Dog: a dangerous predator

Backyardherder

Chillin' with the herd
Joined
Nov 6, 2012
Messages
68
Reaction score
0
Points
34
... And I see I am not alone in this!

Yesterday after lunch, we managed to get a really nice, lazy Shabbat nap. Then, some time later, we woke to the sound of barking outside our window. My first thought was, "oh no, the dog got loose". But when I pulled the curtain aside, I realized two things: 1) the dog isn't mine, and 2) one of our goats is pressed into a corner of the balcony, trembling from head to hoof, and BLEEDING from her ear. As soon as we hurried forward to rescue the goat, we noticed with a shudder that a chunk of her ear is actually missing. The poor thing was clearly in pain, and so frightened.

Well, it turned out the dog's owner was not far away. He took his dog for a walk, and simply decided that he'd let her loose for a bit, so she might get some running about. Unfortunately, she chose to run into our yard and maim our goat. If this isn't enough, when we confronted him we met total lack of remorse and utter defiance. According to him, he "couldn't be expected to always keep his dog on a leash". When we pointed out that we, too, sometimes let our dog run around with no leash for exercise, only we do it FAR from anyone's (human or animal) place of habitation, he had the audacity to say he "can't be bothered to walk too far", and that we are guilty (!) for not keeping our goats penned up. As if it would be justifiable to have his dog in our yard as long as no actual damage was done! Just to clarify matters, we aren't talking about someone old or crippled or very overweight, but about a young, lean, apparently fit man who looks perfectly capable of jogging along with his dog. This is just what is very accurately described by the Hebrew word "chutzpah".

He offered to pay "whatever expenses" we might have as a result, but naturally, nothing will repair our goat's ear. Of course, this morning I issued a complaint to our local authorities. A person who owns a dangerous dog and isn't prepared to be responsible for it shouldn't be allowed to keep one.

Today she appears to be eating with good appetite, but she doesn't get into everything as much as usual. Most of the time she keeps close to the house, and to me. I just feel like crying every time I look at her. She is so friendly, and a special favorite with us all. I've been giving her treats (cabbage leaves, banana peels and other such delicacies) and extra affection all day. And to think (from reading some other threads here...) how much, much worse it all could have ended.

We called our vet and got instructions for disinfecting the wound, and today we emailed the photos above to her. Perhaps she'll drop by for monitoring, to make sure there is no infection.

It is so VERY crucial to be responsible for one's dog, especially if you own a large breed. Our dog is a pet and generally very friendly to everyone, but we wouldn't dream of letting her loose if there's the slightest chance she might encounter and startle someone, let alone do actual damage. I shudder to think about what might have happened if one of the children was playing in the yard at the time the aforementioned accident happened.
 

DonnaBelle

True BYH Addict
Joined
Sep 3, 2009
Messages
1,797
Reaction score
37
Points
228
Location
McIntosh County, OK
Yes, last week one of our members lost 2 pregnant does to neighborhood dogs running loose. Another one of her does was severely maimed.
The person who owned those dogs would not take responsiblility either.

Please be aware that the dog may be back to your property, now that he knows there is a goat there, you might want to make sure she is either in the barn or behind a strong fence.

The breeder I bought my first goats from said the biggest predator of goats in Oklahoma was not coyotes or bobcats but neighborhood dogs or ferel dogs.

I'm not Jewish, but I've got chutzpah and a loaded shotgun by the door.

DonnaBelle
 

Backyardherder

Chillin' with the herd
Joined
Nov 6, 2012
Messages
68
Reaction score
0
Points
34
DonnaBelle said:
Yes, last week one of our members lost 2 pregnant does to neighborhood dogs running loose. Another one of her does was severely maimed.
The person who owned those dogs would not take responsiblility either.

Please be aware that the dog may be back to your property, now that he knows there is a goat there, you might want to make sure she is either in the barn or behind a strong fence.

The breeder I bought my first goats from said the biggest predator of goats in Oklahoma was not coyotes or bobcats but neighborhood dogs or ferel dogs.

I'm not Jewish, but I've got chutzpah and a loaded shotgun by the door.

DonnaBelle
I know. I've read Trish Cooper's story, just when I dropped by to post mine. It's just blood-chilling to know how tragically it all could have ended for us.

What to do next is the big question. We have a house for our girls which they can't get out of, but upon inspecting it, I reckon a dog might get in (even though our dog, who is very protective of the goats, is stationed just next to their house, so it gives me some comfort). So I suppose we will need to make it dog-proof. However, the goats do need to get out for pasture, and in fact are out the larger portion of every fine day, and we have already learned that a dog can run over here and injure our goats in a very short time, it's enough that we simply look away or take a nap or whatever. I will, of course, be keeping an eye on my goats, but I might after all be away for part of the day. So, my point? The ONLY way to prevent accidents like that is that the dog owners in the area take responsibility for their dogs. Or, if they can't be bothered, heavy fines might just make them re-evaluate.

As someone who keeps a dog, goats and chickens, I can say that I would NEVER dream of having my animal run off to someone else's property, even unintentionally, without apologizing profusely and doing my best to prevent it from happening again. Not long ago one of my chickens developed a liking for a neighbour's chicks and began going over to that yard. I confined the chicken until the problem was over - even though it was "just" a chicken and the most my neighbour could complain of was some additional poop on her front porch. MY livestock is not anyone else's problem, period!

I have a German Shepherd/Malinois cross who is VERY friendly, but I would never, ever unleash her close to other people or animals.

The audacity of that man just makes me feel like steam is coming out of my ears. I applied to the local council, and they applied to him, and he promised it "would never happen again". We shall see, and keep both eyes open. If I ever notice his dog on our property again, I'll take my complaint further and will do everything it takes to make sure he isn't allowed to keep a dog at all.

We do have some feral dogs in the area (foxes and wild boar too, but I assume those cannot hurt goats), but our real problem so far has been the neighbours' dogs, and that one in particular. I just can't wrap my mind around how irresponsible and callous people can be.
 

redtailgal

New Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2010
Messages
5,369
Reaction score
26
Points
0
I agree whole heartedly that folks need to step up to the plate and take responsibility for their dogs (and children, but more on that later).

We had three goat kids that were attacked, one was very traumatized and the other two were killed by the dog. I remember hearing the screams of the babies as I ran across the yard to late to save them. It left me with nightmares and I still come close to a panic if I hear the goats "talking" when I am not out there. We were not compensated for the loss.

Sadly, around here the only thing that worked was having to deliver some dead dogs back to their owners. The farmers in this area started shooting and killing dogs that were pestering livestock. Then the body of that dog would be returned to the owners for them to dispose of, along with a bill for any damages the dog caused. It didnt take long for people to start putting up fences. (how's that for chutzpah)

Then there was the neighbor with the chickens, lol. I dont have chickens any more, so a porch covered in poop was a big deal to me! Animal control came by and spoke with her......she lives to close to a commercial chicken house to let her chickens run loose. Now, I dont really agree with what animal control said, but I am glad to not have her chickens poopin' on my porch or getting IN the truck when we forget to put the window up. :sick

Now, we have a new neighbor with a 13 year old son. I found this child rummaging through one of my sheds the other day, and when I asked him what he was doing......he replied "just looking, I'm bored". My neighbor found this same child in his pasture CHASING HIS CATTLE. :th Not sure what we can do with this one. We certainly cant take the same approach as we did with the dogs, that would not go over well at all. I am considering calling Child Services to see if they can help.

AND the other week I was weeding a flowerbed and managed to stick my hand in cat poop. Didn't come from my cat, she is in the house 24/7. I suspect its from the cat that has taken up residence in our pack house to raise her kittens. Of course, the cat chose to deliver her kittens in a large hanging bushel basket full of the potatoes that we grew this year. Now, doesnt that sound appetizing? I let her owner know the situation, but she's made no effort to come retrieve the cat and kittens. I hate to sound cruel, but she's got another week before I take them to the pound. We are having a rabies situation in my county, this cat is not vaccinated and her kittens will likely not be vaccinated either.

Dogs, chickens, cats and kids... :rolleyes: I hate to end up being THAT neighbor, but nuff is nuff.
 

PendergrassRanch

Loving the herd life
Joined
Jul 6, 2012
Messages
777
Reaction score
62
Points
108
Location
Northern California
I am so sorry your goat is injured because of one idiot owner.

I have lost 5 chickens from my neighbors dog but thankfully AC caught it and rehomed it with a good owner. A dog that is loose is a predator, not a pet.
 

BrownSheep

Lost in the flock
Joined
May 23, 2011
Messages
2,011
Reaction score
450
Points
203
RTG we had a neighbor kid like that. Always walking around our property breaking stuff. I suspect he would have harassed our sheep if it wasn't for our ram. We even saw him hold throw their cat at their dog and have the dog tree it. That same cat would come hang out in our house and hide if the neighbors came to the door. We ended up hiding the cat p stairs when the neighbors moved.

I believe the really threat to livestock comes from other people. The only way the dog has access to the livestock is if their owners don't do their duty.
 

Backyardherder

Chillin' with the herd
Joined
Nov 6, 2012
Messages
68
Reaction score
0
Points
34
redtailgal said:
Not sure what we can do with this one. We certainly cant take the same approach as we did with the dogs, that would not go over well at all.
No, I wouldn't think so LOL :D

Kids learn by imitation. If they learn gentleness and compassion from their parents, they will treat animals with gentleness and compassion. I have two daughters, almost 4 and just over 2, and even though they are so small, I can safely give them newly hatched chicks to handle (I still supervise of course). They would NEVER EVER spook or mistreat an animal, and in fact are very shocked to see other children do so.

Children need to be educated. Dogs need to be trained, and above all REStrained. People must remember: your pet is someone else's predator. Or even your predator as well. Our dog just killed two chickens a week ago. Now, it was an accident. Her chain broke and she got loose. But to have someone defiantly unleashing their dog near us... so dangerous and irresponsible.
 

ksalvagno

Alpaca Master
Joined
Jun 1, 2009
Messages
7,899
Reaction score
46
Points
263
Location
North Central Ohio
RTG - when that kid comes over, put him to work. Either he will keep coming over because he likes to do something and it helps you or he will quit coming over because he doesn't like to work.

BYH'r - do you have your goats in fences or do they run loose on your property? I do agree that if your animals are staying on your property that you should be able to do what you want but I am a firm believer in good fences make good neighbors. Of course walking around with a shotgun when the neighbor is out with his dog may help your situation. Fire off a couple of practice shots while you are at it (not at the neighbor or course :p )
 

treeclimber233

Loving the herd life
Joined
Jan 12, 2010
Messages
542
Reaction score
25
Points
111
That is what my husband did--took his gun to the barn. Our neighbors dogs were not nice dogs. They came to our house (neighbor was supposed to be responsible for the privacy fence that was falling down between our properties) and growled at us if we tried to shoo them away. They grabbed our 3 pound poodle one day and just carried him over to their house. Thankfully my husband saw them and ran after them screaming and throwing things. They dropped the poodle and ran. When I called Animal Control the officer said I needed to understand dogs will fight!!!!!! A three pound poodle against two 50 pound dogs is not much of a fight. Then the dogs pulled several rabbit cages apart and killed my rabbits. Again I called Animal Control and he told me if I did not actually see the dogs do it there was nothing I could do about it. I calmly and quietly told my neighbor that if I EVER saw their dogs on my property again I would not hesitate to shoot them. Several days later (apparently to prove her dogs did not do anything at the barn) she called and said there was a dog down at my barn chasing my horse. My husband grabbed the gun and ran down to the barn (where there were no dogs after my horse) making sure the neighbors saw the gun. I never saw their dogs loose again.
 

Backyardherder

Chillin' with the herd
Joined
Nov 6, 2012
Messages
68
Reaction score
0
Points
34
ksalvagno said:
BYH'r - do you have your goats in fences or do they run loose on your property? I do agree that if your animals are staying on your property that you should be able to do what you want but I am a firm believer in good fences make good neighbors. Of course walking around with a shotgun when the neighbor is out with his dog may help your situation. Fire off a couple of practice shots while you are at it (not at the neighbor or course :p )
We have no fences, as our property doesn't border anyone else's (you have to cross the road and walk a bit to get to our nearest neighbours). Furthermore, putting fences around our house would be problematic because our area is very, very rocky and uneven (goats love to climb the rocks - me, not so much!), and we have wild boar around who are extremely strong and can easily break almost any fence.

We have two does. Generally we do the following: I tether one of the does in a place where we have overgrowth of unwanted vegetation (we are overrun with wild bushes, brambles and weeds), and change locations every day. The other doe remains loose, but she always stays close to her friend. At the time the aforementioned accident happened, our does were right near the house, and in fact when I caught the dog and goat, they were right at the corner of the balcony/verandah.

So, yep, we should probably get a gun.
 
Top