Control your EFFING DOGS!

[dirk1609]

I asked a police officer about shooting strays that are on your property. He said you need to be able to somehow prove that you were defending yourself against a aggressive dog. I shoot at everything on four legs with a pellet gun. If I shoot something with my AR15 the neighbors will hear. If the neighbors hear and their dog turn up missing I figure the police will be here to trash me. Its yet another area where the law abiding citizen has NO rights. Also Slug bait is not a fast death. It stops blood clotting and the animal basically bleeds to death over a extended period of time. Rat poison does the same thing but it doesn't appear to have to be mixed with anything as anything on four legs will eat it as if its actually food. Its sad to think that these dogs are paying for their stupid owners.
I'm getting to the point where a life of being a jerk, not giving a crap about anyone but myself and maybe even crime is the way to go. These people seem to have all the rights. The law abiding citizen seems to have no government agency on their side, where these people seem to TONS of hidden rights.

I just don't get it!

[Bill]

So, RPRR, Just what , exactly, are you suggesting as a possible solution?

When a loose dog comes charging at me, I'm going to hurt the dog. Period.

Bill

[rprr]

Obviously, you have every right to defend yourself.

And I strongly agree that dogs are a nuisance and maybe even a menace. The neighborhood that I live in is extremely noisy with dogs barking all the time and people exercising no control over their pets.

However, just shooting or killing a dog or two may work temporarily but how many dogs do you plan to destroy. As you said there are hundreds.

The problem is people's attitudes towards this. They think that they are doing nothing wrong by keeping dogs outside, unleashed and out of control. Until this is changed nothing will happen.

[JWFITZ]

Do you really believe, that in the context of police officers have to deal with, that they're going to drive out to your place, ignoring 50 calls of domestic violence, break-ind, reckless driving, and elsewise, to knock on my gate on the suspicion that maybe I shot a dog? Hell, just scaring off the pigs that were eating my taro, officer. You hear guns going off all over rural Hawaii and nobody bats an eye at it. You've got nothing to worry about.

Remember, the way our legal system works is that everything under the sun is outlawed, and then certain things are selectively enforced. All you got to say is the sucker tried to bite you, which is likely true.

Be discrete. Be sensible. Don't be an ass. Don't blast some howling dog up the middle of the street with a .300 magnum at 400 yards. Don't be cruel either, certainly I'm not advocating that.

[pslamont]

And maybe don't post it on a public forum on the internet? Just take care of business quietly... sheesh.

Just another day in P A R A D I S E !!

[olin137]

I totally sympathize with the more agressive approaches to loose dogs, but I'd be cautious - given the way both police in general and how Hawaii seems to operate. 1) There seems to be a real anti-gun sentiment here. 2) People that have such dogs may have connections with police/other departments - we've seen past threads where @3$%7*( neighbors know someone in a government office/department and seem to get away with a lot. 3) There's some sentiment such as "Well, dogs have always run loose in Hawaii, and what are you, some kind of newcomer trying to change the way we live?" 4) Nothing turns authorities/police on more than someone taking action themselves when the authorities wouldn't/couldn't act.

How about considering some other options first. Can't say which might work, and would take some organization. A) Trap such dogs and drive them 20+ miles away before letting go. B) Organized complaints. Police will always tend to ignore/low-ball individual complaints, but are forced to act if there is a series of complaints and/or a single complaint from a number of neighbors. 3) Civil suits. After documenting such dogs (video cameras, eye-witnesses, etc) sue the owers for whatever the Hawaii limit is on civil suits. 4) Action by individual neighborhoods. For example, if HPP hired/contracted to collect loose dogs and turn them into the local pound, it might only have to been done occasionally to get the message across that you'll lose your dogs if they run free. 5) Probably other possibilities.

Olin

[Greg]

I hate to be the party pooper here; but whenever I hear a gunshot, I call 911 and report shots fired in a residential area. If I can, I direct the police to the coward thats letting rounds fly.

Stray dogs are a problem, and there are many ways to deal with them.

There is something way more scary, annoying, and dangerous than a cruising animal, however:

A geezer with a gun!!

[oink]

rant
Where I currently live is a rural area zoned ag. Hearing gunshots, particuarily on weekends is not unusual or illigal. It is always interesting to watch as new residents moving from Northern cities or the metro areas of Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and W. Palm Bch get educated. They initially freak out when they hear gunshots and are shocked when the responding officer explains that it isn't illigal(although you should have a backstop and the bullet can't leave your property). Of course, the same does not apply in residential zoning. I've had the police called on me while practicing with my kids with .22 rifles (which don't make much noise). My response is that I will shoot sometimes but that if at any time it is disturbing the new neighbors for a particular reason (nap, guests, party, or whatever) I will gladly stop and resume some other time, just let me know. I have had need to shoot several animals, a coon, fox, and a cat, and several diamondback rattlers. Pygmy rattlers are killed with a hoe or shovel. The coon and fox had become too brazen and were comming into my garage and porch. The coon was actually breaking my cat door to get in (repeatedly). Fox and coons are know carriers of rabies. The cat was a diseased looking stray probably abandoned on the nearby interstate rest area. It was attacking my cat in what I guess to be an attempt to take over. The rattle snakes just don't belong in my yard. I never shot any dogs although I have considered it.(edit-Not altogether true, I forgot an incident) There was one I was going to kill if it came on my lot. It was the one that attacked my leashed dog while on a walk down the street. It ran out and got a choke hold on my little beagles neck, without provocation. I had to risk getting bit to stop the attack. It was one of those larger blue eyed catalugas (I have no idea how to spell that). Yes I did call animal control. Yes, I got the normal response. They talked to the owner. I found out later that when responding to a call at the residense a Deputy shot one of their dogs when it attacked him. I was prepared when going for walks near that house thereafter. If you don't like living in the country, don't live in the country. That said, I don't think it would be proper to target shoot on a 1 acre property. Maybe on 3 acres would be ok.
/rant

Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.

[JWFITZ]

Likewise, I concur.

Still, if I had a neighbor who was super sensitive about the gun issue I'd have to deal with dogs some other way. Like a cordless skilsaw.

[ohanamama]

OMG!!!!![]