What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Missouri
Hello. I have a bit of a story to tell, and I will try to keep it from being too confusing. My family had 2 dogs. One named Odin, who is very sweet, lovable and shy, and Buddy, who was a bit of a hunter, and a little more hyper. June 26th of this year, a neighbor who lives 1 mile down the road (we live 7 miles from town) came to the door and told me that Odin had killed 10 of their "show" chickens. He stated that he saw Odin walking down the road, away from their house with muddy paws and that is how he knew it was him. (we were in the middle of a flood, and there was mud everywhere, not just near their chicken coop) I should also add, that ALL of our neighbors have dogs. We have counted 11 dogs in the area, most of them free roaming, and most of them live closer than we do to the accusor. I was very shocked that Odin (the sweet one who does not like to hunt) would hurt their chickens. I apologized profusely and asked what we owed them. He said he would send his wife by when she got home and we could settle it. 2 hours later, his wife stops by and informs me that it was in fact 22 chickens that were dead, and gives me a quote for the cost. It was reasonable, around $160.00. I expressed to her that I did not think that Odin would kill the chickens, but that Buddy might have, and she then says that it was BOTH dogs, not just one like her husband had told me. Her husband stated he saw the dog on the road walking away from his house, but she states that both dogs were there, and one of them left with a chicken in its mouth. My dogs had white mouths, and I could find no blood anywhere, and neither came home with a chicken in mouth.
This is where it starts to get confusing. I am a professional photographer, and said neighbor had asked me about pricing a time or two in the past. The day she gave me the quote for the chickens, she also asked if I would be willing to give her a credit with my business instead of cash for the chickens, so she could have her daughters Senior portraits done. I told her that I would consider it, but that if my homeowners insurance would cover the damage done by our dog, then I would let them pay it. On June 29th, I text her and told her "Good news, my insurance will cover the cost of replacing your chickens, all they need is pictures as proof that they are in fact dead, and a receipt, or quote from a breeder on the replacement cost" She text me back telling me they had thrown all the chickens in a creek (can we say illegal!!) and had not taken pictures, and started demanding I tell her who my insurance agent is, and that she will contact them personally. I told her, that is not how it works, I will give her information to them, and they will contact her ask her to send the proof if she wants paid. She then stops replying, and calls the Sheriff. He shows up and tells me she has requested my dogs be taken and put to sleep. He states that since there are no dead chickens to be seen as proof, that he will not do anything, but asks us to keep our dogs away from their yard. She text me after he left and said "since the sheriff will not do anything, and you refuse to pay without pictures given to insurance, next time we see your dogs, we will handle it the way the law allows and move on." implying that she would shoot them.
The next day, she and her husband start driving by our house, 5 to 6 times a day for over a week. We have lived her for 3 years, and have NEVER seen them come this way, as they are right beside the highway and can access it much easier going the opposite direction of our house. We got the feeling they were trying to run over our dogs. Around the beginning of July, Buddy (the ornery dog) went missing. We looked for him for a few days, and another neighbors son told us that the neighbors with chickens had shot him, while he was not even on their property. We let it go. We believed it was possible that Buddy had eaten some of their chickens, and the Sheriff had told us to keep him close to home, and we tried, but he got out and so we did not feel we could do much about it without causing a ton of drama.
Fast forward to September 16th. We wake up and find Odin is missing. Now Odin is a scaredy cat, and barely leaves the porch. He cuddles with our cats, and tries to nurse the kittens. He has NO interest in hunting or playing rough. He is just an all around sweet, gentle soul. At first, I thought he had followed an atv that some tree trimmers were driving, and couldnt find his way home. So myself and children looked for the whole day on the 16th. On the morning of the 17th, I drove around for 2 hours, and finally had a gut feeling in my stomach that he did not just get lost. I decided to text the woman with the chickens and ask her flat out if they had shot our 2nd dog. She replied that yes, he was caught in the act on the 15th, killing 4 chickens, and they shot him on spot. The problem is, Odin was HOME on the night of the 15th and stayed in the house overnight. My husband let him out at 5am the next morning, and by 8am he was missing. I beleive her chickens may have been killed on the 15th, but our dog was not shot until the next day, telling me that they did not in fact "shoot him during the act". I asked her why they did not notify me that they shot him, and if they had his body, and she refused to answer why they didnt notify us, but stated that they did have his body, in a black trashbag on their property, and that we could come get him if we want (2 hot days later). I asked her if she had any proof of the dead chickens, and she proceeds to tell me that they have had a total of 53 chickens come up missing since June 26th, all show chickens, and all due to my dogs and that they do not need proof, it is an ongoing problem, and they had every right to shoot them. A couple facts I should mention- They have a coop that is MAYBE 6x6ft with no windows. They claim the chickens free range, but they are show chickens so that doesnt seem right to me. They also have a very large, open yard, un-fenced and free of trees and I have never seen more than 1 or 2 chickens there, much less 53. They also have a neighbor whose property directly borders theirs who has a dog known to bite and be mean. I do not believe for a second that my dog killed their chickens.
From what I have read of Missouri law, if our dogs did in fact kill their chickens, they did have every right to shoot him. BUT I do NOT believe it was our dogs, nor do I believe most of her story. I also do not believe she ever had that many "show" chickens just running free in the country. I think that she originally may have had a few chickens go missing, but elaborated it trying to get me to give her free Senior portraits for her daughter, and when I asked for proof of the dead chickens, she got mad and refused to provide it (probably because there were no dead chickens, or not nearly as many as she claimed). I feel that after this, they killed our dogs purely out of spite. My children have lost 2 dogs now, and our family is heartbroken. We do not feel we can ever get another outside dog, as we feel they will just kill it for sport if it ever leaves our property. Is there ANYTHING that can be done? Would we even have a case in small claims court? Would they make her provide proof of the dead chickens she is claiming to have had?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hello. I have a bit of a story to tell, and I will try to keep it from being too confusing. My family had 2 dogs. One named Odin, who is very sweet, lovable and shy, and Buddy, who was a bit of a hunter, and a little more hyper. June 26th of this year, a neighbor who lives 1 mile down the road (we live 7 miles from town) came to the door and told me that Odin had killed 10 of their "show" chickens. He stated that he saw Odin walking down the road, away from their house with muddy paws and that is how he knew it was him. (we were in the middle of a flood, and there was mud everywhere, not just near their chicken coop) I should also add, that ALL of our neighbors have dogs. We have counted 11 dogs in the area, most of them free roaming, and most of them live closer than we do to the accusor. I was very shocked that Odin (the sweet one who does not like to hunt) would hurt their chickens. I apologized profusely and asked what we owed them. He said he would send his wife by when she got home and we could settle it. 2 hours later, his wife stops by and informs me that it was in fact 22 chickens that were dead, and gives me a quote for the cost. It was reasonable, around $160.00. I expressed to her that I did not think that Odin would kill the chickens, but that Buddy might have, and she then says that it was BOTH dogs, not just one like her husband had told me. Her husband stated he saw the dog on the road walking away from his house, but she states that both dogs were there, and one of them left with a chicken in its mouth. My dogs had white mouths, and I could find no blood anywhere, and neither came home with a chicken in mouth.
This is where it starts to get confusing. I am a professional photographer, and said neighbor had asked me about pricing a time or two in the past. The day she gave me the quote for the chickens, she also asked if I would be willing to give her a credit with my business instead of cash for the chickens, so she could have her daughters Senior portraits done. I told her that I would consider it, but that if my homeowners insurance would cover the damage done by our dog, then I would let them pay it. On June 29th, I text her and told her "Good news, my insurance will cover the cost of replacing your chickens, all they need is pictures as proof that they are in fact dead, and a receipt, or quote from a breeder on the replacement cost" She text me back telling me they had thrown all the chickens in a creek (can we say illegal!!) and had not taken pictures, and started demanding I tell her who my insurance agent is, and that she will contact them personally. I told her, that is not how it works, I will give her information to them, and they will contact her ask her to send the proof if she wants paid. She then stops replying, and calls the Sheriff. He shows up and tells me she has requested my dogs be taken and put to sleep. He states that since there are no dead chickens to be seen as proof, that he will not do anything, but asks us to keep our dogs away from their yard. She text me after he left and said "since the sheriff will not do anything, and you refuse to pay without pictures given to insurance, next time we see your dogs, we will handle it the way the law allows and move on." implying that she would shoot them.
The next day, she and her husband start driving by our house, 5 to 6 times a day for over a week. We have lived her for 3 years, and have NEVER seen them come this way, as they are right beside the highway and can access it much easier going the opposite direction of our house. We got the feeling they were trying to run over our dogs. Around the beginning of July, Buddy (the ornery dog) went missing. We looked for him for a few days, and another neighbors son told us that the neighbors with chickens had shot him, while he was not even on their property. We let it go. We believed it was possible that Buddy had eaten some of their chickens, and the Sheriff had told us to keep him close to home, and we tried, but he got out and so we did not feel we could do much about it without causing a ton of drama.
Fast forward to September 16th. We wake up and find Odin is missing. Now Odin is a scaredy cat, and barely leaves the porch. He cuddles with our cats, and tries to nurse the kittens. He has NO interest in hunting or playing rough. He is just an all around sweet, gentle soul. At first, I thought he had followed an atv that some tree trimmers were driving, and couldnt find his way home. So myself and children looked for the whole day on the 16th. On the morning of the 17th, I drove around for 2 hours, and finally had a gut feeling in my stomach that he did not just get lost. I decided to text the woman with the chickens and ask her flat out if they had shot our 2nd dog. She replied that yes, he was caught in the act on the 15th, killing 4 chickens, and they shot him on spot. The problem is, Odin was HOME on the night of the 15th and stayed in the house overnight. My husband let him out at 5am the next morning, and by 8am he was missing. I beleive her chickens may have been killed on the 15th, but our dog was not shot until the next day, telling me that they did not in fact "shoot him during the act". I asked her why they did not notify me that they shot him, and if they had his body, and she refused to answer why they didnt notify us, but stated that they did have his body, in a black trashbag on their property, and that we could come get him if we want (2 hot days later). I asked her if she had any proof of the dead chickens, and she proceeds to tell me that they have had a total of 53 chickens come up missing since June 26th, all show chickens, and all due to my dogs and that they do not need proof, it is an ongoing problem, and they had every right to shoot them. A couple facts I should mention- They have a coop that is MAYBE 6x6ft with no windows. They claim the chickens free range, but they are show chickens so that doesnt seem right to me. They also have a very large, open yard, un-fenced and free of trees and I have never seen more than 1 or 2 chickens there, much less 53. They also have a neighbor whose property directly borders theirs who has a dog known to bite and be mean. I do not believe for a second that my dog killed their chickens.
From what I have read of Missouri law, if our dogs did in fact kill their chickens, they did have every right to shoot him. BUT I do NOT believe it was our dogs, nor do I believe most of her story. I also do not believe she ever had that many "show" chickens just running free in the country. I think that she originally may have had a few chickens go missing, but elaborated it trying to get me to give her free Senior portraits for her daughter, and when I asked for proof of the dead chickens, she got mad and refused to provide it (probably because there were no dead chickens, or not nearly as many as she claimed). I feel that after this, they killed our dogs purely out of spite. My children have lost 2 dogs now, and our family is heartbroken. We do not feel we can ever get another outside dog, as we feel they will just kill it for sport if it ever leaves our property. Is there ANYTHING that can be done? Would we even have a case in small claims court? Would they make her provide proof of the dead chickens she is claiming to have had?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
