"...the owner was warned by one of their officers that the dogs were a problem. Much better -- it avoided me getting into it with a neighbor and I was able to avoid shooting what was probably a nice dog given a more responsible owner."

The problem is that some owners don't/won't/refuse to learn.

I told my neighbors that their dogs were getting into my yard. They put up a hotwire. Dogs stayed in their yard... until they discovered the owners had turned off the hotwire, then they returned. They chased my chickens, the law said they were probably just playing. One day I came home from work and one of the dogs was in my yard, playing with my dead chicken. All the chickens were dead but one. I called Animal Control, they said it wasn't their problem. The Sheriff's Dept said it wasn't their problem, either, but they would insist that Animal Control come out and collect the dog. The dog was picked up from AC the same day by the owners, and he was in my yard the following day, trying to get to my last surviving chicken.

Fortunately, they lost their house soon after, and moved away. Now they're probably someone else's problem.

No matter where you live, there will always be people who think the rules don't apply to them. If you think that someone else will the solve the problem for you, you will probably learn different... eventually.

Sue