Jump to content

Being neighborly


playbiller

Recommended Posts

I'm feeling very discouraged and down about an incident that happened recently. We live in a very small town (20 houses) in rural Ontario. On the weekend our neighbours two dogs got out of their fenced yard. They ended up in our yard where we happen to have a small chicken coop with 3 hens (the kids collect the eggs). The dogs damaged the coop, and killed one of the chickens. I chased the dogs off, called the owners and basically got no response other than ' oh yea, I heard them barking and I wondered what they were doing'.

So now it's 4 days later. I've since reported the incident to the township, and they said the dog owners will get a fine for having dogs 'running at large', but they are unable to do anything about our chicken, which I knew. Last night, hubby was outside working on the vehicle when the owner of the dogs went down the road, looking for them again, because they had escaped the yard.

I'm amazed that these people have not apologized, offered to pay for the damage, or showed any concern at all that THEIR dogs caused damage to our property. It is just beyond me that people are like this. I would be mortified if my dog did that and would be offering to replace the hen, and repair the damage to the coop!
I'm not sure why, but this really upsets me
.

I know why. And I would be upset too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's terrible, heinz. I'm so sorry. It's really sad, but it seems more and more that people just don't care or feel any sense of personal responsibility.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Remember those people in San Francisco whose dogs attacked and killed the woman who lived across the hall from them? They actually said she provoked the dogs, so it was her fault.

Lacking the humanity gene, really.

Your neighbors would probably say, if asked about this, that you should have had a better fence or not kept chickens. Here in Florida, we would call animal control and file a complaint. Dogs attacking and killing things generally get put down or confiscated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am a dog owner, and as much as I love my dog, I know she's not perfect. She barks too much andI worry that someone will complain, but if she were to create any damage in any way (unlikely since she is small and securely locked into my yard), I would not hesitate to do what I could to make up for it. I am responsible for my dog. Parents are responsible if their kids cause damage to someone's property, never mind killing an animal that belongs to someone. While I don't have chickens (would be nice to have free-range eggs!), I know people who DO and those chickens seem to be very much individuals, have their own 'personalities' - well the owners can see it, so they are special to them. I get very upset when people say "oh, it's just a dog", or whatever animal or pet that is important to someone. But I know there are people in this world who are just incapable of 'getting it' when it comes to domestic animals despite the fact that is is now well-documented that pets are a critical part of our well-being, well at least to those of us who share our lives with them..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Remember those people in San Francisco whose dogs attacked and killed the woman who lived across the hall from them? They actually said she provoked the dogs, so it was her fault.

Lacking the humanity gene, really.

do you know that woman just finally got sentenced or started doing her jail time two weeks ago? WTF?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Those dogs that killed Diane Whipple had previously killed kittens and sheep. I believe once dogs get away with killing something, they develop a taste for it.

Oh, and the San Fran "person" had the dogs on leashes, they tore away from her and attacked Whipple in the hallway. The owner watched. It took 10 minutes, she never tried to break them up or call 911. Whipple bled to death - she had 70 bites, and all her clothes were torn off.

The owner said Whipple may have been wearing a perfume with pheromones that set the dogs off, or that, since Whipple was a Lacrosse coach, and thus an athlete, she may have been taking steroids, which would have affected the dogs.

I know all lawyers are not like this, but this was what seemed like lawyer shit - blame every esoteric thing you can think of, to avoid being held responsible. The owners are lawyers.

Anyway, dogs in a pack, and two is a pack, are much more liable to attack something. Heinz, I would be very careful about the children.

do you know that woman just finally got sentenced or started doing her jail time two weeks ago? WTF?
The first time she was tried, she got involuntary manslaughter. The Ca. supreme court reviewed the case and said no, second degree murder. Which it was.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyway, dogs in a pack, and two is a pack, are much more liable to attack something. Heinz, I would be very careful about the children.

I am concerned about this because my kids are young (7 and 4). We also have 2 outdoor cats who are not afraid of dogs as our black lab is friends with everyone and everything.

These 2 dogs definately had the 'pack mentality' thing going when they were attacking our chickens. I walked outside to see what the commotion was and the snarling/growling that was going on freaked me out. They did frighten off quickly though when I started yelling, which surprised me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, you neve have to worry about Holly being in a "pack", she hates dogs.

But you story shows lack of concern on the owners part, it might be because you are in an isolated area. Around here, loose dogs get hit by cars. I alsways run out and chase mine, she managed to escape so often it was not funy, At least once a month for a while, now not so often. maybe the owners just have to learn to latch their gate. If the dogs are jumping over, well, then they need a new fence.

Can you talk to your other neighbors and maybe get to gether to confront these people?

In our town, the police told me I would be fined after the third escape, luckily, after that I caught her before the police, except when she was hit by the car.

I don't know the laws in your area, but a certain amount of stuff can be done through local courts here, you can report them to the police or to your insurance company if it is worth it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here in Florida, home insurance companies always ask if you have a rottweiler, German Shepherd, or a pit bull. They don't want to insure people with those. It seems almost pointless, people lie, they buy a dog the next day, they have a dog or two that are just plain mean, like those in San Fran.

Every once in a while I read about a kid brought down and killed or injured by a pack of roving dogs. In my county, it is illegal to even have a cat roaming around. If there are complaints, there is a fine.

Strays are picked up and neutered and there is an attempt to foster and then adopt out. The pet stores here usually have the individual cat adoption people in the stores, especially on weekends, for about $90 you can get a lovely cat or kitten, neutered, chipped, shots, wormed.

Someday I would like to adopt a couple of Greyhounds, there are usually greyhound adoption folks at the pet stores, but they will actually visit your home to make sure it is suitable.

Playbiller, I think being in a pack just awakens buried instincts - except for the dogs that belong to Cesar Milan! But yeah, if Holly hates other dogs, we won't see her in a pack, for sure!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's 3:30 am and the upstairs neighbors are having the same damn fight again. They need to just go on Jerry Springer and be done with it. What's so bad is that with all the screaming and yelling and cursing...I know there is a small child that lives up there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's one thing that always bothered me A LOT with my old neighbors too, Couchie. It's bad enough when they bother everyone else, but it's really sad when there are children involved in such a mess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...