4DogRescues Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 I went outside with my three dogs and a stray we're gonna be taking to the Animal Shelter (AS), soon. Our neighbor's dogs have been coming in through a hole we couldn't find until today, and barking at our dogs. They hadn't attacked any of them until today, this is their second offense today. Earlier they tried killing the stray puppy we have in our grounds, but we managed to chase them out. We haven't pursued anything because we feel responsible since it's our fence, but today it crossed the line. Three of them, a chihuahua and two unknown breeds, possibly around 80 LBS, ran into our property when our dogs were peeing, I didn't realize at the time because I was petting the stray puppy, all of a sudden I heard barking and when I looked up. They were attacking Rocco, a German Shepherd puppy of about 8 months. Two of them were trying to get onto his neck to bite onto or his back, while the chihuahua ran away because it saw me coming in fast with a broom in my hand, and I was screaming to the top of my lungs "Get off my dog, get out of here". I managed to scare them off and they left my dog alone, Rocco was crying and the dogs retreated and I chased after them to find the hole. Now, the neighbor's known about the hole this entire time and hasn't even tried pointing it out or mentioning it. (I'm not the homeowner of the property I'm in, it's my mom's). I finally found the hole and when I got there the neighbor came out, like a smug jerk and I blew up at him. I think it was fair, he knew his dogs have been breaking into this property for over 7 years, never trained their dogs to stop or behave, has overly aggressive dogs who even bark at me, or threaten me, and none of them are collared or have had their shots. He threatened me, that he was gonna get his attorney, but his dogs come into my property and my dogs have NEVER gone into his property, because I'm always watching them. Luckily, since I arrived on time, Rocco wasn't seriously injured, just a lot of drool on his fur. Because, again, I reacted the second I heard a bark and went over there with intent to kill those dogs to protect my puppy. My dogs are not aggressive, they don't bark at other dogs unless they're barked at, and most of the time they just ignore it. They're very good boys, I'm not sure what to do at this point. Whose fault is it really? I threatened to call the cops, but I feel like I'm responsible because it's still my fence. But regardless of it being my fence or not, his dogs are poorly trained and poorly taken care of. I'm considering calling animal control and the police, but I really don't know what to do in this case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 If it's your fence, I do think you have responsibility, even if the neighbour's dogs are horrid. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 If there were no fence at all, the dog owner would have the responsibility to ensure his dogs do not go on a neighbors property. Whether he does this by training them, erecting his own fence, using an invisible electronic fence, or watching them constantly is irrelevant. You having a hole in your fence does not excuse the neighbor letting his dogs on your property. But I am puzzled because you say this has been going on for 7 years. Surely in 7 years you would have noticed there must be a hole? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 I would (1) patch the hole in the fence or somehow block it (with cement blocks or something) ASAP, and (2) call the police and/or animal control and find out exactly what local laws say about animals coming onto your fenced property, so you know what your options are if it happens again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytwomonkeys Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 It’s your responsibility to fix the fence. But having said that, you have every right to chase away an aggressive dog (or any animal) on your property. I live in the country & an agressive dog entering a fenced property (or not even fenced) would probably get shot here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 Call Animal Control. And fix the fence. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4DogRescues Posted December 16, 2017 Author Share Posted December 16, 2017 I just wanted to say, we haven't been on this property for those 7 years, the owner brought that out of his a**, because we haven't been here for that long at all. These surges of the dogs appearing have started since May, one of the holes is where his barn is and we have no way of getting to that fence, because it's his and the other hand, the hole we found, looks like it was caused by the dogs, because it's bent upwards, and it's not missing the portion. I don't mind fixing the fence, I just didn't know where they were coming from until now, because not only did we have a fence, but we had trees lined up all the way across the fence. And I repeat. > His dogs are not vaccinated and do not have collars or rabies tags (which is illegal in my state, all dogs must be vaccinated and wearing proper ID) > His dogs are coming into my property through a means we can't reach and he refuses to patch > I have no problem fixing the fence, it wont take much out of me > He is threatening to sue me, because his dogs are coming into my property and attacking my dogs > We have a stand your ground law in my state, that includes any trespassers will be killed. (Including dogs) > The owner refuses to train his dogs and believes the fault is completely on my end (even though my dogs do NOT instigate and NEVER cross over to their yard) I have a huge feeling that even if I were to fix the fence, that dogs would still come in through the owner's barn. In that case, what am I supposed to do if he refuses to patch up the fence? I don't have money to go to an attorney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 Check the statutes for your area. I’m sure that he’s required to keep his animals on his property. My advice is the same: call animal control. They can force him (via fines) to maintain his fence or otherwise contain his dogs. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 OP: welcome to the forum - but you might want to move your post to the Chat forum. This is a homeschool board, and this subforum you are posting on is General Education. You might get more people interested in debating dogs and fences over in Chat. Or even better in a forum that is geared towards dog owners and has people knowledgable about the legal issues. Here you are more likely to receive homeschooling advice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YodaGirl Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 Check into leash laws in your area. More than likely, he's responsible. They're his dogs. You don't have to maintain a fence to keep his dogs off your property. It's his job to ensure that they don't trespass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 Call animal control, especially since your dogs were attacked on their own property. I don't think the hole in the fence matters, since the other guy obviously isn't containing his dogs. I don't see anything he can do to you legally, given the details of your story. But you certainly have legal options against him. So definitely report the incident. If you don't have animal control, call the sheriff's non emergency line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 Have you called animal control? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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