Legal ramifications of shooting a threatening dog

Status
Not open for further replies.
It depends on your state and local laws. Louisiana, for instance, provides this:

RS 3:2773: D - Any citizen or officer may kill any dangerous or vicious dog, and no citizen or officer shall be liable for damages or to prosecution by reason of killing any dangerous or vicious dog.

Nio
 
I would carry what postal carriers use -- "Halt" It's a pepper spray product that shoots out about ten feet. I used it to great effect on a particularly nasty dog when I was delivering papers as a kid. My dad had purchased it to handle aggressive farm dogs when he was out on bike rides. The dog bit me one day, I started carrying the can of Halt, he came after me again, I gave him a faceful of Halt, and he never bothered me again.
 
Report the loose dog to your local animal control folks, and avoid the park for a few days. Take some OC when you venture back in. Keep the gun holstered unless you face a bona fide threat from an attacking animal.

What's a bona fide threat? Well, it's kinda like obscenity - you'll know it when you see it. :p
 
It depends on your state and local laws. Louisiana, for instance, provides this:

RS 3:2773: D - Any citizen or officer may kill any dangerous or vicious dog, and no citizen or officer shall be liable for damages or to prosecution by reason of killing any dangerous or vicious dog.
Click to expand...

It is funny you bring up Louisiana. Louisana has one of the toughest animal cruelty punishments in the nation, matched only by Alabama. Maximum prison sentence of 10 years for a charge.
This means you could go to prison longer for hitting, kicking, or shooting a dog than you would get for most offenses against a human being.

The key is "dangerous or vicious" which you will have to prove. If you are unable to prove that, you may spend up to 10 years in prison.

Animal cruelty in all states except Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Utah is a felony. Beating a person severely is often only a misdemeanor battery.
This means that in many places you can get into more serious trouble for less than lethal force on an animal than on a person.

Yet another reason for people to have an animal. A thug messing with you or attacking you might only be a misdemeanor in many cases, but kicking your dog when it comes to your defense is a felony. The irony.
 
Last edited:
I have seen the results firsthand of a dog attack.Child had to be airlifted to trauma center. I will worry about the ramifications later. The attacking dog is getting shot.
 
“I have seen the results firsthand of a dog attack.Child had to be airlifted to trauma center. I will worry about the ramifications later. The attacking dog is getting shot.”

Better to be tried by 12 than chewed by 1? :neener:
 
I will worry about the ramifications later. The attacking dog is getting shot.
Click to expand...

Absolutely.

However, there are some people who seem to think that a dog looking at them as they walk by is justification for shooting it. The court probably won't see it that way, especially if you start shooting in a populated area.

That's why the original question doesn't have a good answer.
 
the situation is too vague

Is it your property, public, someone elses? And who does the dog belong to? why are you contemplating shooting a dog in the first place, unless he attacks you on public property or you are on his turf, you will go to jail, as a "dog" is considered a "loved one" in some states, in most actually. On top of prosecution you will also likely get sued, or worse.I have a Lab and a 190 lb Rotti, thaey are both gentle as a lamb. I owned a Gym and the biggest guys would jump over the counter if they saw a rott or a pit, and that was with one of my little guys, dogs bark for many reasons, hardlly ever bark if they are going to bite, I never had a dog of mine bite anyone, and I have 4grandkids that are just now turning 3-6, my big old rot never even knocked one over. Either you are misunderstanding the dog or vice versa. Down here the only time you ever hear about a dog getting shot, is by a dumb rookie who is afraid of dogs. Old timers just walk right by them, if a dog attacks you for no reason, then you have to defend yourself, but you better be right. My uncle used to ride his bike and get chased by this big coon dog, one day he got fed up and took a rubber hammer with him on his daily ride, that dog never bothered him again, just used to watch him ride by.
 
Gym you are right OP we need more details,

It also must be said I have encountered this situation as well (http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=307734&highlight=gunnerpalace+dog) And the gist of the situation was preventative measures (OC, stick, etc) But I have heard some dog lovers saying on others threads that if you shoot one of their dogs in SD they would shoot you, so tread lightly bees are one thing hornets are another.
 
But I have heard some dog lovers saying on others threads that if you shoot one of their dogs in SD they would shoot you
Click to expand...

I didn't read that, myself.

What I have written, myself, is that, since my dogs are on my property and my dogs do not attack people, anyone pointing a gun at one of them will be considered a deadly threat to me and my family and will be treated as such. It is reasonable to presume that they are shooting a dog to make it easier to get to us in order to commit a violent crime. And if someone is already brandishing a firearm on my property, I don't think that just shouting, "stop or I'll shoot" is the best response. No sense inviting them to take a shot at me. I have no desire to shoot anyone, but the one thing I want even less than that is for me or my wife to get shot.

The take-home message is that, if you're paranoid about dogs, and you can't tell whether they are attacking you, and you have some problem with figuring out whose property you're on, then keep your gun holstered.

Someone on my property, brandishing a firearm in any way, is considered a deadly threat. I assume that, if I trespass and brandish a firearm, I will be shot, too. That's just common sense, I figure.

Some people here can sound like they want to go around and shoot dogs. I think that's a bad idea, for a lot of reasons.
 
There's a large public lake where I walk and run around in Denver for exercise and have seen a pitbull wandering loose.
Click to expand...

How about you call animal control? Too simple an answer, I know, but why not knock out the easy ones before you start shooting?

Child had to be airlifted to trauma center.
Click to expand...


The OP probably isn't a child, so let's not consider him as incapable of defending himself as a child. Big difference between a grown man and a child handling a dog attack. The OP is already considering shooting, certainly he is smart enough after reading this to consider the plethora of other options available to him, but not a child, when it comes to a dog attack. I know, it is too much to ask, but why not give it a shot?
 
BTW, "I saw a pit bull" is a ridiculous reason to shoot an animal.

The last time I saw a pit bull on the loose was one that got out of its yard and ran directly to the gate of the off-leash dog park down the street, and stood there with a dog-grin, quietly wagging his tail and looking up at each person who went by until someone let him in. Then he walked from person to person and wanted them to pet him and throw a ball for him.

People who think it's ridiculous when "assault weapons" are banned don't realize that "pit bull" is the "assault weapon" of dogs. You're falling for the same sort of BS that led to the AWB. Media and political fearmongering, plain and simple.

A dog, purebred or mutt, pit bull or retriever, is either threatening or not. If you can't read a dog's body language, that's fine, but ignorance is no reason to go shooting dogs.

Furthermore, people who think that a dog is guaranteed to be friendly just because it's a labrador are people who get bitten.
 
"That 90 pound pit is not going to do much serious damage to your 40 pound animal in the few seconds it takes for you to unholster your weapon and put it down."

your experience is different than mine
 
Most of the felony animal cruelty laws are based on real heinous behavior.

Barbecueing Fluffy the cat alive gets the felony charge.

Torturing Junior's puppy in front of him because the dog missed the paper's a felony.

Throwing your girlfriends cat out a window without opening it during an argument will get you the felony charge.

At best, shooting a dog in the scenario you provide would likely be a misdemeanor if the prosecutor even bothered.
 
OC spray is very effective against mean dogs. No permanent damage, and it hurts like hell. Around here though, if a dog is physically attacking me or someone around, then I will shoot it and ask questions later. Same with any animal on my property. I'm cool with it, as long as it leaves me alone.
 
Deavis wrote,"
The OP probably isn't a child, so let's not consider him as incapable of defending himself as a child. Big difference between a grown man and a child handling a dog attack. The OP is already considering shooting, certainly he is smart enough after reading this to consider the plethora of other options available to him, but not a child, when it comes to a dog attack. I know, it is too much to ask, but why not give it a shot" ?

This was in response to what I wrote, "Child had to be airlifted to trauma center".

I was not inferring that the OP was a child. I was stating that I had seen a child attacked viciously by a dog. This happend long before I started to CCW
 
ArmedBear, I think I didn't state it correctly, what I read (and meant) was owners (the cat owners too) who would shoot back if you shot the animal when it was attacking you off their property (in your own yard), sorry for the misunderstanding.
 
I was not inferring that the OP was a child. I was stating that I had seen a child attacked viciously by a dog. This happend long before I started to CCW
Click to expand...

While the incident you reference is tragic it has absolutely no bearing on the subject at hand. Putting that out there serves no purpose in furthering the discussion beyond injecting emotion where it doesn't belong. Foisting children into an argument is a sure sign that you aren't dealing with a rational argument unless you are specifically adressing a childhood concern. I'm not knocking you personally here or accusing you of this but it has been my experience that anytime someone says, "for the children" you can be assured their argument does not have a single logical principle to stand on. So, why even go there?

Is there something about that incident that can help the OP determine the correct response to this "threat" he is under? Was the child carrying a concealed weapon? Did the child use OC spray? Was it effective for that child? Did the child recently see a pitbull running in a public park and that is why you bring it up? Was the child attacked by the same pitbull as the OP saw?

My point remains that we shouldn't even discuss tragic, but unrelated events, in determining the proper way for an adult to deal with a dog he happened to see running around in a public park other than opening fire on it unless those events have some bearing. I could be wrong, but I don't see it.
 
I was raised in the days of Norman Rockwell kid-with-a mutt, and fondly remember my first dog at the age of six or so. I have always had a soft spot for a good dog (emphasis on good).

Frankly, today I think most people are "stuck on stupid" in the dog department. The dog population in this county probably exceeds the human population. About 40% live their lives on the end of a chain in a yard, yapping 23 hours a day. another 40% spend the day in the back of a pickup truck--to what purpose it's hard to say.

The other 15% are fluffy little white dogs being walked by henpecked husbands or riding around in the laps of people as they drive around.

The remaining 5% might be loved, cared for, and disciplined like family.

But then a country that aborts kids routinely and sentences the survivors to day care or public schools can't be expected to get everything right. Maybe our dogs are just starting to act like the general population--screwy.

We have the odd mountain lion coming around. But from what I can tell I am more likely to need the .357 for an allegedly "domesticated" dog than Charlie the Lonesome Cougar.
 
I had an incident in Westminster, Colorado two months ago involving two pit-bulls. Both dogs were loose on the sidewalk, the owner had no control over them. First off I must say that the Westminster Animal Control is about as usefull as the United Nations, the Police said that had I discharged my weapon I would have definetely been arrested. The Westminster PD are amongst the low end of the scale.
I consulted an attorney, he basically said I would probably beat the crimminal charges, but would spend a fortune on legal fees.
Pepper spray doesn't work well on dogs, but cynogen......
 
Aren't there some products that emit a loud sound, inaudible to humans, that totally freaks dogs out?
 
Aren't there some products that emit a loud sound, inaudible to humans, that totally freaks dogs out?
 
Aren't there some products that emit a loud sound, inaudible to humans, that totally freaks dogs out?
Click to expand...
there are some that purport to do so, whether they work or not is another issue.

i like dogs. i have a beagle. she loves everyone and just wants some attention and maybe a treat in return. she is well socialized around both people and dogs.

the real dog problem is people. they either do not understand or do not care that it is critically important to socialize their dogs. any dog has the potential to attack, but dogs that are properly trained and socialized are far less likely to do so.

with a naturally aggressive, strong, and large dog like a shepherd, pit, or rottie, it is even more important, yet the owners of these kinds of dogs are often just plain stupid about dogs in general and tie them up out back most of the time. any dog on a tie out most of the time is going to go nuts eventually. get a fence if you have a dog. it will make a huge difference in the dogs temperment.
 
I actually thhink about this one a lot. The odds are small that I will ever need to defend myself against a person, but I could very easily see myself having to put down a dog one day.

In Utah animals are a STRICT LIABILITY. This means, there is no justification, no alibi, for an animal to ever harm a person. If a person is in your home, and you are legally allowed to shoot him, but your dog bites him, YOU WILL BE SUED. You are able to discern a legally defensive situation. Your dog is not.

If a dog aggressively approaches me or a family member, I will lunge at it and make noise. (Most animals are effectively deterred by this.) If it charges, I am going to shoot it.

I don't trespass. It is the responsibility of animal owners to control their animals.
 
"If a dog aggressively approaches me or a family member, I will lunge at it and make noise. (Most animals are effectively deterred by this.) If it charges, I am going to shoot it."

That is called provocation and can get you in a peck of trouble if you shoot the dog afterward.
__________________
"DLIFLC Monterey
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top