving animals have you shot with a pistol?)

I'm sure you'll find another car with 100,000 miles on it. In fact, if you check the classifieds you may find a nice Buick with a fresh paint job and a salvage title right now...

 

[meef]

You did the right thing.

You will likely second guess yourself for a long time. That's one of the burdens a decent person has to cope with in a situation such as this one.

You didn't do an easy thing, but you did do the right thing.

You have my respect.

 

[Lou629]

There's an expression that goes something like even a bad day on vacation is better than a good day at work
From the sound of things, i would bet that you'd have wished for the day at work instead of the day you had. Condolences on your dog. Hopefully the whole experience will prove to be the hardest thing you'll ever have to do for the rest of your life.