Dog Problem

[batmaniivi]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

My neighbor has two small dogs. She lets them run loose, whenever she is to lazy to tie them up. I have two dogs also and whenever I am walking my dogs, if hers are loose, they charge and try to attack mine. Mine are larger and more difficult to restrain when they are being confronted. Her dogs are also in my yard, barking and trying to scare my family and me. There is a leash law in the town, which she chooses to ignore and decides to call me vulgar names when I confront her about the issue. I have contacted the local police department but the problem still exists. What are my options ?

 

[ShyCat]

Your obvious options are:
(1) continue contacting the police (or Animal Control) when the dogs are loose
(2) appropriately defend yourself and dogs when necessary (e.g., pepper spray)
(3) sue for medical/veterinarian bills if injured

 

[usafdrew]

Had exact same problem here. Solution was to hit the pocketbook by getting the offender a citation for leash law. This will probably take a few warning notices at first. Video record the dogs on your property or about the neighborhood and call animal control. That way if an officer shows up and the dogs are not out, they can still issue the citation. If the dogs are out when the officer arrives, chances are if the dogs can be caught they will be taken to the pound and the owner contacted to pay a fine for retreival. The fine for leash law is usually no small one. Should be enough to solve your problem. That is unless the lazy person is too lazy to pay the fine, so it could be a much bigger problem for them.

 

[JustAPal00]

Your obvious options are:
(1) continue contacting the police (or Animal Control) when the dogs are loose
(2) appropriately defend yourself and dogs when necessary (e.g., pepper spray)
(3) sue for medical/veterinarian bills if injured

Pepper spray works wonders on bad dogs. Might fix the problem with one application. Just be sure there is no wind and that you don't get your dogs too. The next time you see her dogs out and unleashed, I would deliberately walk outside and make sure they see you. When the come at you, let em have it right in the face.

 

[sally1]

I would recommend the pepper spray as well.Bear spray shoots far.Little yappers can give quite a bite.If the dogs are aggressive then spray them. You can not determine if an unleashed dog will or will not attack you(or your dogs),so better safe than sorry.Spray them and walk away.Don't talk to the neighbor.You owe them nothing.

Yes, the neighbor can complain.Perhaps try to get money for vet bills. In the end though it is the neighbor who broke the law by allowing her dogs to run free and harrass others. She might get cited instead.

 

[unknown81]

This was a great forum that I was able to relate to and was able to agree with. I deal with the same situation at home and these are 2 huge dogs. One is a great Dane and the other is a black lab. They are aggresive with eachother, barks constantly and are always running loose. These two dogs were so close at one point to where they almost attacked my 9 year old son. I too took an approach of the pepper spray and if this situation were to happen again, I will feel no remorse if it comes to me spraying them in the face with pepper spray. No words should be exchanged to the owner. She should have never decided to have 2 dogs if she couldnt give them the care they need. Usually a call to animal control will help calms things down for a few weeks but larger measures do need to take place.

 

[Washwo]

Dog Problems

I just gotta pipe in. My elderly father at 82, was walking his 2 year old miniature poodle on a neighborhood sidewalk, using one of those leashes that retract..when two pitbulls got out of it's pen, ripped the poodles larynx, put my dad in shock and he fell. The dog survived for another 2 months.

That was two years ago.

Both Dad and dog died.

I had never seen my father experience such trauma. He was 6'5", a gentle soul and loved all animals.

Dad never bounced back.

We spent $1200 for emergency surgery for the dog which the pitbull owner paid AND they were given a ticket for unleashed dogs.

The pitbull owners went to court to remove the ticket and won, the judge saying that it was not the pitbull's fault, but that the poodle had strayed off the sidewalk, which was true since the poodle was at least a foot off the sidewalk. If they had lost they would have been forced to build a cement run so the dogs could not escape. They have since moved away since they were renters, and the owner of the house was contacted.

This is a sad story surely. The trauma was intense for my poor father. Lesson learned?

Laws, rules, common courtesy avails us little. There was nothing we could have done to prevent this. People are people. Some dog owners should not own them.