Frustrated!!

[Candibee]

So Silver, Brandon(my roommate), and I were outside a few minutes ago letting Silver run around in the yard. We live in a very tiny neighborhood and we live next door to my parents and grandparents and our houses are on top of a tiny hill. Well while we were out this pitbull looking dog came running up on Brandon and Silver I was in shock! It didn't growl at her or do anything aggressive but what if it would have and we weren't standing there with her. This isn't the first time the dog has been up here, and it has a collar on, not sure about tags. But we haven't seen it for a couple days so I figured it would be ok to let her out because it was a nice day and she's been stuck inside. I mean this dog has been in mine, my grandparents, and my parents garbage and tearing stuff up. And I'm just so aggravated because who in the world lets their animal run loose and terrorize the neighborhood and their pets?!!? I don't even feel safe taking her back outside whether the dog seemed friendly or not. It looks about 70lbs compared to her 5lbs :/ I don't know what to do. My grandfather wants to call animal control but I doubt they would come up here and I know the owners have to live in the neighborhood. I'm hoping it will come back so Brandon can see if it has tags and have a little chat with the owners. I couldn't imagine just letting Silver have free roam of the neighborhood!!

[TexasKat08]

Originally Posted by Candibee

. . . who in the world lets their animal run loose and terrorize the neighborhood and their pets?!!?

\

I think this is the question you need to answer. Once you figure out who owns this "bully" talk to the owners, especially if you live in an are where you feel animal control won't help.

[Candibee]

I honestly think people like this are not responsible pet owners. Just seems to me like they really don't care what their dog is out doing and where he is at.

[Beamers Mom]

I would be very wary of getting close enough to this dog to read the tag - if it has a tag.
Years ago we had a problem with a dog in the neighborhood. We had Tee-Nah, one of the Lhasa's we had at the time, out in our own fenced in back yard. A dog dug under the fence and was trying to get to her. I picked her up and that dog jumped up and bit me on the leg.
I had called animal control about the dog just moments before about the dog being loose before he had dug under the fence, only to be told that I needed to keep Tee-Nah on a leash, I said that was crazy, when she is only in our own fenced in back yard.
So, after I was bit, I called animal control back, only to be told that their animal control officers were busy responding to dog bites. I told the woman that now they had another dog bite case. She was a bit snarky and asked if I was getting medical attention. Told her I was on my way to the ER, and she said to have the medical staff call when I was there. Don't think she believed I was bitten. But the medical staff called.
Animal control still didn't come out.
The next day I saw the same dog in the front yard, so I called animal control again. They asked if we could catch the dog and keep it until they got there! I told them this dog had already bitten me and they wanted us to risk getting bitten again. They suggested I take Tee-Nah into the back yard and put her in a kennel and try to lure the dog to Tee-Nah. I told them they were crazy if they thought I was going to use Tee-Nah as bait.
A little while later animal control showed up with two male officers, they said they were just going to watch the dog to see if it returned home and they could follow it! Well, they couldn't get it, then a female officer came out to join them. She had that dog within minutes.
They quarantined the dog to make sure it hadn't got rabies. Luckily it didn't, so I didn't have to have any shots. But no-one ever claimed the dog.

[Maximo]

If you have leash laws in your area, call animal control. If they don't respond, call your local elected officials.

[Candibee]

Originally Posted by Maximo

If you have leash laws in your area, call animal control. If they don't respond, call your local elected officials.

I'm not sure if there is a leash law here. I'd hope there is but I'm definitely unsure. I'm lucky Silver had her leash on so we could snatch her up real quick. Usually we take her into my grandparents yard because their side is bigger and she never leaves it so we take her leash off but we were trying to practice leash training some more so I'm glad she had it on today.

[concretegurl]

If animal control won't come you can also call the police, sheriff etc...I hate to see its a pit because they such an automatic bad wrap...but a loose dog is a loose dog and someone needs to be notified and a record, in the least, needs to be made of how often this dog is running stray...especially if the dog is "menacing" in any form i.e. coming into you garage and tearing stuff up...but ya know for the dog's sake, it could be hit by a car etc...if they don't keep track of their dog and it runs stray wonder if they get it it's vet care: immunizations etc. You always have the option to get a dog out the pound after the initial owner voluntary or involuntary surrender time when it comes eligible and take it to a rescue...you can also contact local rescues to get the dog directly from the pounds and they often do their own beavior testing training-okay this is based on my experience, my local laws...you may want to check yours or at least find out when you attempt to make a report.

[Beamers Mom]

Originally Posted by Candibee

I'm not sure if there is a leash law here. I'd hope there is but I'm definitely unsure. I'm lucky Silver had her leash on so we could snatch her up real quick. Usually we take her into my grandparents yard because their side is bigger and she never leaves it so we take her leash off but we were trying to practice leash training some more so I'm glad she had it on today.

WV is one of those states that do not have a leash law.
From Wikipedia:

West Virginia and Wisconsin are states that do not have a law that requires dogs to be leashed. Still, they do have law that holds dog owners and keepers liable for all damages caused by dogs that are permitted to run at large

[TexasKat08]

Originally Posted by Beamers Mom

WV is one of those states that do not have a leash law.
From Wikipedia:

West Virginia and Wisconsin are states that do not have a law that requires dogs to be leashed. Still, they do have law that holds dog owners and keepers liable for all damages caused by dogs that are permitted to run at large

Interesting!

[concretegurl]

Does a leash law apply to a dog running stray...?...if no one is there I'd assume it's not a leash/no leash issue, it's an unattended dog stray all together...

[Candibee]

Originally Posted by Beamers Mom

WV is one of those states that do not have a leash law.
From Wikipedia:

West Virginia and Wisconsin are states that do not have a law that requires dogs to be leashed. Still, they do have law that holds dog owners and keepers liable for all damages caused by dogs that are permitted to run at large

Go figure my state wouldn't require one. I mean it getting into trash is very annoying when we have to keep picking it up but I'm mainly worried about not being able to let Silver go out and play and I am scared for the other dog. I'm scared something will happen to it and it won't even be it's fault.

[kjcmsw]

Though it looks like this wasn't the case in this incidence - remember dogs can be notorious for having figured out how to get out of their yards and back home by the time the owners return from work, with their owners never the wiser. Don't automatically assume the worse and think a dog running loose is because the owners don't care...just think if your Yorkie managed to get out and you didn't notice you wouldn't want people to assume you don't care about your dog.
(it's important not to say 'that could never happen to me and my dog' because no sooner than we utter such words, it usually happens)
But I would agree not to approach any dog running loose, but try to find out where it lives and find out if the owners even know it got loose.

[Candibee]

Originally Posted by kjcmsw

Though it looks like this wasn't the case in this incidence - remember dogs can be notorious for having figured out how to get out of their yards and back home by the time the owners return from work, with their owners never the wiser. Don't automatically assume the worse and think a dog running loose is because the owners don't care...just think if your Yorkie managed to get out and you didn't notice you wouldn't want people to assume you don't care about your dog.
(it's important not to say 'that could never happen to me and my dog' because no sooner than we utter such words, it usually happens)
But I would agree not to approach any dog running loose, but try to find out where it lives and find out if the owners even know it got loose.

I would usually never say they don't care but their are only 2 people that have fences and 1 lady I know and she doesn't have a dog and the other is my parents and they have 4.

[concretegurl]

Originally Posted by concretegurl

Does a leash law apply to a dog running stray...?...if no one is there I'd assume it's not a leash/no leash issue, it's an unattended dog stray all together...

I just re-read that and how it sounded..not stray as in has no owner...just stray at that time as in owner is nowhere to be found atm...dog is running loose running stray as opposed to dog is running off leash with owner there...or nearby.

[yorkietalkjilly]

My neighbor's big Pit Bull jumped the fence regularly which I reported to them to no avail. I finally had to call Animal Control as the neighbors were not home when the dog jumped the fence and the elementary school down the street was getting ready to let out. She was 65 - 70 lbs. and I had come to love that big, sweet dog but once she was out, she was wild, barking, would not come to me and I could not sit back and hope there was no problem once the little kids started laughing and running down the steet. AC came at once and took her. I cried like a baby when they took her off and then had to call the neighbors and tell them what I had done and why, on their Answering Machine of all things. The Pit Bull never returned and the neighbors still smile and talk to me but I cannot ask them what happened to her. I had to do something, though, even if we didn't live down the street from an elementary school, as she jumped into my yard frequently and I was in the process of looking for what turned out to be my little Tibbe. I could never have let Tibbe out in the back yard with that jumping Pit Bull next door! It could have been a tragedy waiting to happen.