Posted on 08/26/2008 5:43:18 AM PDT by engrpat
A North Texas family is mourning the loss of two of their pets. The nine-month-old pit bulls were shot and killed by a neighbor who says it was self defense.
The shooting happened in a neighborhood off Ten Mile Bridge Road in northwest Fort Worth.
The neighbors never had any problems before. But that all changed over the weekend.
The man who pulled the trigger says he didn't have any choice. But the dogs' owners disagree.
Kristopher Harrison has a six-year-old daughter. He says that's why he was upset when two pit bulls wandered into his backyard Saturday afternoon.
Harrison says he told his next door neighbors, if it happened again, he would shoot the dogs. And that's exactly what he did around 4 a.m. Sunday morning.
Harrison says he and a friend were taking a break from watching the Olympics when the nine-month-old dog named 'Scarface' crawled under the fence. Harrison had his shotgun with him, so he says he shot the dog and the dog's sister, 'Lady'.
"I wish he just would have went in the house and would have came and told me instead of retaliating that way," dog owner Shaylen Ross said.
One of the animals was found dead in Harrison's backyard. The other was found dead in its own backyard.
"He was showing his teeth, growling and he was coming at me," Harrison explained. "The second dog, I didn't know. I didn't think I was going to have to shoot him, because he seemed a little hesitant. But then he looked at the hole in the fence. I thought he was going to go back under, then he turned around and started coming at me and that's when I shot him."
Fort Worth Police are reviewing the case, but they say if the dogs were in the neighbor's yard when they were shot it's unlikely that any charges will be filed.
Roaming pit bulls should always be killed. This was exactly the right thing to do.
What is your problem with this man defending himself, his family and his property from a dangerous dog?
Killing menaces. I don't think his neighbor would want to be very much of a problem given the outcome of this particular one.
I had a similar situation...here’s how I dealt with it. I have a pool in the backyard. Wife one Sunday afternoon in the pool w/ the kids swimming. And we live way down a dirt road...maybe 6-7 houses. Fence gate to pool area was open as the wife was watering stuff. She taps on the window and I look out and I see a muscle bulging pitbull cruising around our pool with my then 2 year old boy and 6 year old daughter. I tell the wife to get in the pool with the kids and stay in there. If it jumps in...drown it.
I get a rake and walk outside. I own many weapons and didn’t get one then. I simply walked toward the dog and guided him to the gate. He wouldn’t let me get close. Wouldn’t show any emotion through wagging. Got him outside the gate and walked him up the driveway and out and gone.
No clue who’s dog it was...just shut all the gates and it was done.
Fast forward 3 months after that. Same pit shows up wandering around dragging a freaking logging chain. Comes in yard. Get kids in house and guide the dog off again using a rake. 2nd time. Guy shows up later on a fourwheeler and asks about a dog. Got the “he’d never hurt anyone” speech. Really? I don’t give a s**t. A pistol is perfectly harmless too. But I don’t go in YOUR yard and drop a loaded pistol so your kids can stumble upon it and play w/ it. A pitbull...even playing...can destroy a 2-7year old child.
Fast forward to 2 months ago. Pit shows up for a 3rd time and a boxer (that I’d confused as a pit type) come in my backyard w/ me there. Kids inside w/ wife. I lure them into the extra fenced back yard and put water and food out. I call Animal Control. I’d seriously considered just shooting them and be done with it. I’m glad I didn’t. Animal control shows up and gets both of them.
My new neighbours across the street came looking for the boxer and caught the officer before he left. They got the boxer back, and I told them I’d never seen the boxer before and didn’t have a problem with it. I had a problem w/ the pit. It all worked out. Pit removed...and hopefully destroyed. That thing was vicious when the AC officer was getting him.
Next time the pit shows up...I will be burying it.
We’re dog owners. I used to have a black & tan...a redbone...and we’ve had a few daschunds...even one now. So don’t paint all that look to protect their children as simple dog haters. If any of my dogs ever attacked the children in what I feel is malicious...I’d put it down in a heartbeat.
If the dogs’ owner cared so much about them, he would have made sure they stayed in their own yard.
There is a happy medium, by the way: .22 snake shot. When I was a teenager, we had neighbors who kept an Afghan hound and let it run wild in our rural neighborhood. The fourth or fifth time I caught him ransacking our garbage can, I let him have it right in the ass with a .22 snake shot cartridge from about 20 feet away. He yelped all the way home. I am sure he came to no permanent harm, but he never set foot within a hundred yards of our property again.
Actually, he feared for the life of his six-year-old daughter, knowing that he would not likely be there for her the next time the two Pit Bulls came into his back yard.
The more dangerous an animal you have, the greater responsibility you have to keep them away from other people and off of other people's property.
That a man would not be willing to endanger his children in order to give someone else multiple chances to restrain their animals doesn't strike me as unreasonable.
Different breeds of dogs have different dispositions, if they did not men would not have spent so much time and effort to create them. A Pit Bull is not a defacto killing machine, but the burden of proof is on the owner of the dog.
duh
Here's a little piece of advice for pit bull owners.
Control your pets or other people will control them for you.
Or were they just digging under the fence and Mr. tough guy wanted to make good on his threat?
We take private property rights VERY seriously in Texas.
The second dog was shot in its own backyard.
YOU don't know that.
From the article.
Fort Worth Police are reviewing the case, but they say if the dogs were in the neighbor's yard when they were shot it's unlikely that any charges will be filed.
They were bread to be. Just as pointers are bread to point and retrievers are bread to retrieve.
Not all Labs will instinctively chase a frisbee, but I'm not betting my child's life on someone's ability to train a Lab not to.
Am I unreasonable? Doesn't matter. I get to set the rules on my property. Thus, the owner of the Pit Bull has 100% of the burden to keep them away from my children.
The second dog was shot in its own backyard.................................................................................Read the article again, both dogs was in the shooters back yard..........................................................................................Do you have documentation to show that these particular dogs have attacked people in the past?...............................................................Do you need documentation thata burglar had never harmed previous victims before you shoot him?
Just to clarify...............I didn’t think I was going to have to shoot him, because he seemed a little hesitant. But then he looked at the hole in the fence. I thought he was going to go back under, then he turned around and started coming at me and that’s when I shot him.”
Just to clarify...............I didn’t think I was going to have to shoot him, because he seemed a little hesitant. But then he looked at the hole in the fence. I thought he was going to go back under, then he turned around and started coming at me and that’s when I shot him.”
I thought he was going to go back under, then he turned around and started coming at me and that’s when I shot him.”
...................................What is so hard to understand about the above statement? Do you think everything dies the moment it is shot? I once had a dog that had been shot but made it all the way to the back door before it died. I am prety sure he was up to no good and he damn sure wasn’t shot at my back door. That was back in the day when we lived in a very rural area with out a fenced yard, no telling what kind of mischief he got into.
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