(Long Post) "Neighbor" dog killed 2 pullets **TRICKY SITUATION**

[Bethany101]

Sorry, this is long. It requires some background.

BACKGROUND:
I live in Washington State, in an unincorporated rural area 10 miles outside of Vancouver. I live with my boyfriend on a 9 acre property with 2 homes on it. The property is owned by my boyfriend's grandparents. They live in California, so we are the acting responsible party(s). The other house is being rented to a family of 3 - an older guy, his middle aged daughter, her teenage son. They also have a cat (which has approached me, and attacked **completely unprovoked** multiple times while sitting on my front steps re-potting, which I have video of) and a large black lab that looks to weigh around 100lb, possibly more. Very large dog. He does not wear a collar. They allow him to roam the entire property, unchecked, for HOURS AT A TIME!!! EVEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!!! I even have several neighbors' accounts of him leaving the 9 acre property to explore theirs, which he must cross a creek to do. I have nearly run him over coming up the driveway because he likes to charge head-on at our vehicles. Terrifying when I get home from work at 2AM and suddenly see demon eyes rapidly coming toward me. Their dog has attacked mine, while both were being walked (as we were both reaching the driveway) because the woman was walking their dog with no leash, because he doesn't have a collar. I called animal control, they did nothing. We have made it abundantly clear that the dog is not to be roaming the property. He is not to leave their yard without a human, or leash attached to him. Failure to comply for 3 years now. Grandparents won't take action because they don't want to go through finding new tenants.

SITUATION:
This occurred yesterday, on 04/30/20.
I have 15 chickens. 8 cornish cross (4ish weeks, just went into the tractor yesterday). 7 laying pullets, about 3 months old. I keep them in a 6x8 chain link covered by a tarp, in front of our house. This is only temporary while we struggle to catch the animal(s?) living under the actual chicken coop, in a 20x40 area. I let them out to free range at least a few hours per day as often as possible because the chain link is kind of cramped. Yesterday, we went to the store. We were gone for about 1 hour. Upon turning up our driveway, the Tenants' dog came charging and bellowing, straight at our vehicle, from OUR yard, then continued on to his own yard, which is about an acre away from ours. I already knew what happened. I jumped out of the car and ran over to the area the dog came from. 30ft long trail of black feathers, ending suddenly in a pile. Another trail of grey and brown feathers leading the other direction, ending in another pile in front of the garage. I don't see any chickens. After 10 minutes of frantic searching, I find 5 chickens hiding behind a wheel-barrow leaning on the back side of the house. Can't find the other 2. I tried calling animal control probably 20 times and my call was never answered. I called all police departments in my city (3 of them) multiple times and my calls were never answered. I ended up filing on the animal control website. I don't expect them to do anything. Boyfriend calls Tenant, no answer, he leaves a long message. Grandma was informed, and she was VERY ANGRY. She said she will tell the Tenants to get rid of the dog. We clean up the mess and drive an hour to get more chickens (one way).

Today, 05/01/20
Boyfriend goes over to collect rent. Brings it up with Tenant, who insists it was a coyote. Boyfriend refuses. Tenant offers money to boyfriend. Boyfriend refuses and says "It's not about the money, it's about the dog." Tenant was informed that if the dog is seen back in our yard, he will not be returning home. The woman throws a fit (she has some kind of emotional disorder, Bipolar? no idea.) saying "he would never do that, he's a sweet dog, blah blah blah" same bullsh*t she spouted while she watched her dog try to rip the throat out of mine. Grandma never contacted them. Washington State law allows me to kill the dog under these circumstances if he is seen again near my livestock. I would prefer not to do that, but I will do what needs to be done. Any advice? Really unsure what to do here, as I have no authority to evict these people or their dog. I very much appreciate any and all who took the time to read, and especially if you have any solutions. Thank you.

 

[Uff Da]

If you are able to safely do so, load up the dog and take him to a shelter.

 

[drumstick diva]

agree with that. Maybe take him to the farthest shelter so bad owners won't find him.

 

[Bethany101]

I wish. I have tried to catch him countless times but he bolts the second you take a step toward him. I almost caught him once or twice but it's very difficult to hold on to a dog with no collar that weighs as much as or more than you. I am a 5ft 2 woman who has been the same height and weight (115lbs) since 13yrs old(24now). Believe me, I would love to catch him but he is too fast and never close enough in the first place.

 

[PatriciafromCO]

was going to suggest the same thing. no doubt it is a sticky situation and you have to use caution as you don't want to deal with revenge neighbors.. You will have to play it by ear. You could set a capture cage out and just take the dog to the shelter without a word and the dog hopefully be adopted out to a family that will look after him properly.

or trap the dog and call the neighbor for them to come get him and let them know your not being given a choice but to bring the dog to the shelter for them to pay to get him back the next time the dog is captured being on your property. Be safe.

most times these dogs end up wondering further and further away in time and cause problems elsewhere and eventually don't return without you having to do anything.

That has what has happened in our area over the last 19 years of being on our property , people get dogs they start roaming, start causing problems towards our property (we have solid fencing areas and guardian dogs that move them along) then next thing you know you hear that they are causing havoc 7 to 10 miles away in other areas , then they dead on the road or just missing

stray dogs only come back if they are successful. can't control the neighbors (they loose dogs and then just replace them constantly and not train or keep them any better) best to start off small with good fencing to protect your animals when you not home to supervise and add on as you can over time ..

 

[hayley3]

How did the dog get the chickens if they were in the cramped pen?

I called the police on my neighbors and they did something about it. Not sure why your police dept won't do the same. I lived in a very rural area at the time.
I put up with it for 13 yrs though, I recommend electric fencing because you can't control the neighbors and you never know when a stray dog will be passing through.

 

[BFen]

I would never kill someone's dog. What if they take revenge on you? I know you are dealing with an unfair situation and they are being careless, but the dog is being a dog. The owners are the ones who need to take responsibility. They need to keep the dog on a leash at ALL times. Not everyone should be dog owners.

 

[Bethany101]

I did not say they were in the pen when the dog killed them. I said they were free ranging. About 30 feet from the pen, and 30 feet from my house. The point is that the dog is not supposed to be leaving their back yard without a human. And he did. Again. After I was told it won't happen again, for the 100th time about a week ago, when they got chickens of their own. And I'll be damned if I, one of the acting landlords, gets to enjoy less rights than the tenants.

 

[Bethany101]

I agree, I don't want to harm the dog in any way if possible, but I am running out of options. Authorities are not currently staffing the police departments and animal control centers in my city. The property owner won't enforce her own rules. I'm really at a loss. If they want to sue me for protecting my property, within my legal rights as stated in my state laws, then they can feel free.

 

[Bethany101]

How did the dog get the chickens if they were in the cramped pen?

I called the police on my neighbors and they did something about it. Not sure why your police dept won't do the same. I lived in a very rural area at the time.
I put up with it for 13 yrs though, I recommend electric fencing because you can't control the neighbors and you never know when a stray dog will be passing through.

What you're looking at here are my empty meat chicken tractors. There are more feathers to my left and I am standing on top of the largest pile. In the driveway between my vehicle and my garage, feathers from the other bird. Much shorter trail. They do not travel any farther than this.