KS: Dog let loose, Kills Chickens, is Shot

Gun Watch ^ | 6 February, 2015 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

In Kansas, a dog owner deliberately let his dogs run loose and unsupervised.  At least one of the two dogs, a 90 lb, 10 month old Presa Canario, attacked a neighbor's chickens, killing some.   The neighbor called animal control, then grabbed a shotgun and went to defend his livestock.   The Presa Canario charged at him, and he shot and killed the marauding animal.  
Shawnee County Sheriff press release:

Upon arrival the Animal Control Officer learned that a Presa Canario breed dog attacked and killed fowl livestock and charged at the fowl livestock owner when he attempted to stop the attack. The owner of the fowl livestock shot and killed the dog before Animal Control arrived.

Killing dogs that are threatening or attacking livestock or humans has long been understood as legitimate and protected under the law.  From nolo.com:

Generally, it's perfectly legal to do anything necessary to stop a dog caught in the act of attacking a person or livestock. A dog's owner is not legally entitled to any money from someone who injures or kills the dog while protecting a person or farm animal from attack. Nor is the person guilty of a criminal offense; many animal cruelty laws specifically exempt the act of injuring or killing a dog in these circumstances.

Kansas law is particularily clear.  It not only allows the livestock owner to kill a dog caught in the act, but to kill a dog after the attack, in a "reasonable time".

 For example, a Kansas jury vindicated a farmer who shot and wounded a dog he found attacking his hogs. He shot at the dog, but it ran away, with the farmer in hot pursuit in his pickup. The dog ran home, where the farmer shot it twice and left it hiding, wounded, under the house. When the dog's owner came home, he rushed the dog to a veterinarian; it eventually recovered. The owner sued for almost $8,000, but the jury came back with a verdict for the farmer. (McDonald v. Bauman, 433 P.2d 437 (1967).) The Kansas statute allows a livestock owner to kill a dog that has been found injuring livestock "a reasonable time" before.

 Owners are responsible for the actions of their animals.   It does not matter if there is a leash law in the jurisdiction where the attack occurs;  the owner is still responsible for damage caused by their animal.  In a strange inversion of responsibility, the breeder of the Presa Canario has put up a "Justice for Marley!!" petition that makes rather extravagant claims, considering that the breeder was not there.   The claims contradict the Sheriff's press release, but confirm that the dogs were deliberately let loose and unattended.  One of the claims is:

However, no chickens were harmed or killed,

How the breeder would know this, as they were not present, is not explained.  

 

This is the Presa Canario that was shot.  The ears appear to be cropped, as is common for this breed.  The breed originally started out as a war dog.  Several attacks on people are listed in the wiki article, but it is impossible to know if the attacks are more or less common than for other breeds.

The breeder of the dog said that they would look into a civil action against the man who was protecting his chickens and himself.  From cjonline.com:

I will be speaking to a lawyer on Monday to see if anything can be done in civil court, and all I’m wanting is justice for Marley.

It seems unlikely that the breeder would have grounds for a lawsuit.  She had already sold the dog, so she no longer has a property interest in it.  In any case, it seems more likely that the owner of the chickens would have a valid claim for damages, as he has dead chickens directly caused by the actions of the dog's owners.

Dogs act differently around other people when their owners are not there.  They act differently when they are with other dogs than when they are alone.  Many dog owners think of their animals as differently shaped humans.  They are not.  They are animals and the animal's owner is generally responsible for the actions of their property.  If the chickens in this case had gone to the dog owner's property and caused damages, such as making a mess, that property owner would be able to claim damages against the chicken's owner.

 ©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch

[niteowl77]

Where I grew up it was standard practice to shoot any dog running loose on the farm.

The adults who weren't lunatics all seemed to know the "when to and when not to" rules of shooting dogs. There was a great deal of discretion that I didn't understand at the time, but once a dog began to run in a pack, it was no longer considered a "good dog."

Mr. niteowl77

[ridesthemiles]

Marley already got JUSTICE.

Play stupid games-—Win Stupid prizes.

I have shot at dogs which were in my horse pasture chasing the horses. I have lived in 2 different states which allow me to kill any animal harassing or threatening my horses.

That’s why Henry makes rifles.

[MrEdd]

When I was growing up, there was no local animal control.
I knew a guy who would give neighbors with dogs running loose two times to reign in their animals on trash day.
If they were caught ripping into his trashcan a third time, he had a custom slingshot with a 200lb pull and would correct the matter with a 3/4 inch ball bering. And another trash bag.

[Fresh Wind]

Animal owners are responsible for the actions of their animals.

It's remarkable how many pet owners don't understand that simple concept.

[WayneS]

Beautiful dog

It’s too bad it had to die just because it’s breeder/owner is an irresponsible, self-absorbed, idiot.

[Old_Grouch]

We had an Icelandic Sheepdog, imported from Canada, a breeding bitch who was shown and had several titles. This is in a semi-residential area of PA. This dog escaped from our yard when she was almost three years old, by digging under a gate, and my husband almost immediately realized it and went searching for her, and right away heard shots and feared the worst. She went to the property next door, the first time she had ever been on that property. The man is a millionaire and had a few chickens and he said she killed a chicken. We did not see the chicken, but she probably did at least chase them, and maybe did kill a $5 chicken. They were just ordinary white chickens. Anyway, this man shot her immediately, and the police report said she did not die right away and he hit her over the head with the butt of his rifle. She was a 25 lb. dog. Icelandic Sheepdogs, as anyone can verify, are among the friendliest of breeds. This man had done excavating work for us, had lived next to us for 25 years, and knew we had dogs. We would have paid for 100 chickens, the dog was not replaceable. This happened in October 2013. I still cannot look at photos of her. Yes, there is a law that allows this, but this is barbaric in this day and age. I am sorry to see so many FR’ers supporting this shooting so strongly. I have no idea what happened in the case in the article above, and maybe the owner was a jerk. However, this can happen with perfectly responsible dog owners. I have been breeding, showing, and training dogs for years. Anyone’s dog can get loose due to some unforeseen mistake. Humans should try to show a little neighborly kindness.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Legally, the Sheriff’s department made an error. They should have cited the actual owner of the dog for allowing it to run free. This would preclude any civil suit because it would have established that the owner was in the wrong from the start. The other reasons are good as well.

This would protect the farmer, if the owner sued. The breeder has no claim.

As an added note, many cities in Kansas have dog breed specific laws.

http://www.dogsbite.org/legislating-dangerous-dogs-kansas.php

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks to the reputation of my Dad and Grandfather, I was allowed hunt on many farms and ranches.

A standard practice of the property owners was to introduce me to their dogs and cats. Then, I was told to kill any stray critters and to let land owners where the dead critters were, so they could bury them.

That was sop in many other states where I hunted.

It was a low cost/effective way to eliminate bad critters.

[Bogey78O]

A guy I work with told me his grandpa had a dog he loved a lot. One day a neighbor comes by and tells him the dog got out and harassed his livestock and snapped at his kid. So his grandpa shot the dog dead.

The person was shocked he did it but his grandpa didn’t feel he could trust the dog to not do it again.

I guess that’s country folk for ya.

[Shimmer1]

“justice for Marley” Really. dumb donkey butt

[Red in Blue PA]

There is no such thing as a bad dog; only a bad owner.

Too bad the owners can’t be shot.

[tiki]

Over 20 years ago my husband killed a large husky that had a cow and a calf cornered. He didn’t have a gun so he just yelled at the dogs and the dog growled at him and didn’t budge. He came all the way back home and got a gun and shot him still trying to get the calf.

He dropped him into an old dry well and told me about it. A few days later the owners came to the house asking if I had SEEN their dog and I told them I hadn’t.

What my husband did was legal and if the cow or calf had died they would have been liable but it was just easier than dealing with them.

[Delta 21]

Marley got the justice that his irresponsible owner gave him.

[samtheman]

I wonder if they let their subsequent dogs run free.

[marktwain]

It is sad that you lost a valuable and irreplaceable dog. But it does not appear that your neighbor was familiar with the dog, so how could he know that it was valuable and irreplaceable?

I do not know your situation, but it seems like a tragic series of events. I wish that things had turned out better for you, but every livestock owner cannot be held at risk because of one tragic situation. How can the livestock owner know when a dog is uniquely valuable, and when the attacking animal is feral or diseased?

They cannot. I am sorry for your loss, but the rule of law must stand. The world is an imperfect place, and we must do the best that we can.

[X-spurt]

Best working model!

[meatloaf]

It’s legal to shoot dogs going after livestock in WV. The sheriff doesn’t want to be bothered.

[X-spurt]

“Shoot-Shovel-Shut up! What the eye can not see the heart will not miss.” No witness, no law.

You want to keep your dog, keep your dog. That being said, in most farm situations, somehow dogs know their property lines.

[Abathar]

I raised rabbits when I was a kid, and one morning I woke up to the sound of very loud gunshots. Jumped up and met my father who was walking out of his bedroom wearing only a towel, he told me to go out and see if any of my rabbits were still alive, both hutches had been ripped apart by dogs.

He shot at them from the bathroom window when he stepped out of the shower and happened to look out and see them doing it.

2 Rottweilers we had never seen were the culprits, he hit one through the back hips wounding it and the stupid thing ran into our garage and hid in a corner, we called animal control to come and get it. They did, it had a collar and when the owner was called came over from about a mile away and was threatening legal action and more or less swore we would pay for what we did. Cops didn’t do anything except explain we were completely in the right and to keep his dogs fenced in.

Kind of scary ending to the story is we didn’t know who this guy was, just where he lived and about a year later his house was raided by the DEA and the FBI, helicopters, swat team, the works. Seems he was a big time drug dealer and well connected to some very big and bad people, and the paper also mentioned him having guard dogs around his house as well.

Didn’t think anything of the threats when he made them of course, dad just smirked at him, you Did Not intimidate that man, but we kind of gave pause when we realized who was making the treats to us after we found out.

[X-spurt]

You want to keep your dog, keep your dog.

Dogs don’t suddenly get a whim to dig out. You going to keep one penned, better bury the fence wire.

Now tell us the whole story.