speedsix wrote:...no offense, TAM, but the law I quoted gives authority for a person to shoot the dog who's done the wrong...in that case, you'd be breaking the law to try to keep him from KEEPING the law...and he's NOT a vigilante, following that law...
If my dog got out and attacked his chickens, then he would have the right to shoot my dog........
if he did so then and there. But that is not an issue in my life. None of my dogs have ever gotten loose or terrorized anybody. If I have no knowledge of a previous problem with my dog, I will defend my dog as if I think it is innocent. Period. If that gets me tossed in the hoosegow, so be it. I don't take offense. I did say that I don't care what the consequences are, and I'll bear them if need be.
Like I said, my dogs have
never gotten out where any of them could ever cause a problem for somebody. I am a responsible dog owner. On top of that, my dog is not so inclined. He's a sweetheart who gets along with everybody. So if someone comes charging up with mayhem on his mind, I seriously don't care what the letter of the law says. He is most likely mistaken, and my dog simply
looks like the dog he's angry with. Again, I'm talking about after the fact....say half an hour later or the day after the alleged attack by some dog. What if he's got the wrong dog? Is he allowed to shoot all the dogs that look like the dog he's looking for until he finds the one that is actually guilty? Do you see my point?
So really, I don't give a hoot what his "rights" are. He
won't exercise them after the fact, at my dog's risk, without there being law enforcement present, and without
my rights as a property owner being respected. My dog never leaves my property unless it is inside my vehicle. In fact, it tends to stay indoors most of the day, and when we let him out, he goes to our backyard, which is completely fenced in with a high fence and beware of dog signs. Nobody would have an opportunity to be harmed in person or property by my dog unless he were trespassing in my back yard, or had forced his way into my home. So if some some other guy comes to my house, after he alleges some problem with my dog, he's going to have to get into my house to get to him. If he comes into my house uninvited, with attitude and waving a gun, I don't care what his problem is, he'll get shot, and there isn't a cop in the state of Texas who is going to arrest
me for defending me and mine from an armed intruder inside my own home.
Period. No offense meant. I simply am not going to have any of it. I'm only talking about me and mine. If I were the kind of oaf who lets his vicious pitbulls run loose down the block, then of course my neighbors have a right to use deadly force to defend themselves. But even then, they may not force their way into my house to extract revenge after the fact. That's when it becomes a law enforcement issue versus vigilanteism.