“People from the city come over here and dump their cats who go feral .... we shoot them when they come on our property...”
I completely agree with you. When we lived in the California backcountry, city idiots would dump their dogs, which naturally, formed packs.
I had to carry a 12 gauge and sidearm when out for a walk. I don’t know how many dogs I shot. They would pack up at the manzinitas on the edge of the property and growl. I’d need to fire off rounds to scatter them so I could take a leak.
City morons don’t realize that gentle and sweet Fido becomes a killer pack animal without human control.
I rescued a few dogs that broke out of the pack after they were near starvation and took them to the animal shelter in town.
Quite simply, people, don’t dump your pets into the bush. People live there with their families. They pose a threat to private property and especially young children.
Some 25 odd years ago in rural SoCal, on a dawning Sunday morning, I was awakened by my neighbor beating on my door and yelling for me get a gun. Three large, feral dogs had broken into his rabbit shed, and had broken open some of the cages, and killed several rabbits.
I shot all three, while hearing many more shoots from around the area.
When all was said and done, a total of 15 dogs had been killed, from a pack that had come out of the river bed, then split into smaller groups attacking anything they could find.
This had two salutary effects:
A) My neighbor changed his mind about guns, and became an active shooter;
B) It prodded law enforcement, animal control, and Fish & Game to undertake a concerted joint aerial & ground attack on the packs of both feral dogs and coyotes that were running in the area.
While I'll shoot ferals when necessary, I'd really rather shoot the SOB who dumped them.