Attacking dog and can I shoot it?

Well the livestock are provided for under texas law… but what about people?

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I thought the same thing! :wink:

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Yikes! Looks like the poor guy needed a Costco sized can of bear spray.

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I support pepper spray for dogs.

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Welcome to the Community @Michael83.

Use the pepper spray. However, the spray has to be in the mouth, nose or eyes to be effecive. I have been attacked by 2 pit bulls while walking my bike, stopped them instantly.

I have also had my jack russels attacked 5 times by various large dogs and it stopped all of them regardless of size.

Shooting a dog could result in a lethal confrontation with a then crazed owner. Absolute last resort to save your life.

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After being a Animal Control Officer I can tell you pepper spray does not always work.
Each City as its own rules as to how they handle bite calls. We could quarantine the dog at owners home or at the pound but each one had to have a report written as well as a citation written with fines up $1,000 or taken to court animal could be deemed aggressive and at that time put down.

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Welcome to the group @James105 and @STEVEN22!

A friend of mine once had a half-grown malamute puppy that was digging up her yard. The trainer suggested dumping a pile of the hottest possible chili powder in the holes to discourage it. That pup just ate the chili powder and went right on digging. I’m guessing pepper spray would not have worked on him any better than it does on some people.

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We are starting to get more coyotes here in Ohio, plus we have had a couple of instances with neighbor dogs off leash attacking. Fortunately no dog fights so far, but we will pick up some pepper spray.

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This is what I like to call the “what if” game, and when ever we play the what if game, you change one small variable of the scenario, and the entire scenario changes.

Ultimately it comes down to three things. In the teachings of Massad Ayoob, he speaks of Ability, Opportunity and Intent. Like the fire triangle: Fuel: Oxygen and spark, ALL three things must be present or you simply can not have fire. The self defense triangle is no different, ALL three things must be present.

Does the aggressor have the ability to cause immediate death or great bodily harm? That’s is going to be dictated by the situation, the aggressor, his or her skills and or the presence of weapons, etc…

Does the aggressor have the opportunity to cause immediate death or great bodily harm? Opportunity is measured in time, distance, obstacles, etc… For example an aggressor with a knife behind a chain link fence doesn’t necessarily have the opportunity to cause harm until or unless he/she crosses that fence.

And the last and probably most important is the intent to cause death or great bodily harm. Intent is tricky because we aren’t mind readers and intent is manifest through words or actions.

To your specific scenario you must know the law of your land, meaning are dogs considered “family” or property? In Illinois animals are property, not people. This we defer to Illinois law “justified use of force in defense of property”, because use of force in defense of person would not apply to a dog. If the dog is attacking you, in my lay man opinion you can shoot. However if the dog is attacking your dog, there could be some grey area in that scenario.

Perhaps the most prudent answer is to avoid the area where you’re being attacked if at all possible.

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I HIGHLY suggest consulting an attorney in your area for a solid answer on this.

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Lots of anti- doggers on this thread. :crazy_face::crazy_face::crazy_face::crazy_face:

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I don’t think we’re anti-dog as much as anti-animals not being trained correctly…

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It was tongue in cheek humor, thus the 3 crazy faces. However, when I’m out with my service dog I meet plenty of people who over react. Makes me laugh out loud.:joy::joy::joy:

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Look up local leash laws, and video the dogs encounter with you. But seeing as the dog has already bitten you and most likely not on the owners property but public road or walkway animal control would most likely put that one down. So video tape the encounter if possible call animal control and the police for their records and let the courts deal with it for you.

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Welcome michael257. Hope to hear from you often.

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First off, thank you everyone for chiming in on this discussion. You’ve given me great thoughts and perspectives. Secondly, here in Austin there is a leash law it requires all dog to be on a leash at all times when in public. Unless you are in a dog park or such that does not require a leash. Now on the other note I have been told that the dog that bit me has been quarantine as of now.

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As a long time bicyclist riding hundreds of miles there is often a dog or dogs that chase anything moving on routes I ride. I can out run any dog and in most cases they appeared to be bluffing as they would usually break away after an attempted attack that only lasted a second or two.

My best defense against these potential injuries came to be one of my water bottles. I have three hangers and use one of the bottles loaded with ammonia, straight out of the container, no dilution with water. Dogs sense of smell is about 600 times more sensitive than that of humans. If some one were to spray straight ammonia in your face imagine what that would do to you? There is no way we can know what it would be like with a sense of smell 600 times more sensitive than ours, but I can tell you, I just have to spray ammonia near a dog and they will tuck tail and go winning back to where they cam from. It got to the point where I relished the opportunity to retrain chase dogs, with a smile.

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Sometimes a lawsuit is the only way to get the owners attention… make sure you have all the medical records, and an evaluation for the me mb tal stress the attack has caused you. Don’t know why some people are so irresponsible that they would allow their dogs to be where they could attack others… especially when the dog has done so before.

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Only works with smaller dogs, and while geese can pinch, they can’t tear you up like a bigger dog can.

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