allisji wrote:I know the popular position on "warning shots" is that it's never a good idea.
I would assume that if a walker fired a round to the dirt that it would probably scare the dog away, but I don't know if that is a guarantee. I would assume though that if a neighbor called the police after hearing a gunshot, that a person would likely be charged with unlawful weapon discharge, though presumably the walker has a defense if that they had no other way to scare away the aggressive dog (especially if the walker calls the police him or herself). Still seems like a bad idea to fire into the ground. Just curious as I know that most of us never want to shoot someone's pet (or a human for that matter).
In this case it sounds like the pitbull owners could not keep the dog controlled. Had the walker not shot the dog but had called police for a dog attack, with the past history, would this dog have been taken from its owners?
Doesn't sound like a great idea. Warning shots are kinda iffy, but I guess if you did, the dog ran away and the police arrived...you could say you missed. Lying to an officer during an investigation is more than just a bad idea though...