When is it legal to shoot an attacking animal?

I'm still waiting on a reply

I called the local PETA chapter for input and am still waiting on a reply. The phone made that funny noise like it was dropped or something then went dead...
 
I'm pretty sure that the laws in most states concerning the use of deadly force don't distinguish between an attacking animal and an attacking human. With that being said, I'm pretty sure that the law is the same; if your life is in immeddiate danger, then you're justified. However, no matter, how cut and dry it may seem, nine times out of ten, if you kill or injure a person or dog, you're going to face a jury, so use your good judgment.
 
Do not know your state's deadly-force laws, most say something that minimal use (of deadly force) is enough and if minimal means wounding or a kill-shot I would look to WA RCW 9A.16.020 'Use of force' — When lawful (Very much like many other gun laws in other gun owning states, but not all): (3) Whenever used by a party (you or someone in same a/o like maybe spouse, M8, kids!) about to be injured by a human (owner who is directly responsible for his/her dog's actions)... or does this include an animal bent on exact same intent whether running loose oblivious to owner at work, or at the directions of it's owner who has it on a choker-chain outside your front door? :akuma: One is a misdemeanor the other shows intent by owner and ups the charge(s) maybe to felony threatening/assault & battery/death by canis-familiaris. :taz: Threat? A poodle is not a life ending threat but a 50lb Dobie or a 80lb German Sheppard sure can rip out a throat, tear out an eye or keep mauling you until you sustain shock, is IMHO a deadly weapon, (gets iffy here), or by another lawfully aiding him or her (the owner of the dog or his 'old lady' or their kin/M8's) who allowed it to attack you, or is using it as a (potential) weapon, ergo threatening you with 'sicking-it on you' (same as pointing a gun at you in my books), (you) in preventing or attempting to prevent an offense against his or her person (you), or a malicious trespass, (dog on your land or theirs makes a BIG difference?) or other malicious interference with real or personal property (your pet cat/dog on your land???) lawfully in his or her possession (once dog enters your area of safely retreating if you don't stop it then expect attack, don't know many who can out run a dog) but could you have gone inside home/car not stood your ground and let it advance on you? Law may say you should have tried that before pulling & firing, locked door + called cops? Could you have bought can of pepper-spray or a stun-gun (meeting law?) in case the force is not more than is necessary? Would a shot into the ground close to the dog scare it off or piss it off more? :Image9: Most domestic dogs don't know guns kill and loud noises just make them more jittery/hyper. If not aim for center of mass and drop it, but the moment Cujo expires don't expect owner to rush over and shake your hand, now you have made a real enemy with a grudge. Plan on cops arriving especially if in city limits and explaining to cops & maybe a court too why & what you did, hoping dog had a documented record of attacks and you had reliable witnesses to back you up. Make sure you were not engaged in a verbal throw-down with dog's owner (baiting) or making threats and sober or it's a domestic with a gun and both sides lose when 5-O shows & charges you all with something. :1d73:
A few years back here I knew of a guy/felon now in jail in local part of town (lived in house next to my friend's home) who let his Dobie/mix attack several kids over the course of one summer, 'jumped fence when not around' defense got him fined BUT he got his dog back 3 times! One kid still has the facial scars to this day. Now cocky about it he suck it on a neighbor who shot it, seems perp went to jail when 5-O found meth in his home after his arrest, dog was wounded later euthanized, but this punk had some ruthless kin in & around town who made victim's life hell after that day, to point he sold-up & moved out, so are you defending yourself against a weapon and starting a blood feud? As a 'reasonable man' I would say: "Yes to the 1st and 'maybe' to the 2nd", but if Billy-Bob and his 30-member family now think you are in the wrong & loved that dog I wouldn't leave home without a good S-C body vest & a good CC 'stopping' pistol close @ hand. Very tricky situation but imminent threat of loss of life or limb, or eye-sight, protecting self, others and property are all major fall backs an attorney would use to plead you out on a self defense ca$e.
What works here may not work in your 'hood', a cam-corder may be your best way to get Cujo gassed & owner fined/jailed. Please check your local LEO's and CC laws. Man's best friend or worst nightmare depending on so many variables. Let us know how it pans out as I am sure U R not alone in this SNAFU! :icon_wink:
 
toreskha said:
Seriously? Cause if so, that would be hilarious... :-D
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The original post had to do with what ot do in the event of an animal attack. Presumably deadly or harmful.

What kind of a forum needs 4 pages to answer this?

Suppose the question was about a dirtbag rapist that escaped?

What would you do if he tried to break into your home? God help us if anyone would do anything other than shoot the bastard.

If you wouldn't shoot him I'd like to meet you.
 
Take this seriously, or go find a wild dog!

20 years in EMS medicine c/o the U.S. Army and a guy is posting about the legality of protecting himself from a dog attack, getting resonses like this:

"What kind of a forum needs 4 pages to answer this?"

Maybe if you had ever spent 8 hours stitching up a 3y/o kid's ripped-off face status-post canine attack, maybe even your kid, (!!!!) as I worked on him/her in an ER, heard their screams, saw their blood and saw the damage done difigurement for life you wouldn't blow this patron off. Man U R one dumb-F***!

F-Me but if you think this ain't serious, then spend a day/life in an ER!:akuma:
 
From Seattle, WA: News

Police officer shoots two pit bulls after attack in West Seattle
By Sonia Krishnan

Seattle Times staff reporter

A Seattle police officer shot two pit bulls Tuesday night in West Seattle, killing one and wounding the other after the dogs attacked a neighbor and became aggressive toward the officer.
The officer responded to a call after 8 p.m., and found the neighbor suffering from bites to his hand and arm, police said. The man had been walking his dog on a leash when he was attacked, according to a police report.
The officer located the pit bulls in the 8800 block of 24th Avenue Southwest "roaming the yard and being aggressive towards neighbors," the report said. When the dogs turned on the officer, he fired at them.
The dead dog was released to its owner and the wounded animal was removed by Animal Control. He was taken to the vet to be treated for a bullet that went through his leg and is recuperating, said Don Jordan, director of the Seattle Animal Shelter.
There was no identification on the dogs, Jordan said. Police are investigating whether there has been a history of complaints.
It's unclear if the injured dog will be released back to his owner, said police spokeswoman Reneé Witt.
More than half of the dogs at the shelter are pit bulls or pit-bull mixes, and about 30 percent of the dog-bite cases animal-control officers investigate involve the breed.
 
Ohio

In Ohio, it's legal to kill a menacing dog.

955.28 Dog may be killed for certain acts - owner liable for damages.

(A) Subject to divisions (A)(2) and (3) of section 955.261 of the Revised Code, a dog that is chasing or approaching in a menacing fashion or apparent attitude of attack, that attempts to bite or otherwise endanger, or that kills or injures a person or a dog that chases, injures, or kills livestock, poultry, other domestic animal, or other animal, that is the property of another person, except a cat or another dog, can be killed at the time of that chasing, approaching, attempt, killing, or injury. If, in attempting to kill such a dog, a person wounds it, he is not liable to prosecution under the penal laws which punish cruelty to animals.

(B) The owner, keeper, or harborer of a dog is liable in damages for any injury, death, or loss to person or property that is caused by the dog, unless the injury, death, or loss was caused to the person or property of an individual who, at the time, was committing or attempting to commit a trespass or other criminal offense on the property of the owner, keeper, or harborer, or was committing or attempting to commit a criminal offense against any person, or was teasing, tormenting, or abusing the dog on the owner’s, keeper’s, or harborer’s property.

Effective Date: 07-10-1987
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ishi said:
Not too detailed, but it sounds like "seen them chasing his dog" was the best defense he was able to give. So apparently the dog was not menacing him personally, or surely he would have said so(?).

Good example, but we're still no nearer to getting the law on this.
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If an aggressive dog went after my dog while I was out walking, that dog is gonna get shot. Law or not.

But I would like to know what the law is in Florida. I think it will ultimately boil down to the prosecutor wanting to waste his time on that kind of case, whether its against the law or not.
 
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I was out recently canvassing for McCain/Palin in a fairly upscale neighborhood. We stopped the car, got out and started going to some houses. There was a large dog (90-100 lbs) wandering through the neighborhood the entire time, but he never got aggressive, until we walked into what was apparently his yard. I literally put one foot on the grass, and he went nuts and came running at me like an out-of-control moose. Two more of his equally huge friends appeared from behind the house, and stood in the yard watching the whole thing go down.

My friend turned and ran back to the car. I backed up quickly while drawing my P3AT, although I'm not sure what it would have done against a big dog. It didn't work, because drawing from a pocket holster while running is different (at least for me) from drawing while standing still. I've practiced drawing from an IWB while running, but not from a pocket holster.

Both the dog and I ended up at the car; we looked at each other for about 10 seconds while he made the point that I shouldn't come into his yard - although by then I had a good grip on my gun, and then he left. I didn't feel in mortal danger while he was barking at me, but if he had approached my friend I would have had no choice but to shoot him, because he is almost as big as her.

Needless to say, we got in the car and didn't come back.
 
toreskha said:
I was out recently canvassing for McCain/Palin in a fairly upscale neighborhood. We stopped the car, got out and started going to some houses. There was a large dog (90-100 lbs) wandering through the neighborhood the entire time, but he never got aggressive, until we walked into what was apparently his yard. I literally put one foot on the grass, and he went nuts and came running at me like an out-of-control moose. Two more of his equally huge friends appeared from behind the house, and stood in the yard watching the whole thing go down.

My friend turned and ran back to the car. I backed up quickly while drawing my P3AT, although I'm not sure what it would have done against a big dog. It didn't work, because drawing from a pocket holster while running is different (at least for me) from drawing while standing still. I've practiced drawing from an IWB while running, but not from a pocket holster.

Both the dog and I ended up at the car; we looked at each other for about 10 seconds while he made the point that I shouldn't come into his yard - although by then I had a good grip on my gun, and then he left. I didn't feel in mortal danger while he was barking at me, but if he had approached my friend I would have had no choice but to shoot him, because he is almost as big as her.

Needless to say, we got in the car and didn't come back.
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The dog would be dead if that were me. Animals are lucky to have homes provided by people, if they are gonna aggressively run towards people in any manner, they have to live with the consequences. They are just animals. That dog may tear a kids face off some day because his soccer ball went into that yard by accident. You should have gotten rid of that animal, you had all the right to. I hope a child getting ripped up someday isn't the reason a dog like that has to be finally put to sleep.

And I carry a .45, no dog will live through the case of lead poisoning I give it.

Aggressive dogs of any kind have no place on this planet.
 
From what I have seen, most cases of people shooting dogs wind up outside the realm of self defense. No jury would be very simpathetic to someone sueing another person for shooting their dog, particularly if it ha a reputation of being agressive. So District attorneys usually file charges for "cruelty to animals", "discqaharging a firearm blah blah blah," "reeckless discharge of a firearm", discharge of a firearm resulting in loss of property", or some other archane legal mumbo jumbo that you probably were guilty of. Self defense never seems to be a factor. I would want teeth tracks on my leg if i went to court. I am not sure that would bew enough to get you off of "reckless discharge of a firearm within 1500 feet of a school", or some other such b.s.
 
The sheriff's deputy who taught our CW course blew a dog off his leg while doing a search warrant. It was a pit bull, and the owner actually opened the door and let the dog out. The deputy didn't shoot the dog until it had a firm grip on his leg, and ended up with a few bite marks. The dog ended up with a lethal case of lead poisoning.
 
Most municipalities have leash laws in that dog owners are required to have their dogs under control--ie on a leash. If I am in a public venue like a park and being harassed by someone's uncontrolled nuisance animal then they should have no legal recourse if I kick it, injure it or kill it.

I love dogs, but I do not love being mugged by other people's dogs that are off leash and out of owner control. I should not have to be willing to tolerate that. I know my own dogs and do not allow them to harass other people or other animals.

There have been two consecutive incidents in one of the local parks where unrestrained dogs have not only jumped on me, but one nipped at my hands. That is unacceptable and when I complained to the owner he called me a bitch!? What am I to do?
 
ishi said:
Say you go for a walk with your wife in the park, and a dog belonging to another park visitor is off his leash. The dog approaches, growling deep in its throat. At what point are you legally justified in shooting the dog? Do you have to wait until it actually injures you? Until your life is threatened?

I don't know the answer to this question, I'm asking. Please back up your answer with a reference to the law.


(update: I've written to the arkansas state attorney general about this. Will post the answer when it comes)
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Ohio laws are AWESOME !

955.28 Dog may be killed for certain acts - owner liable for damages.

(A) Subject to divisions (A)(2) and (3) of section 955.261 of the Revised Code, a dog that is chasing or approaching in a menacing fashion or apparent attitude of attack, that attempts to bite or otherwise endanger, or that kills or injures a person or a dog that chases, threatens, harasses, injures, or kills livestock, poultry, other domestic animal, or other animal, that is the property of another person, except a cat or another dog, can be killed at the time of that chasing, threatening, harassment, approaching, attempt, killing, or injury.

If, in attempting to kill such a dog, a person wounds it, the person is not liable to prosecution under the penal laws that punish cruelty to animals. Nothing in this section precludes a law enforcement officer from killing a dog that attacks a police dog as defined in section 2921.321 of the Revised Code.

(B) The owner, keeper, or harborer of a dog is liable in damages for any...

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/955.28
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Ive talked to law enforcement as well who say the law is very clear.
If the dog is acting in such a way to make me think its going to bite me or my family I can kill it without hesitation.
 
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