Pit Bull Attack

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Sheldon J

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Caution long story:
About a month ago my daughter received call while at work that a dog a red pit bull was attacking her goats. By the time she got home it was too late, her 4 H prize winning Toggenburg female and one sheep was dead. Fortunately a neighbor has witnessed the act police were called charges filed, county was suppose to pick up the animal for destruction.

Fast forward 30 days later, and after multiple calls to animal control no one had picked up the dog, and my daughter receives another call, the dog is back and attacking. By the time she made it home the dog had already killed her two Toggenburg females that were pregnant; the dog was in the process of attacking her llamas. Her response was she shouted get away from my animals, her second was BANG, she has her CCW and carries an S&W 649 .357 now she is out several thousand dollars of pedigreed animals that she uses to help supplement her meager income.

Rant: If the county had done their job, and they were called 3 times this would not have happened.
Good thing: My little girl shot to wound to get the dog away from her llamas and it was a moving target, then she pursued it though the fields and as she was running she shot it two more times, and again a moving target. Result no more red pit bull, I am so proud of her for her actions.
When she turned 21 someone asked me if I was going to go buy her a drink and I replied No I’m going to buy her something that might save her life someday, so I took her to the gun store and said pick out something and she chose the S&W, good choice.
 
I think she did the right thing friend,any agressive dog such as a pitbull should be caged and chained. I have a friend who owns a pitbull,and its the frendliest dog you'll ever meet. But i will absoutly never let my young daughter near the animal.........

PS Sorry about your daughters losses on pedigree animals. not cool,i would also take up a civil suit on the owner of the pitt!!
 
Well if she keeps livestock she needs a carbine or rifle. Trying to ward off some attacking dog with a CCW piece is not optimal. You risk hitting the livestock. A proper rifle would have sent fido into next month with a single shot without the need for the running battle you describe.

My little girl shot to wound to get the dog away from her llamas and it was a moving target, then she pursued it though the fields and as she was running she shot it two more times, and again a moving target. Result no more red pit bull, I am so proud of her for her actions.
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Shooting to wound is also a tactical mistake.

Everyone I know who keeps livestock keeps rifles. Even folks who keep dogs keep rifles. Get her one for Christmas!
 
While pits are awesome with people, they do not usually do well with livestock or other dogs. The owner of the dog needs to be prosecuted. The owner of the animals should have shot the dog the first time.
 
Not when the attacking dog is under the animal you want to protect, it was going for the llamas stomach, you take the safe shot, carrying / leaving a AR in the PU truck here in MI would be a bad idea so you use what your are carrying and do not take the time to go to the house and unlock the gun safe to get a better gun.:D

Small claims her in MI is only good to $3,000.00 and we figure damages from the combined attacks are closer to th 6-8 area, they have admitted liability, the police told them they had better for their own good, so their home owners policy might just cover the liability.
 
dogs

I also have a friend with a pit bull. I love that dog but i also understand that it has the ability to kill. he is a great dog lives on a farm and hasnt hurt a calf from the farm next door. i wont say that the dog will hurt someone but i am aware of all dogs. i dont go condition red but i am ready. sorry to hear about the lost animals hope it all works out.
 
As a pit bull owner myself I have found some of them to be loving family animals. Poor breeding and handling of a pit leads to problems. Our pit is two years old and the kids can climb all over her and even take food right from her mouth. She is however animal agressive toward some animals such as cats and cows who leave the pasture otherwise she is just a friendly loving pet. Our other dog is a chow which she plays with and who is worthless as far as protection but he barks and looks mean. Any animal who kills livestock should get the same. People who improperly breed pitts should be shot too.
 
Save all your documentation for your court case. Have documents with the values of your livestock and the lost income the pit caused. Be prepared for a huge dose of denial from the dog owner. Very likely, the only way to get compensated for this dog's destruction is to take the owner to court. You may want to find out who their insurer is and skip over this person as much as possible.

As a dog owner, I personally told myself I would never own a dog that could threaten my neighbors' safety. And I'm sorry, no Pitbull I have ever met, no matter how nice, well heeled or otherwise even comes close to qualifying. Rottweilers don't even qualify in my book and I've been around a lot of them. Think of trying to fight it out in court with someone whose livestock, pet or child has been injured by your dog. Not a pretty sight. My nephew was bit in the face by an agressive pit bull and it took over 9 months for the "system" to finally get the dog put down.

Kudos for her shooting the animal. Second on purchasing her a rifle for future work. Because if the stereotype is true, the neighbor will get another damn pitbull and the problem will start again. And you can see the state is already an ineffective way to resolve the problem. Bullets are much more effective, cheaper, and offer no bureaucratic waffling.
 
I have 3 dobermans that are trained by a former police K-9 trainer,and only after my command to attack they will. But i am convinced that they are a great people dog, and i have no concern whatsoever with my daughter playing with them,,,actually one is sleeping on my daughters bed with her.
They are great dogs,as are German Shepards.
 
cant she sue the owner??
People need to be responsible for their property...
I know for a fact if I was shooting carelessly and shot up "llama" property, the police would be a little more upset....
 
I read dog owners herein recite how wonderful, friendly, no threat to the children .... I suspect the owner of the pit bull, in question, had a similar attitude. From my view, dogs are dogs, only owners of the dog gives it any rational thinking/behavioral abilities. I believe one needs to be alert around animals, at all times.
 
I have vowed to kill any aggressive dog that comes near my home or children. !!!!!!
!!!!!!

The owner of ANY dog that commits any crime should be charged in criminal court with the crimes of the animal. If your dog rips apart someone's garbage the owner should be charged with littering. If your dog kills someone the owner should be charged with 1st degree murder. It is called responsibility folks and it is in short supply these days.
 
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Im sorry I cannot comment on the situation, but I want to commend you on helping your daughter get her CCW on her 21st, that just gave me a big smile and a warm fuzzy feeling, I wish more parents had this attitude.
 
Aw, geez, that's terrible. I hope she can sue.

I've had pit bulls for years, and they're awesome animals.
 
hwp,

by that same rational what should you get for killing someones dog cause it growled at you? dogs are a part of the family for some people. they are loved.

people who kill dogs for no good reason are pieces of crap. poisoning someones dog is low as can be. it cannot be for defense, its premeditated and uncalled for ugly behavior.
 
I have vowed to kill any aggressive dog that comes near my home or children. I am more than willing to poison, shoot, stab, or beat to death any dog that fits MY definition of aggressive
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Whoa there. We're talking about a dog that attacked livestock. Putting poison out because some mutt gets into the garbage is a wee bit different. What is your definition of "aggressive"?
 
First, I'd like to say "Good job," to the original poster for getting your daughter the tools she needs to take care of herself. I do think one might benefit from looking at a rifle or something if this type of thing is a repeat problem.

To those of who you don't like certain breeds of dog:

Blame the deed, not the breed, folks... I've been around pit bulls and rottweilers my whole life, and I've never met one that was a danger to anything other than a rubber ball.
 
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I think hwp overstated his postion with too much "passion" and should be given the opportunity to restate in a more THR consistent manner. Same for some of you jumping on him publicly.

I hope hwp doesn't intend to behave in the way the first 2/3rds of his post indicates. Such behavior would be both irresponsible and illegal.

That said, let's not neglect the fact that the breeds we love are created by people that wanted certain physical and behavioral characteristics to be dominant in the breed. The very things that make us love a breed can also be the characteristics that make them unsuitable for certain settings. We love the strength and power and loyalty and "fighting spirit" in certain breeds. They were made this way through careful breeding and the breed exhibits the results of this effort. In the right setting and under the right conditions these are great characteristics, but in the wrong settings they can be a time bomb. Ignoring the breed characteristics that we don't want may dangerous and we shouldn't forget that in spite of how much we love them.

I'm sorry for the Sheldon J's daughter's loss. The owners of the dog should be charged and sued.
 
SJ:

I hope the owners man up and pay for the damage their dog did.

Good on your daughter for doing what was necessary. No telling how much other livestock was killed by the dog. Good on her for packing the tools of a free men & women, too.

If packing a carbine is such a problem up there, perhaps a 6" .357mag revolver would do the trick?
 
I agree wholeheartedly.

The owner of ANY dog that commits any crime should be charged in criminal court with the crimes of the animal.
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And if someone asks whether I believe a gun owner is responsible for the crimes his or her gun commits without their knowledge, I say absolutely not. Your gun is only dangerous if you or someone else pulls the trigger. A dog, no matter how domesticated, may still act with a certain amount of unpredictability.

Also, I'd like to know what Pit Bulls were originally bred for?

It's my understanding that they were bred to fight. Against bulls, bears, other dogs, whatever. Someone may wish to enlighten me on this point.

I'm sorry to say that given their current reputations (whether deserved or not), my response to an agressive Pit Bull is probably going to be much different than that of a Lab, Pointer, or any other breed.

Please understand, I like and admire dogs. I'm not advocating going hunting for anyone's pet.
 
I'm sorry to say that given their current reputations (whether deserved or not), my response to an agressive Pit Bull is probably going to be much different than that of a Lab, Pointer, or any other breed.
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It should be... as it should with any aggressive dog, regardless of breed. But I also think some people just don't like these dogs because they think all of them are aggressive, and that's simply not the case... regardless of what the dog was originally bred for. Everyone has the right to their own opinions, but nobody has the right to shoot someone's pet just because of their perception of it's breed characteristics.
 
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