Pitt Bull and Pitt Bull Mix Scare

[chattiesmom]

Ron and I went to town yesterday afternoon and when we got home there were two dogs attacking our miniature horses. The only thing that saved little Quincy and Bizzy was the was the electric fence and that didn't work for long..... The smaller of the two was a female she had pups (full milk bag) and was sssoooo skinny it broke my heart. The larger was a brindle and looked to be a pitt/boxer mix.

I called 911 and by the time the police arrived the two dogs were standing at our feet acting all innocent. I was able to get a phone number off the collar tag and called the owners - which happened to be our across the street neighbors I didn't know that they had these pitts. Anyway I had the owner on the phone, the policewoman gave him a verbal warning. The young man wasn't at home so the policewoman went to their house and was able to get someone to come and get the dogs. The neighbor lady was very RUDE. She even semi threatened me with .... if your ponies ever get out... Well, they did once a long time ago, but my ponies weren't attacking her dogs they were grazing on the side of the street and I apologized and got them back in the fence, repaired the fence, end of story.

The ONLY thing that the policewoman did was give them a verbal warning. No report was written so there is actually no official record of our call other than the 911 log. I am going to call the police deparment this morning and complain about that AND call Animal Control.

Pitts are supposed to be kept behind a fence and/or chained -- it breakes my heart to think that these dogs will be chained up -- but we have a leash law and the dogs were threatening my livestock. I can only imagine what would have happened if one of the Yorkies had been outside with me.

People need to be more responsible pet owners.

[ARCHIE]

OMG Cindy thank heavens you and your hubby got home when you did.
Those poor ponies must have be so frightened.
Hopefully this was an isolated case, the pits getting out, since you
had not seen them in the past. Some people will never learn to be
responsible owners because of the laws. As you saw an attack against
your live stock didn't even warrent it to be written up. A slap on the
wrist gives people the attitude that if the law dosen't care, well neither
do I. Irresponsible owner's need to be hit in their pocketbook where it
hurts and then they won't forget.
Something good came out of this because it will make you aware
of who your neighbor's are now. Beware, pitts and your babies.
Glad your ponies are alright. They must be adorable.

[Gypsy & Me]

Wow, how scarey! Thank goodness no one was hurt!

[rbelland]

OMG Cindy, I am so glad to hear everyone is ok!! I would have been freaking out!!! I sure hope they will do more than just a slap on the wrist. I dont understand why it takes a tragedy to happen for the law to take things more seriously!!!!

Good for you!! I would call anyone I could to make sure this does not happen again!!!!

Give those ponies a kiss for me!!!

[dogbert]

Keep records of when you call 911 and officers names, dates and times and if possible take photos of the dogs with your horses. I know that's the last thing you think of when it's happening but it's PROOF. We lived on acreage in AZ where ranchers used to run their cattle. Even though we were fenced sometimes the cattle would get into our yard. I'd call the livestock people and they'd come and get them. I was told that if they ever damaged anything I had to document it and the owner of the cattle would have to pay for the damages. They never damaged anything, but you could have the owner of the dogs pay for vet bills to your miniture horses. The neighbor a couple acres away had some miniture horses and we just loved them! As far as the cattle go the kids loved it when they came for them because just like in the movies they'd come on horseback with their ropes and herd them back down to the valley.

[chattiesmom]

Originally Posted by ARCHIE

OMG Cindy thank heavens you and your hubby got home when you did.
Those poor ponies must have be so frightened.
Hopefully this was an isolated case, the pits getting out, since you
had not seen them in the past. Some people will never learn to be
responsible owners because of the laws. As you saw an attack against
your live stock didn't even warrent it to be written up. A slap on the
wrist gives people the attitude that if the law dosen't care, well neither
do I. Irresponsible owner's need to be hit in their pocketbook where it
hurts and then they won't forget.
Something good came out of this because it will make you aware
of who your neighbor's are now. Beware, pitts and your babies.
Glad your ponies are alright. They must be adorable.

Thank you, there IS an amusing side to the story, though. Little Quincy and Bizzy were eating their hay which was near the fence where the two dogs were snapping and snarling. Little Quincy was PISSED because his meal was being interrupted - and bless his tiny little soul (he is 27 1/2" tall and weighs just under 200 lbs) he was protecting his baby sister Bizzy (who is about the same size) by keepin in between Bizzy and the pitts and by trying to charge at them. They finally did get into the fence and Quincy charged at them and chased them out.

I am going to have an eagle eye on the lookout for those dogs. If they show up again I will definately call the authorities.

It was very scary .... very.....

I wish the law would allow for shooting a dog that is attacking your livestock, but alas, it is a crime Go figure. You are encouraged (there is a bounty) to kill coyotoes - but a domestic dog attacking your horses is protected. There is something wrong with his picture.

[chattiesmom]

Originally Posted by Gypsy & Me

Wow, how scarey! Thank goodness no one was hurt!

Thank you! It was VERY scary. And when we got out of the car the dogs came running towards us! They never threatened us, in fact the dogs seemed friendly enough with people, but you just never know about some of these more aggressive breeds. And that is beside the point, they were attacking my minis!

Originally Posted by rbelland

OMG Cindy, I am so glad to hear everyone is ok!! I would have been freaking out!!! I sure hope they will do more than just a slap on the wrist. I dont understand why it takes a tragedy to happen for the law to take things more seriously!!!!

Good for you!! I would call anyone I could to make sure this does not happen again!!!!

Give those ponies a kiss for me!!!

It was scary, but all is well. I am going to follow up with Animal Control this morning as soon as my phone charges the story of my life. I will definately give Quincy and Bizzy a kiss on their sweet little noses for you.

Originally Posted by dogbert

Keep records of when you call 911 and officers names, dates and times and if possible take photos of the dogs with your horses. I know that's the last thing you think of when it's happening but it's PROOF. We lived on acreage in AZ where ranchers used to run their cattle. Even though we were fenced sometimes the cattle would get into our yard. I'd call the livestock people and they'd come and get them. I was told that if they ever damaged anything I had to document it and the owner of the cattle would have to pay for the damages. They never damaged anything, but you could have the owner of the dogs pay for vet bills to your miniture horses. The neighbor a couple acres away had some miniture horses and we just loved them! As far as the cattle go the kids loved it when they came for them because just like in the movies they'd come on horseback with their ropes and herd them back down to the valley.

Thank you for your suggestion, I have started a log. I am hoping that I won't see the dogs (or the nasty neighbors) again.

Sounds like your kids has a treat when the cattle had a stampeed on your property. I always wanted to go on a cattle drive - I Should Have Been a Cowboy is my theme song.

[dogbert]

Originally Posted by chattiesmom

Thank you! It was VERY scary. And when we got out of the car the dogs came running towards us! They never threatened us, in fact the dogs seemed friendly enough with people, but you just never know about some of these more aggressive breeds. And that is beside the point, they were attacking my minis!





It was scary, but all is well. I am going to follow up with Animal Control this morning as soon as my phone charges the story of my life. I will definately give Quincy and Bizzy a kiss on their sweet little noses for you.




Thank you for your suggestion, I have started a log. I am hoping that I won't see the dogs (or the nasty neighbors) again.

Sounds like your kids has a treat when the cattle had a stampeed on your property. I always wanted to go on a cattle drive - I Should Have Been a Cowboy is my theme song.

As far as shooting dogs, not legal but it happened out where we lived. The dogs would pack up with the coyotes at night and run down some of the cattle. Warnings were put out but some people didn't listen.

[luckylady]

Holy crud ! Stupid, stupid, people! It angers me to no end when owners let their dogs run loose, especially breeds like pitts.

I am so glad that you got home when you did; poor little horses must have been so frightened. So did the dogs do any physical harm to them? Big hugs to those little horses and to you Cindy, from me.

What makes me just as upset is that 1) there was only a verbal warning given, and 2) that the neighbor not only semi-threatened you, but also showed no remorse for what had happened! Ugh!!!

[MindieRose]

Originally Posted by chattiesmom

Thank you, there IS an amusing side to the story, though. Little Quincy and Bizzy were eating their hay which was near the fence where the two dogs were snapping and snarling. Little Quincy was PISSED because his meal was being interrupted - and bless his tiny little soul (he is 27 1/2" tall and weighs just under 200 lbs) he was protecting his baby sister Bizzy (who is about the same size) by keepin in between Bizzy and the pitts and by trying to charge at them. They finally did get into the fence and Quincy charged at them and chased them out.

I am going to have an eagle eye on the lookout for those dogs. If they show up again I will definately call the authorities.

It was very scary .... very.....

I wish the law would allow for shooting a dog that is attacking your livestock, but alas, it is a crime Go figure. You are encouraged (there is a bounty) to kill coyotoes - but a domestic dog attacking your horses is protected. There is something wrong with his picture.

Are you serious? I wouldn't care, I would've shot them. I believe we are able to shoot anything attacking our animals here. Gosh, you can shoot your own animal for whatever reason in my county. I found that out when our horse was dying and there was noone on a Sunday that could put him down. I called animal control, they never returned my call until Monday AFTER the vet had been out to put him down. My poor horse had to suffer a whole night freezing in the winter dying on the ground when we could have put him out of his misery. Not that I could have done it, but I was sick all night long because he was suffering so badly. Anyway, AC called me Monday and said you don't even need a good reason to shoot your animals. Your animals, your choice, which I believe should be true for most things like breeding and such, but this just seemed off.
I just would have shot the dumb dogs and told the cops you had no idea. If there is a person threatening you on your property you can shoot them, why not a DOG?

[chattiesmom]

Originally Posted by MindieRose

Are you serious? I wouldn't care, I would've shot them. I believe we are able to shoot anything attacking our animals here. Gosh, you can shoot your own animal for whatever reason in my county. I found that out when our horse was dying and there was noone on a Sunday that could put him down. I called animal control, they never returned my call until Monday AFTER the vet had been out to put him down. My poor horse had to suffer a whole night freezing in the winter dying on the ground when we could have put him out of his misery. Not that I could have done it, but I was sick all night long because he was suffering so badly. Anyway, AC called me Monday and said you don't even need a good reason to shoot your animals. Your animals, your choice, which I believe should be true for most things like breeding and such, but this just seemed off.
I just would have shot the dumb dogs and told the cops you had no idea. If there is a person threatening you on your property you can shoot them, why not a DOG?

I am so sorry for your situation with your dying horse. I have all nighters with horse friends who were leaving this world. It is such a sad sad thing - horses die BIG if that makes any sense.

The difference is dogs are considered domestic animals and horses are livestock.

[chattiesmom]

Originally Posted by luckylady

Holy crud ! Stupid, stupid, people! It angers me to no end when owners let their dogs run loose, especially breeds like pitts.

I am so glad that you got home when you did; poor little horses must have been so frightened. So did the dogs do any physical harm to them? Big hugs to those little horses and to you Cindy, from me.

What makes me just as upset is that 1) there was only a verbal warning given, and 2) that the neighbor not only semi-threatened you, but also showed no remorse for what had happened! Ugh!!!

Thank you, Rose, I am definately going to follow up with Animal Control. Little Quincy and Bizzy were not harmed - this time anyway. What scares me is that these dogs know where they are and if they are not kept properly secured may very well come back.

[Mom to Hot Rod]

It's a good thing you got home when you did. Some people are just not considerate of others and it is so sad because it is their animals that wind up paying the price. I would just try to stay out of your neighbors way , sounds as though she will just be looking for something to get back at you with. Good luck.

[MindieRose]

Originally Posted by chattiesmom

Thank you, Rose, I am definately going to follow up with Animal Control. Little Quincy and Bizzy were not harmed - this time anyway. What scares me is that these dogs know where they are and if they are not kept properly secured may very well come back.

Most definitely they will at least attempt to come back. Typically that is not an isolated thing. I had a dog that had to be put down for killing our goat, almost killed another, and tried to kill and did pretty seriously injure my mini horse. After he killed the first goat, we made sure (or thought we did) that there was absolutely no possible way to get to the other animals. He found a way! He dug and dug and dug to get to them, and quickly too! Once they are on a mission like that, you can't get it out of their heads. Def talk to animal control and see what can be done about this.

[chattiesmom]

Originally Posted by MindieRose

Most definitely they will at least attempt to come back. Typically that is not an isolated thing. I had a dog that had to be put down for killing our goat, almost killed another, and tried to kill and did pretty seriously injure my mini horse. After he killed the first goat, we made sure (or thought we did) that there was absolutely no possible way to get to the other animals. He found a way! He dug and dug and dug to get to them, and quickly too! Once they are on a mission like that, you can't get it out of their heads. Def talk to animal control and see what can be done about this.

I am SSSOOO pissed. I just got off the phone with Animal Control and she informed me that if the police officer gave a verbal warning that it was considered "taken care of". I told the AC Lady that the Officer told me that the AC would do a physical inspection of the premises and verify that the dogs were properly contained. They would issue a sitation if I wanted them to, but I'm not so sure I want to go that far.....

The AC Lady also told me that we have the right to defend ourselves and our property by whatever means was necessary. BUT refused to tell me that it was ok to shoot the dogs. nWhy can't people with authority just be accountable and speak plainly?????

AC is on the way our to our house and then they will be headed across the street to talk to the neighbors.....

The scariest thing about the whole dog issue is that the owner didn't realize that there was a problem. She was angry that the police came to her door. Down the road there are three neighborhoods with loads of young children playing up and down the street. Had the dogs injured my minis that would have been terrible, but just think if the dogs had turned right instead of left and had wound up on a street full unsuspecting innocent children playing.