APD shoots a dog inside PETCO

[chuck j]

There are plenty of breeds out there that dont present the problems pit bulls do , how many children have been mauled and killed by pit's . Pit bulls are a status symbol to most of the folks that own them , some would wear one on a chain around their neck if it were possible .

[MotherBear]

Today, if that happened in my yard, I'd definitely shoot. Things have changed though. I now live in an area where I can legally fire a gun. The property is secured all the way around, so it's real difficult for a dog to get in. We've got a lot more loose dogs in the neighborhood, but none in my yard. Zero chance of getting arrested for discharging a firearm.

If it happened again in the city, I'm not sure if I would do it differently just due to potential criminal and civil liability. If I did shoot, it would need to be almost straight down, with no issue of backstop.

I wouldn't shoot on account of a 3rd party's dog being attacked. It's just too financially and criminally risky. Good thing that APD was there.

Thanks for sharing -- some good things to think on there. Down the street from us there's a family that lets their dog (some sort of pit/bulldog/mastiff type mix) and their small children wander with no supervision. Apparently the older kids like to watch the dog get in fights. A while back the sheriff was out here because another kid had tried to break up a fight with his hands and predictably got bit by this dog. I don't think they did anything about the dog, and of course the owners were out there talking about how friendly and gentle he is. I haven't seen him act aggressive toward people, but he's wandered into my front yard before when I've had the kids out there playing and it makes me real nervous. Thing is, there's really nothing I can do about it until/unless he actually hurts one of my kids. I don't trust him and I don't want him anywhere near my kids or on my property. Unfortunately there's no way to keep him out of my front yard since his owners don't care.

I like dogs just fine, but I sure do hate irresponsible owners.

[VMI77]

Based on the articles, she clearly did the right thing, and really had no choice.

[VMI77]

Today, if that happened in my yard, I'd definitely shoot. Things have changed though. I now live in an area where I can legally fire a gun. The property is secured all the way around, so it's real difficult for a dog to get in. We've got a lot more loose dogs in the neighborhood, but none in my yard. Zero chance of getting arrested for discharging a firearm.

If it happened again in the city, I'm not sure if I would do it differently just due to potential criminal and civil liability. If I did shoot, it would need to be almost straight down, with no issue of backstop.

I wouldn't shoot on account of a 3rd party's dog being attacked. It's just too financially and criminally risky. Good thing that APD was there.

Thanks for sharing -- some good things to think on there. Down the street from us there's a family that lets their dog (some sort of pit/bulldog/mastiff type mix) and their small children wander with no supervision. Apparently the older kids like to watch the dog get in fights. A while back the sheriff was out here because another kid had tried to break up a fight with his hands and predictably got bit by this dog. I don't think they did anything about the dog, and of course the owners were out there talking about how friendly and gentle he is. I haven't seen him act aggressive toward people, but he's wandered into my front yard before when I've had the kids out there playing and it makes me real nervous. Thing is, there's really nothing I can do about it until/unless he actually hurts one of my kids. I don't trust him and I don't want him anywhere near my kids or on my property. Unfortunately there's no way to keep him out of my front yard since his owners don't care.

I like dogs just fine, but I sure do hate irresponsible owners.

Several years ago, when my son was walking with our dog, and another dog ran into the street and attacked our dog, my son got bitten trying to break up the fight (which our dog was rapidly losing) --and animal control came out and picked the other dog up. It must not have been a bad bite, because as I understand it, if you get medical treatment for a dog bite, the doctor has to inform animal control. It was also my understanding that two biting incidents from the same dog get a dog labeled as "vicious," and he can be taken by animal control. We had a "strike one" notice put on our door by animal control when someone anonymously and falsely accused our dog of biting.

[cb1000rider]

There are plenty of breeds out there that dont present the problems pit bulls do , how many children have been mauled and killed by pit's . Pit bulls are a status symbol to most of the folks that own them , some would wear one on a chain around their neck if it were possible .

It's a combination of:
1) Breed popularity
2) Physical ability of the breed
3) Degree of responsible ownership

Pits are popular, they are very powerful and have tremendously strong mouths, and unfortunately they seem to attract an ownership group that tends to be lower on the responsibility level.

I don't blame the breed. I blame the humans for creating the problem. I own a hard mouth breed and pits scare me.

[oohrah]

Couple of things to think about from this thread, based on info from my sister, a vet asst:

Even if your dog is vaccinated, it may interact with animals that are sick. I never take my dogs to a pet store.

Dogs on a leash are a fight alert to other dogs (on leash or not), a territorial space thing. That's why free-run dog parks do not allow on-leash inside the park.

It's humans and how they handle their dogs that is the problem. my 2c

[Dirthawking]

keep vultures from killing the calves and keep all the predators off the property.

Um.....vultures do not kill calves. Let alone much else. Vultures typically feed on carrion (decaying flesh). Hawks, falcons, eagles do not kill calves either. Eagles do occasionally kill lambs, but only due to size.

[EEllis]

keep vultures from killing the calves and keep all the predators off the property.

Um.....vultures do not kill calves. Let alone much else. Vultures typically feed on carrion (decaying flesh). Hawks, falcons, eagles do not kill calves either. Eagles do occasionally kill lambs, but only due to size.

While that is true of the Turkey Vulture, the most common of the vultures in the US the Black Vulture will indeed kill newborn calves up to a couple of weeks old and will attack weakened animals and have been known to also kill deer. These birds range throughout Texas and have long been considered a menace by ranchers because of thir habit of killing calves. It is still common to kill them out on ranches but they are a protected species and you can get fined $15,000 and get 6 months in jail for killing one

[Dirthawking]

keep vultures from killing the calves and keep all the predators off the property.

Um.....vultures do not kill calves. Let alone much else. Vultures typically feed on carrion (decaying flesh). Hawks, falcons, eagles do not kill calves either. Eagles do occasionally kill lambs, but only due to size.

While that is true of the Turkey Vulture, the most common of the vultures in the US the Black Vulture will indeed kill newborn calves up to a couple of weeks old and will attack weakened animals and have been known to also kill deer. These birds range throughout Texas and have long been considered a menace by ranchers because of thir habit of killing calves. It is still common to kill them out on ranches but they are a protected species and you can get fined $15,000 and get 6 months in jail for killing one

Not entirely true. While black vultures can kill calves and sick animals, they usually follow groups of turkey vultures and feed with them. Usually they are feeding on the carcus of a sick animal that the farmer did not know was sick so the vultures get blamed. Also coyotes kill the calves in the night and the vultures come in at first light and get blamed for the killing because the coyote is chased off my the vultures.

Yes, all birds of prey are protected. In fact, all birds that do not have a hunting season on them are considered protected.

And as for it being common for farmers killing them, yep, sad it does happen. Yes it is illegal. Most of it is done because of the myths concerning the birds that they were raised with.

[EEllis]

Not entirely true. While black vultures can kill calves and sick animals, they usually follow groups of turkey vultures and feed with them. Usually they are feeding on the carcus of a sick animal that the farmer did not know was sick so the vultures get blamed. Also coyotes kill the calves in the night and the vultures come in at first light and get blamed for the killing because the coyote is chased off my the vultures.

I didn't say it's their primary food source just that they will kill newborn calves. They will even attack the calf as it's being born. From the reports I've seen it's usually when they have trouble finding other food not preference that leads to such attacks but they have and definitely can be a menace to ranchers.

[rbwhatever1]

I've lost a few calves over the years to these short winged buzzards that my LGD's missed and my neighbors have lost many. They pluck out the eyes and the calf bleeds to death. Never lost one to a coyote since the herd & LGD's can deal with them pretty easily. These vultures swoop in pretty quick and the cow does not always have time to get back to the calf. The LGD's will stay as close as the herd will allow to the new calves until their on their feet and can see which takes a few days. The LGD's chase these buzzards off the property and I have watched a whole gaggle of buzzards trying to get at many calves over the years with the LGD's going crazy and the herd going crazy over the calves until the 12 gauge gets out there.

Just a side note. We calve twice a year out here and have stragglers that drop calves between seasons so we deal with buzzards constantly. They kill calves all the time.

[mamabearCali]

Sad.....sometimes there is no other option. Wish we had a magic button to stop terrible things in progress with no ill effects, but we can't.

[cb1000rider]

Couple of things to think about from this thread, based on info from my sister, a vet asst:
Even if your dog is vaccinated, it may interact with animals that are sick. I never take my dogs to a pet store.

I agree that there is some risk of sickness... I'd never bring a puppy or dog susceptible to something like Parvo to a pet store.
Outside of that, I think dog/dog interaction and socialization is very important. It's important during training (proofing) and it's important for the socialization of your dog. Otherwise you're dog isn't going to know what to do when meeting another.. and that's bad.

Dogs on a leash are a fight alert to other dogs (on leash or not), a territorial space thing. That's why free-run dog parks do not allow on-leash inside the park.

There are lots of dog parks in Austin.. Not one of them that I know about prohibits on-leash within the off-leash park. Course, there are a bunch of hippies in Austin, so they're probably doing it wrong...
I know of groups that do prohibit leashed meetings / play as it can contribute to aggression, but it's pretty rare.
Working with German Shepherds, we don't let them go nose-to-nose on leash, but you can't exactly cut them loose and see what happens either.





It's humans and how they handle their dogs that is the problem. my 2c[/quote]