To get the dog to bite me so it will be pts?

[midnightlurker]

Dog coming into my field and attacking my horses. One minor injury, several incidents of damage to the rugs (like little coats) they wear. Now a chunk out of one hind leg requiring vet attention. This dog has tasted blood, it will not stop here. We have beefed up the fencing as much as we can - rented land...

When I phoned the Police they were bloody useless. If we see it in action they will come but they will not take the dog as it is not a human it is attacking. And I can't legally hit/hurt it to get it off my horse.... So aibu to lie in wait for it then pull it off my horse so it gets me? Then it is a dangerous dog and has attacked a human, so the Police have to act.

Cannot see any other way to protect my horses :(.

And if the owner is reading this - STOP it! Put it on a lead!!!! It is not funny or clever to injure livestock.

Couldn't you take a picture of it and post on local Facebook page?

Tell who you rent from, their field is not secure & move fields?

Just ref shooting the dog, please take legal advice before getting too gung ho.

The legislation about worrying livestock is written for the benefit of farmers, and animals kept on farmland. I'm not sure it will apply to this situation, if the horses are essentially pets. If they are working animals, it may be arguable.

Give up on the police and call the RSPCA and then every other another animal organisation nearby to see if they can come and remove it. I feel sorry for you and your horses but I don't think killing the dog is the right way forward.

A field only has to be fenced enough to keep your stock in, the landowner is not responsible for keeping other animals out - that is up to the dog owner.
I'd contact the dog warden initially, but if it continues then horses are classed as livestock in this instance and you are entitled to shoot it. (the dog I mean)

Do you know whos dog it is?
What type of dog?
How often are the incidents?
Could you photograph/film instead of get bitten?

Surely if it is in field biting horses it is not under control by owner.
If you had photographs of attempted biting, could you ask police about compulsory muzzling?

Call your local dog warden.

This dog has tasted blood, it will not stop here

That's a myth.

It's also a myth that a dog who shows aggression to other animals will be agressive to humans.

Without knowing who owns this dog and where they are in proximity to the dog while it is worrying your horse, it's hard to know what to advise.

Your local council will have a dog warden who will be able to advise further.

On the off chance the dog is unsupervised and you catch it, getting their dog back from the dog warden will cost the owners £££. Might put them off letting it out of sight again.

You cannot see any other way to protect your horses? Easy, move them to a different area/ more secure field. YABU.

Yes, because it's that easy to just "secure" an entire fenced and gated field from a dog -both my dogs can easily clear a gate from a standstill and scrabble 8 feet walls.
Fields and "areas" for horses are not that easy to come across. You cant just move them to any empty field you fancy. It's not simple!

Don't you have the same rights as farmers?
To shot on sight of it coming onto your land?

I would have thought this, too.

TBH Midnight, Would have thought that you would find it very difficult to catch a dog that doesn't want to be caught - they're fast and they're agile. I also think that it would probably be unlikely to bite you - despite what yu might think by reading the papers, most dogs have a very strong inhibition when come to attacking people - but when they do, as others have said, you risk very serious injury.

Truly people-aggressive dogs, as opposed to dogs which are just trying to protect themselves and get out of an uncomfortable situation, will always target the face or throat of their victim. If you are lucky you could throw your arm up to protect yourself, but could end up maimed for life, especially if it is a large dog. Please don't consider this option.

However I can understand how desperate you must be even to consider doing something as risky as this. I think the police are shirking their duty - this is
a) a dog out of control in a public place
and
b) destruction of property (awful to describe the suffering of a living creature in such a way, but the law would see it as such, I think).

If you can, take a photograph of the dog (what breed is it? Is it something the police would have to take action over?)

If you know who it belongs to, tells the police and say that you want some action taking (I really can't understand their attitude - when a neighbour's dogs attacked mine - not for the first time - the police came out straight away and warned her to keep them under control). And if and when you find the owner, take them to court for your vet's bills.

While I don't think you would be able to catch the dog, I think you may be able to lure it with something very tasty - bacon, or cheese, perhaps, and put a slip lead on it. Then as someone else suggested, take it to the police station/ vet and find out who it belongs to, if you don't know already.

Alternatively - do you know anyone who would be prepared to lend you a stallion to put in your field? I understand that they can be as aggressive and as territorial as bulls, and wouldn't out up with a dog entering the field. (Of course, you'd have to ensure its safety).

This is a horrible position for you to be in. Animals in fields are so very vulnerable to dogs and idiots.

Dog owners have a responsibility to always be in control of their dog. I can't believe the police are not interested. Have you reported the owner?

That's silly twilight. It is a huge task to find a new field (probably with stable set-up and other facilities) and relocate the horses. OP would then be in the position of commuting to her horses daily.

There is no earthly reason why OP should have to do that.

I definitely support any solution that creates maximum inconvenience and expense to the dog owner. But please don't hurt the dog.

A well-aimed kick is the most effective solution of course. Your horses may get fed up and sufficiently emboldened to defend themselves in the usual way very soon I expect.

The dangerous dogs act was updated recently so that anyone who feels scared by a dogs behaviour means the dog is guilty under the DDA. If I were you I would ring the local police station and ask to speak to the duty inspector who may be a bit more clued up. Hopefully they could insist under the dda that the dog is muzzled.

If you have any sort of insurance does it include legal advice? My U.K. E insurance does. Can you speak to someone about recovering vet costs? Might make the dog owner take it more seriously if they're out of pocket.

This dog has tasted blood, it will not stop here

That's a myth.

Yes - bloodlust is a myth, but I can promise you that any dog which has had a lot of fun, chasing horses (or sheep or whatever), biting and snatching at them, WILL be back, because it has thoroughly enjoyed itself and had a very exciting time. Dogs love that adrenaline rush - they are predatory animals and will revert to this if they can. For them It's FUN! - Just like four-year olds getting over-excited at a party and causing damage without even being aware of it.

Midnight really does have a problem on her hands.

Midnight - would it be worth getting in touch with your local paper and asking them to do a story on it, perhaps with photographs of the injuries caused? Might make people think twice about letting their dogs out (especially if you threaten to have the dog shot) and might kick start your police force if you mention how useless they are.

And while I wouldn't recommend shooting it at all I think you can defientely hit the dog to get it off your horse. If another dog attacked my dog I would hit it.

I don't think it's correct that protection is only for livestock on agricultural land. I'm no expert, but the relevant provision seems to be section 9 of the Animals Act 1971 and that simply refers to horses without any requirement that they be kept for farming purposes. On that basis it is also incorrect to say that you cannot hurt or harm the dog whilst protecting the horses from it.

In what way have you beefed the fences up? Even in rented fields, I would rather spend a couple of hundred on sheep/horse netting and an electric strand on top than spend a couple of hundred on new rugs or vets bills (we had a four acre field fenced with sheep netting and electic wire on top, it cost about £300). Have you contacted the dog warden? I'd try and catch the dog and shut it in a stable, then ring the dog warden or place adverts for "found dog" until you locate the owner and can show them just what a bloody nuisance their dog is being, and take it from there. If you have a community Facebook page, post pictures of the dog and the damage its doing? There must be more ways to sort this than getting bitten!

Call the dog warden, most councils have them.

Harming the dog should be a last resort, please? I'd be happy for your harm the owners who clearly shouldn't be allowed to keep a dog if they don't intervene with this type of behaviour.

Please contact the local dog warden, or a local animal shelter, or RSPCA or similar first before you attempt to harm the dog. You could cause another animal unnecessary pain and suffering - two wrongs do not make a right.

Please could I ask if you are certain it is the same dog? How many times have you seen it occur and have you filmed / photographed it for evidence (and have the police seen this?).

Sorry you (and your horses) are going through this. It's horrible, but the fault lies with the dog owners and not the dog. Additionally, if you want to go down the PTS route - the legal definition means the dog doesn't have to bite you - it just has to have acted in an aggressive manner towards you I believe. This is quite a grey area and the dog would have to be assessed by an independent canine behavioural specialist.

*for you to harm the owners...

Dog warden and electric fencing could be the only solution.

I can't legally hit/hurt it to get it off my horse....

Not true, you can shoot it, just as any farmer would if it were worrying sheep.
You can catch it and have the vet put it to sleep, look for its microchip then sue the owners.

naturenet.net/law/dogs.html This might shed some light op.

I've been in the same situation, a dog worrying livestock can't easily be caught and certainly won't be interested in tasty food, in one instancs my husband managed to catch a dog worrying sheep and lambs, three lambs were killed and a see badly injured. The owner paid compensation and hasn't been seen since and felt terrible about the whole thing.

Another time dogs were worrying the horses and causing injuries, the owners didn't care and it got to the point that my dad did shoot one, he went straight to the police to tell them and they took no action against him. It was very much a last resort though. dog worrying stock is horrific to witness.

Have you actually seen the dog attacking your horses? Are you sure its not your horse's field companions. I can't imagine a dog being able to rip a rug.