I guess the point is people need to take care of their animals, or they become a problem for everyone then.

From a survival perspective, animals is animals. Some depend on humans, most can get by well enough on their own. Few of them provide much support for our survival, except to become a much needed meal. The few that do help usually require a significant investment of our time to develop the requisite symbiotic skills (security, stealth, predation).

For my part, I do the only thing available to me by law, which is exactly what I've described. It is not the most humane in the short term, but perhaps in the long run it is better for the species (both ours and theirs).

Those who shirk their responsiblities lose their privileges. There are no exceptions. Better a feral dog kill a calf than my child, and that is unfortunately the cold, hard choice I am left with, both by my idiot neighbors and by the idiots downtown who make stupid rules.

I guess I could just shoot the things for trespassing, only I have grown weary of putting down people's pets. I used to do it as a favor, but it is tough to plug ole fido anymore.

Here in Baghdad, dogs are not pets, they are a menace. The Iraqis don't want anything to do with them, and we hear about rabid cases regularly. We use well trained and cared for dogs to complement our security.

I really would like to be more compassionate about the whole affair, and I reckon if I didn't have certain responsibilities myself, I might take in more strays, or be more the neighborhood sentinel, watching over the canine residents and visitors from on high. Alas, such is not to be for me, and so I must be the belligerent landowner.

Thank goodness my own dog understands these things. He is quite happy and content to stay on his leash when we go for walks, or to play out in the fenced in backyard. He only has wanderlust when we are in the field hunting for birds. If he were to get out and wander around, I would worry and fret over him like a lost child, and be ashamed at not caring for my charge as I should.

I am not trying to help these vagabonds, except to get them away from uncaring owners. What happens beyond that, my concern does not reach to.

In the past I've done a little research looking for a decent OC spray. On several forums, the consensus seems to be that, as John said below, Fox Lab OC is widely regarded. It's the "hottest" stuff out there at 5 million SHU (my ASP palm defender only has 2 million SHU, but I like it's size). You'll probably want to make sure you get stream or foam to minimize exposure to yourself when you're bouncing around trying to avoid the dog. Any sort of wind might send fog or cone right back atcha.

This reminds me of something unexpected that happened to me a while back. I was taking a walk near my neighborhood to get to the hiking trails, and some lady's huge black dog (no leash or collar) started coming at me on the sidewalk, barking and growling. For a moment I thought, "Is this the day that I have to punch out someone's dog?" and braced myself for it. The dog gets two feet away from me, starts wagging his tail, whining, and licks my hand. It was the least likely thing I thought would happen.


And, Benjammin, there's nothing wrong with being set in your ways, especially since you ARE getting the dogs away from idiotic owners, but I'm going to stick with the others here and encourage you to turn the dogs in rather than turn them loose. Unless you are driving these animals to the doorstep of the next town's animal shelter, how do you know that you've given them a better chance? I'd much prefer to drive the OWNERS 50 miles out of town.

I spent 3 minutes on Google and found a slew of different rescue organizations in Washington State : http://www.pgaa.com/washington.html
Please don't let the extra effort deter you.

In some locales, I've read pepper spray is illegal -- as is everything else, it seems. No matter your life or someone else's is at stake.

On another forum, someone wrote that he carries bear spray. Works for him and is not illegal.

I would also get the police involved.

In addition, I'd carry a solid walking stick. Phil Elmore is currently reviewing the Unbreakable Walking Stick Umbrella. It's an overbuilt umbrella you can kick butt with.

-- Craig

Relocating a mean dog isn't doing anyone any favors. You don't want it to bite your kid, but someone else's kid is okay? Don't think so. Friendly dogs are one thing, just a nuisance that might cause an accident. Mean dogs: SSS (shoot, shovel & shut up).

Also, you might call your local Animal Control & find out how many times they will return dogs to their owners before they stop. Here, they keep it on the third pickup.

Sue

Agreed. I love dogs, but once one has turned out the same as it's trainer/human, it's best put down. Quickly. Wish I could do the same to the human <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I used to, as a child in the country, receive a $5.00/tail bounty for feral dogs in my area because they were killing livestock and in one instance a person. At 13, in one spring, I made over $5000 with my bow. You do the math. I _will_ say that at least half of the dogs wore collars--abandoned by "well-meaning" people in the country.

Shoot your own dog. He/She deserves it, it's kinder than what a stranger will do.

Okay, I wouldn't say that I am set in my ways, just that I've tried everything else and I know what works and what doesn't. Let me recap the process one more time, with a little extra explanation thrown in.

In my neighborhood, if I have a problem dog, I will catch it and take it to the local animal control authority.

If the owner of the dog subsequently recovers their pet, and the dog becomes a problem again, I will catch it again and relocate it out of our ACA's jurisdiction. ACAs in other jurisdictions will not accept animals from people not residing in their jurisdiction. Now I have a choice; I can take the animal back to my own ACA, I can put it down myself, or I can release it in the out of town jurisdiction. I know the outcome of taking it back to my own ACA, and I am no longer in the business of voluntarily putting animals down myself, so I am left with only one other choice. I release it in an area in the out of town jurisdiction in a place where it is likely to get picked up. It is not a 100% sure thing, but it is better than the other two alternatives.

Does anyone have a better suggestion? I keep seeing people tell me to turn the dogs in, but where? Our ACA will keep giving the animal back to the owner as long as they are willing to pay the fee, and the dog doesn't appear to pose an immediate threat (non violent manner, no apparent illness).

Yes, I agree, I would also prefer to drive the owners 50 miles out of town instead.

Maybe I need to work on those communication skills a little more.

I'm just supprised if you showed up in a different town and dropped the dog off at a shelter that they wouldn't take it. Seems like you could always claim you are just driving through and spotted this dog along the roadside.

-john

Yeah, and I just happened to have this here live trap with me to put it into. I guess if I was willing to risk having a loose dog in the car with me, leashed even, I might get away with it, only I am a lousy liar.

It is the essence of irresponsibility to catch and relocate a dog because it is a problem to you. You thereby visit the exact problem you had with the dog on another innocent party. That is why we have animal control officers. We have lost far too much livestock due to marauding feral dogs to tolerate the problem. Moreover, both my 12 yo son and I got our legs chewed up by vicious dogs last year. We're not real sympathetic to your approach.

John