I lived in what could arguably be called "suburbs" in West Virginia. We had strays there, or occasionally someone's dog got loose. Generally speaking, those dogs either were rounded up and sent to shelters or reunited with their owners.

Since moving to Arkansas, I'm astounded by the number of 1) people who just let their dogs "free range", or 2) people publically announcing their willingness to shoot a dog that comes on their property.

I live in a town with a population of around 14K. There are several smaller towns (literally with one or two traffic lights) surrounding it and apparently Easter Sunday some guy shot a local stray in the middle of one of these towns. I don't know all the details but I gather this was a "known" stray, at least by some and not some threatening rabid chicken-killer.

So I'm curious for those of you who live in more rural areas.....is this sorta mindset common? I'm completely understanding of a dog that's killing livestock or that is clearly aggressive and threatening kids/pets, and I get these small communities may lack animal control services, but some of these people are talking about the 3 S's for any dogs that aren't in a yard or on a leash.

I just moved out to a very rural area laast month (from a 1/3 acre lot in a neighborhood with 250+ houses) to 13.5 acres with less than 10 houses within a mile of me.

Still getting settled but I have noticed a dog or two trotting through our property. They didn't look to be a nuisance or feral so I suspect they're just our roaming and belong to someone local.

I can't see the need to shoot them unless they wre a direct and iminent threat of personal injury.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mojojojo,

My views closely follow what you outlined. I error on the side of letting a dog be, even try to collect and contact owners if "out" and the owner is likely unaware.
Having said that I have a low threshold for larger aggressive dogs. Had a Rotty mix that kept treeing myself and others as we attempted to deer hunt. This was the middle of a couple hundred acres. It did it one too many times to one of the others.

might help if people didn't dump unwanted dogs (or cats) in the rural / forest areas.

By state statute here dogs cannot be allowed to stray. An offending owner can be cited for an infraction...basically the same level of offense as a traffic ticket. We also have local ordinances in the town where I work that allow us (the police) to do the same, or seize or destroy a dangerous animal.

When I get stray dog complaints if I can catch them I'll put them in the car and attempt to locate the owner to return them, or take them to the animal shelter if I can't. If the owner is a repeat offender, or we're getting multiple complaints, I typically start writing tickets.

To-date I've never shot a dog. I've heard people threaten to, and provided they do so safely (especially if they're on their own property) and can articulate that the dog was being aggressive, I don't see them facing criminal charges (although civil suit from the dog's owner is a real possibility). Obviously, the totality of the circumstances apply. There was one of those "I'll shoot any dog that comes on my property" hotheads a few years back that called the Sheriff's dept about a stray dog. When deputies got there to deal with it, the dog was just standing there in the yard, and she for some reason picked that moment to start shooting at it...with the deputies downrange. I don't remember the details on the outcome of that one, but she was in a pretty bad spot for a while looking at charges of reckless endangerment with a firearm.

My former neighbors used to let their dog run loose all the time, and it bit my oldest son while he was riding his bike in our driveway (thankfully it just got his boot, no skin contact), and another time came charging and growling at my younger boys while they were playing in our front yard. I ran at it and yelled and thankfully it backed off, but I'd have shot that one in good conscience if it had kept coming. I tried talking with the neighbor about it like adults, but he didn't care. Thankfully they moved away shortly after that so that solved the problem.

The other issue I typically see is that some people's idea of an "aggressive" dog isn't based in reality. The last pair I had running around town I got multiple calls on, and when I finally found them they had a lady hiding inside her fence afraid to open the gate to get inside her house. When I got there they came running over for pets and belly rubs and jumped right in my back seat for a ride to the shelter .

I live in a pretty rural area and we have strays running around pretty regularly, particularly after hunting season or dog trials. Seems quite a few just abandon their dogs if they don’t hunt.

I won’t shoot at any of them unless aggressive or chasing livestock, and so far, all I have had to do is yell and chase them off. That said, I do know a couple of people who do shoot at them.

My dog also runs loose when I’m out with her. We live on 31 acres with the house in the center of it, and she sticks around pretty close to the house. I’ll also say if you come up the driveway, she will charge towards you barking and growling, more than likely stopping a foot or two in front of you. She’s a protective GSD.

My experience are loose/feral dogs are very common in rural areas.
The shoot on sight simply because they are on my property is not one I have run into. Any sign of aggression by these roaming dogs on my property will get them shot quick however.

Worst I have seen the roaming dogs was on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
They ran in larger packs of 5+ dogs and were generally never friendly.

I think it depends on the size of acreage.

Growing up, most of the ranches in the county were thousands of acres. Strays were shot, unless known to be the neighbors’ dog, because they almost had to be feral/livestock killers to be out there.

A loose dog is uncommon (and illegal), but not unheard of around here. Typically I either know who it belongs to or can sweet talk it close enough to catch it.

If it's after my livestock, all bets are off.

We are in town but in a rural area. Dogs and cats get treated entirely differently by most everyone around here. Dogs are usually attempted to be taken care of especially if they are friendly. People will try to find their owners or outright take them in. Feral cats on the other hand are either trapped or shot on site. We have a significant feral cat problem in my area. Very rarely do I see a stray dog. Nearly 100% of the time it's someones dog who got loose and the owner is not far behind.

I live trapped several this winter and released them out in farming country to give them a chance for a farmer to let them be on his place as a mouser. But in essence what I'm probably doing is just making them someone else's problem. Now that it's warmed up and the skunks are out no more live trapping. I want nothing to do with a skunk in a live trap. I live in city limits and cannot discharge a firearm so I have dispatched several with the pellet rifle. I'd rather not have to do this but I just can't have them making their home around my place. They are mean, nasty and usually carry all sorts of mites, fleas and diseases. Not to mention they are prolific breeders. Don't want any of the grand kids getting tangled up with one.

I suspect that the dumping thing is one huge factor. And seems like a lot of people out here don't spay/neuter.

I also suspect most of these people posting this stuff don't own ranches. We met one lady whose dog had been hit and killed along a road. She had two other dogs in a ramshackle chicken-wire enclosure. They had shade but despite being empathetic to her and her kid having lost a dog, I couldn't help but feel maybe they had more than they could handle. I guess that's judgemental, but just how I felt.

We found out yesterday my favorite of our bunch has some sort of degenerative spinal disease. Doesn't cause him pain but eventually he won't be able to move his hind legs. So I'm feeling particularly sensitive about how people treat dogs.

Dogs run loose (including mine when we visit) where my parents grew up and retired to. Generally they are left along unless they become a problem. I have dispatched strays running deer on our hunting property. I have also had a pack of dogs “hunt” me when I was turkey hunting. They stalked the hen decoy as I was calling and got to within about 15 yards before I saw them.

Where dogs can safely run loose without bothering anyone I think they ought to be allowed to. I always have a collar and my info on my dog so people know he’s not a stray. And in rural areas dogs often have different roles than just family pet.

When I was a kid, there was a sign when you got off the Orcas ferry that loose dogs may be shot. Sheep farmers had zero tolerance. That sign is long gone.

quote:

I live trapped several this winter and released them out in farming country to give them a chance for a farmer to let them be on his place as a mouser. But in essence what I'm probably doing is just making them someone else's problem

Please don’t do this. It’s wrong, and in many places illegal, to force others to deal with feral cats released on their rural property. And once a cat has been live trapped they’re unlikely to go into a live trap again. I’m a farmer and already have all the mousers I need.

There are certain communities in which organized dog fighting is a popular "sport." Dogs are actually bred for income purposes for this activity as owning a champion fighter is a status symbol. Canines that fail as fighters are usually abandoned, as not even worth the cost of a cartridge.

These dogs can be quite aggressive given the training and lifestyle they were exposed to from birth. One should be careful not to equate well-socialized "stray pets" and these dogs, as they need to be treated far differently. Note that most of them can, when exposed to affection and a square meal on a regular basis can become peaceable family pets suitable for homes with kids, and are often the most loving animals you can imagine (unlike their human counterparts).

My point? It's not usually a fault with the dog.

I occasionally see dog wandering through the area but almost every one belongs to so someone and just happened to have gotten loose. My small dog's never on a leash and roams around the property but always pretty close to wherever I am.
A person living a couple properties away used to have 2 large lab looking dogs that ran loose together. I ran them off a few times. They have likely died because I haven't noticed them for 3 years now but I recently found out they killed a neighbor's calf and one of his dogs about 6 years ago.
So for the most part no, stray dogs aren't running around here.

Dogs in my area roam free, for the most part.
I have land. I have livestock.
I have a Great Pyrenees that runs with my sheep.
He will defend my livestock, and I’ll back him up.
The cows, for the most part, take care of themselves. Calving season (going on now) requires some extra diligence.

A strange dog on my place will be watched, but if he moves along he will remain unmolested. A dog (or pack, usually) chasing my livestock will not be tolerated.

A set of dogs (very likely drop offs that formed a pack) very recently got into my neighbor’s sheep paddock and slaughtered every animal that he had. Didn’t eat them, killed them all, for sport.
My son later informed me that our LGD was barking that direction the night it happened.

And yes, for the folks that think they are doing us a favor by dropping off “mousers” and the such. Please stop helping us. A feral cat can tear through a chicken coop just fast as a raccoon or fox.

AllenInAr, one of my Boxers is beginning his struggle with DM

When I lived in north Alabama 25 years ago, I lived in the sticks. A nearby rancher who raised sheep would shoot any dog he saw on his property due to the kills by feral dogs.

Coyotes are bad enough, but kill to eat for the most part; feral dogs kill for sport and unlike their coyote cousins, have almost no fear of people. A friend once described the time he had to shoot a hybrid coy dog pack leader that was menacing him in the woods and was not backing down.

I grew up in the country and would personally not shoot a dog unless it was menacing in some way. Thankfully I never had to. I only had one instance where I was concerned when a dog the size of a wolf showed up in the backyard. He had a way about him that made me extremely uneasy and I ran inside and grabbed a shotgun. I came back out and it's like that dog knew exactly what I had in my hands. It bolted and I never saw it again.

I had neighbors that would shoot loose dogs over nothing and I actually ended a relationship with one of them over his completely unnecessary shooting of a dog.

The reason I finally went ahead and got my CCW was because of a trip I was scheduled to take to go fly fishing on the Fox River in Michigan's U.P. The guy I was going with owned a place up there and said the wild dog problems were fairly serious, and I would be wise to carry a gun. He personally had run ins and knew of others. One man barely made it back to his truck with a large pack right on his heals.

My mom's boyfriend grew up in a farming community in the 50's and 60's is southern MI and back then the farmers would periodically have to go out and eliminate packs of feral dogs. They were capable of doing quite a bit of damage.

I think prevailing attitudes these days are to let the odd wanderer pass on through. Thankfully I haven't heard of actual packs of ferals running around these parts in a very long time. From what I hear over on the east side of the state in some of those burnt out outer Detroit suburbs it is a different story.