Dangerous dog. (What would you do?)

JuLeah - posted on 09/01/2011

I would call and report this. The dogs will, sooner or later, be pput donw. Not because they are pit bulls, not because they are aggressive, but because the human in charge of their care failed them. He ought to be brought up on charges

~♥Little Miss - posted on 09/01/2011

Glad to hear about the kittens, so sorry about the kid getting bit. But glad you do not need to worry about that dog anymore.

Danielle - posted on 09/01/2011

**LAST UPDATE ON DANGEROUS DOG**
After making a few calls to the authorites about the dog, I quit letting my son go over there period. I got a call this week saying that the dog had finally bitten a neighbor child and was destroyed. The child is ok but it's sad that it had to come to that for the authorities to finally do something. I found homes for the kittens I rescued and I'm proud to say that my grandmother has one cat now and hopefully I can get it neutured for her soon.

Elfrieda - posted on 06/08/2011

I think you're doing everything right.
1) Keeping your son away until the danger is past.
2) Calling animal control on the dogs and owner.
3) Helping your grandma with her crazy cat problem.

Totally with you on all of those. It's the right thing to do.

Danielle - posted on 06/08/2011

**UPDATE**
I called and talked to a worker at the HS I volunteer at and they can't do anything b/c it's in a different district but they told me to call the Police dept in that area and they would set me up with Animal control. So I called animal control and they are suppose to go out and "assess the situation". The relative must have caught wind of what I was doing b/c I went out there this past weekend and the dogs were gone. I don't know if he put them in a pen or got rid of them but they were not running loose. And on a better note. We thought he had killed the mother and the entire litter of kittens but a few did survive and I have cages set up to catch them now so I can get them out of there =)

~♥Little Miss - posted on 06/05/2011

Danielle, do you have an update for all of us???? Did you get to call??? How did it go???

Desiree - posted on 06/05/2011

Good for you before the animal kills someone and then I would report the owner on top of that for negligence. He and his dogs are a safety risk to the entire community.

Rebecca - posted on 06/05/2011

exactly what you've done!

Becky - posted on 06/04/2011

I'd probably do what you did. My husband, on the other hand, would probably go over there with a shotgun if he heard the dog had gone after one of our kids!

Danielle - posted on 06/03/2011

I am going to the authorities. Tomorrow as a matter of fact. Like I said in an earlier post, I'm past caring who's feelings I hurt in this matter.
@Marina~ I'm not really sure why they didn't go and get a cage from the HS. I had told her the day I got before the kittens outside had gotten killed that that was going to be my point of attack for the ones outside (the mother of the other litter actually came and hung on their door with kittens in her mouth) so they were easy enough to catch (with the exception of those sharp little teeth and claws)
I do agree with the fact that she shouldn't have been feeding them but she just can't help herself lol.
I wish I had known about the fishing net sooner..I had gloves but they were just work gloves that came to my wrist and Momma cat did a number on my arms.
My son won't be going back until this ordeal is handled. I'm hoping that when I go up there tomorrow they can dispatch someone Monday.

Melissa - posted on 06/03/2011

you are perfectly right in this situation!! i, too, would be absolutely furious if i learned that my son had been in danger and people had kept it from me, regardless of their good intentions. the family member, ESPECIALLY being a family member, should have enough sense to train or limit the dogs range of motion knowing its violent tendancies. i do agree with you, pits are a wonderful wonderful breed IF raised properly (like most breeds), but if left to their own devices, it's in their nature to be a big aggressive. you're doing the right thing in reporting the animal. unfortunately, it sounds like it's a grown dog, and at that point it's really really difficult to turn their behavior around, so he may have to be put down, but i think it's safe to say the safety of your child is much more important than that of a violent animal that no one seems to care enough about to properly train and restrain! i hope everything goes well. and if this relative catches wind that you reported the animal and gives you any grief, i'd let them have it! IT WENT AFTER YOUR CHILD and if they can't be sympathetic AND APOLOGETIC of that, then i'd go off like a firecracker!!

Mary - posted on 06/03/2011

Yeah, I have to say, if your grandmother and uncle aren't willing to contact the police or animal control, you definitely need to do so. I also would not take my child anywhere near there until the issue is resolved. You need to be very clear with your grandmother that a little hurt feelings with a relative is NOTHING compared to what what would ensue if your child was in any way harmed.

And Marina brings up a very valid point....you need to let whichever authorities handle this situation. You obviously don't want to wait until the animal is actually attacking a human to intervene, but if you just go after a dog, unprovoked, you could very well be the one facing charges.

As for the cats....I hate to say this, but I doubt any authority is going to get too worked up over their deaths - they aren't exactly someone's loved and care for pets, and honestly, with both cats and dogs just running wild, all you really have is animal instinct and nature in action.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 06/03/2011

Danielle "I've tried to get in touch with him but he's never home when I go over there and avoids me...I think someone has already told him that I'm angry about it. I'm just going to animal control and have them handle it. "

You can deal with this now 1 of 2 ways. Stop ever going to your grandmothers so you do not put you are your child at risk, or get the authorities involved.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 06/03/2011

Unfortunately, your grandmother feeding the population was only attributing to creating more of a population. She was doing a nice thing for sure, but there is a lot of controversy over whether to feed wild animals or letting them catch their own food. Also, feeding a pack of feral cats is also helping possibly spreading diseases to the other healthy cats in the area.

I know that this is not what the debate is about, but since it was brought up as part of the OP, I wanted to at least get some info out there.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 06/03/2011

First of all Danielle, I am glad to hear her own pets are spayed and neutered.

Secondly, you can usually borrow or rent a cage to catch feral cats at your local shelter. Set the trap with food inside, and it closes behind them. Yes, infact I have aided in catching many feral cats. I know exactly how difficult it can be, and I would also have the aid of thick lether gloves that went up to my elbows and that were studded with metal.

I can give you tips for catching them,....much easier to use a large fishing net and the big leather gloves combined.

Danielle - posted on 06/03/2011

I've tried to get in touch with him but he's never home when I go over there and avoids me...I think someone has already told him that I'm angry about it. I'm just going to animal control and have them handle it.

Danielle - posted on 06/03/2011

First off let me point out that the cats are feral. She did not recieve ANY of them as pets. Ppl have a bad habit of dropping animals off in her area. The pets she does own (dogs) all five of them are spayed/neutured. She's 88 yrs old and has no business trying to catch these cats. My Uncle tried to catch them and any attempts to catch them were unsuccessful, but every last one of them were well fed. Have you ever tried to catch a feral cat? Let me tell you it's not fun. I'm practically bathing in rubbing alcohol since catching the cats for her the other day (and that's using thick gloves and a pillow case). As to beating a dog, when it comes to pit bulls that's the only way to get them off of what they have latched on to. If you're going to help whatever he's latched on to you have to make him let go first and anyone that's ever owned a pit will tell you that's almost impossible if they don't want to let go. Most of the time you won't succeed in beating him to death. You'll just get his attention..and you better hope he doesn't go after you too. Animal aduse or not, let that son of a bitch latch on to my son and I'm gonna find the hardest thing I can find and I'm going to beat the shit out of him until he lets go.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 06/03/2011

I agree with Jane, I do not understand why you cannot go talk to your own relatives about this situation. I understand why your grandmother does not want to rock the boat, but it comes down to safety. Not worrying so much about what people may think.

Lacye - posted on 06/03/2011

Then give me time. Better a dead dog than my child to be dead.

Jane - posted on 06/03/2011

First of all, have YOU spoken to the relative? It's obvious that he has some control over the dogs since he doesn't let them go to your uncle's house. Secondly, is the relative aware that if his dogs kill anything else or threaten your son you will shoot the dogs? If you have talked with him and gotten nowhere the next step is the next time the dogs are out, running around, call Animal Control. An alternative is the next time any cats are killed or a family member is threatened, and you have a reliable witness to identify that these dogs did it, call the cops.

Having untrained pits running free is a lot like shooting a gun in random directions. Possibly nothing will happen, but if something does happen it will be tragic. Uncontrolled pits are like a loaded gun.

Even if the relative hates you forever, you need to protect the other family members.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 06/03/2011

If you are in the middle of having your dog attacking your child, I would hope your first reaction would be attending to your wounded child. After the fact, going after a dog and beating it to death is not an act of defense, it is an act of revenge.

If I happen to kill a dog while I am prying it off of someone, then that is an act of defense.

In many states, you will be serving time for beating an animal to death.

Lacye - posted on 06/03/2011

If a dog bites my child, it's called self defense when I beat the living shit out of it. My child is in danger, and I would be defending her. Even if that wasn't the case, I wouldn't care to be brought up on animal abuse. I am not going to allow any animal, or human, to hurt my baby girl.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 06/03/2011

Sorry, but I am compeletly against animal abuse. Go through the proper channels in dealing with these dogs. And also, if you do ever "go after" a dog that is aggressive, expect to be put in the hospital by the dog yourself.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 06/03/2011

Lacye, then you would promptly be brought up on charges of animal abuse for beating a dog to death.

Lacye - posted on 06/03/2011

Danielle, if it had been my daughter, the dog would be walking around right now. I would have beat the fucker's head in. It doesn't matter what kind of dog it is. But to be on the safe side, you need to file a report on the dog and its owner. The dog for being aggressive, and the owner for not properly taking care of it and for letting it run around free to do what ever it wants.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 06/03/2011

Also, if these dogs are taken from there home to try and be adopted out, the people who take them MUST be warned that they are small animal aggressive, and should not be placed in a home with small children or small animals.

If I was in your situation, I would be calling animal control, HS, or the police asap....

And I would get the remainder of your grandmother's herd spayed and neutered.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 06/03/2011

First of all, I really need to address the fact that your grandmother was being irresponsible having that many cats. She should have spayed/neutered them as she took them in. There would not be so many cats around if she took that first step in being a responsible pet owner.

That of course does not mean they should have been being killed by the dogs next door. But why would all these cats keep getting killed without anyone doing anything? This really bothers me.

I would call animal control, or the police asap. If the dogs went after your son, or are in any way considered dangerous, they should be on leash only, or in pens in the yard....or kept in the house. If they truly killed so many cats, it may be that they do get destroyed. Not sure on the laws in your area.

Mary - posted on 06/03/2011

You need to call animal control. It's obvious the dog's owner is an irresponsible ass who doesn't give a shit about either his dogs, or others. The animal needs to be taken from him, pronto. I love animals (especially pits), and volunteer at a rescue, but there is no way in hell I would tolerate any animal running free like that, especially if it displaying both animal and human aggression.

Lady Heather - posted on 06/03/2011

I'd have probably shot it by now. I'm not even kidding. That is a frigging horrible tragedy waiting to happen. But doing what you are going to do works too.

A dog killed my cat in OUR yard (she was old and only went outside to sleep in her favourite garden spot) and I'm pretty bitter about it still, 9 years later.

Danielle - posted on 06/03/2011

Yes there are leash laws where she lives but she lives in a very secluded part of the city. She is pretty much in the woods so the law is not enforced as it should be. I'm actually surprised the dog is still alive due to the fact that he killed one of my Uncle's dog's. My uncle has told the owner that if the dog even showed up back in his yard he'd kill it. So he doesn't let it go down there. I was walking to the truck out there one night and walked up on the dog by accident and it started growling at me. Although I knew better (it pissed me off) I grabbed a tire iron and chased him off. I'm scared for my grandmother. What if she walks outside one day and falls and that triggers this dog to attack? I don't understand how you could put your grandmother in danger like that..I just can't wrap my head around it.

Sharon - posted on 06/03/2011

Do just what you did.

Christy - posted on 06/03/2011

Are there not laws about dogs on the loose? I personally would file a police report, and probably get a concealed weapons permit. Then if the dog ever came after me or a family member, it wouldn't survive. With a record already filed, the police would call it self defense.