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.

We had a local dog annoying some sheep we had on our land. OH threatened twice to shoot it (I don't think he actually would) second time I told the owner it was here and my OH would be home soon, she panicked and collected the dog. Dog never came agsin.

This is off askthepolice website:

It depends on the circumstances but there have been decisions in the past by courts and authorities to suggest that it is the nature of a dog to kill and wound small animals. Therefore, in the event of your pet being wounded or killed by a dog, it is not a certainty that the police would take any action. However, the police will take action if the dog was dangerously out of control. If the police do not take action the other possible recourse is to take civil action against the dog owner but this would depend on the circumstances.

However, there are different regulations where the attack involves farm animals. This answer does not take into account deliberate attacks or dog fights which are offences.

I would consider recontacting the Police and asking them to book an appointment to speak with an officer. It is a possibility that the dog you mentioned could be considered as dangerously out of control in a public place as it is without its owner and has no lead. Especially as it keeps coming back. I'm sure there are also potential offences around worrying livestock which horses may come under.
Who owns the land?
A farmer would shoot the dog to protect his livestock if it kept coming back but I would expect there are potential issues there around either a civil offence or criminal offence.

You would have recourse to take civil action against the dog owner for your vets bills and treatment if you could prove it was that dog.

Not the craziest of solutions but pretty close. Do not be so stupid as to put yourself in harms way. This is not the fault of the dog but the irresponsible dog owner(s). The natural instinct of the horse will be to flee, the dog to chase. The dog will sooner or later get stamped or kicked by the horse. Not suggesting to wait that long but it is quite likely to happen at some point. The dog will come off second best in the exchange.
Do not go running around the fields with a rifle (even if you have one) either. You would be ill advised to be shooting at living things moving around a field near other living things (even if you were a trained sniper). There are laws against such action and YOU will be the one in trouble. Those suggesting the use of a firearm aren't even asking the proximity of the fields to houses etc. This is hysteria at best or just plain lunacy.

A dogs range is not the great. Chances are this animal lives near the fields. Why not see if you can film the animal then see if the animal can be identified. Social media could help identify the dog and more importantly the dog owner(s). I would guess they don't know what the dog is getting up to and would probably (if normal folk) be horrified to find out. The penalties for dog owners are pretty severe under these conditions whether they know "Fido" is doing it or not.
Consequences of having a dog deemed ‘dangerously out of control’ include:
• Destruction of the dog
• Disqualification from owning dogs
• Two years' imprisonment
• £5,000 fine.

The law is on your side here. I hope you are able to safely identify the dog owner(s) and I hope the horse does not get attacked again. It is not a good situation but try to remain objective, safe and try not to blame the animals when clearly the cause of the situation is a person/people.

www.fwi.co.uk/farm-life/your-legal-rights-on-shooting-dogs-on-your-land.htm

Some useful information here. 'More so around the owners not being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control which the police can deal (and should if you speak to them again) rather than the shooting of a dog as you aren't the farmer and it's not your land and you would be opening yourself up to potential criminal charges.

This happened to my dad's mare when she was in foal. The poor thing was so scared she tried to jump the gate out of the field and because of her belly could only get her front legs over and landed on her belly on the top of the gate and was stuck. It was awful. The dog then had freedom to go at her while we raced down to the field. Thankfully she was kicking like mad and he didn't get any teeth into her. Dog ran off when he saw us coming. Thankfully foal survived and mare was well too.

JenLindley

That's awful - your poor mare! Thank heavens there was someone about to see what happened and chase the dog off, as she would most likely have died (of shock) or had to be PTS otherwise.

I agree it isn't the dog's fault - dogs are dogs - but jut sitting back and allowing other animals to be savaged isn't an option. I feel for the OP - she must be desperate even to consider putting herself in danger.

I hate to say it, but I wondered of poison might be an option (I know, I know - it's horrible, but something must be done). the danger with poison of course, is that the wrong creature may eat it.

How close can you get to the dog OP? Would one of these big pump action water pistols filled with paint of dye be any good for marking the dog and identifying it?

That's awful - your poor mare! Thank heavens there was someone about to see what happened and chase the dog off, as she would most likely have died (of shock) or had to be PTS otherwise.

Yep, she would have been left stranded with that dog mauling her after she had exhausted herself trying to keep him back.

I don’t know your situation, you are within your right to protect livestock, i.e. you can shoot the dog if it is worrying livestock. There is no argument with this, if a dog attacks sheep in can be shot. The contentious issue here is whether a horse is classified as livestock or a pet, speak to your insurance company, BHS or NFU if you’re a member for advice. Personally, (waiting for massive personal attack now), but if someone’s dog was genuinely attacking my horses (including my own dogs) I would consider shooting it if no other option presented itself. Call me what you like but I have seen the damage dogs do, I have cuddled and cried over shredded, maimed and dyeing sheep from dog attacks. The next thing here is do you or the landowner have a suitable gun or could you/ would you do it. Is it safe, legal etc., Dog owner doesn’t need to know this, find them and give them the ultimatum, if they don’t prevent it reoccurring you will do it, (OK you probably won’t but they don’t need to know this!!)
Why not try a less lethal option, electric fence, decent fence, you will need 5 or 6 strands and a decent fencer, earthed properly it WILL stop a dog (this is how we now fence our horses to prevent such incidents) If you can find the owner perhaps an electric shock collar could be tried to prevent repeat incidents. I wish you luck.

dog worrying livestock so just shoot it.
I don't see why the fuss about getting it to bite you etc.

Nothing could be easier.

And you can shoot so long as you are the lawful occupier of the land or an authorised agent (so basically you have the landowners permission).

Unfortunately at least 3 strikes I believe for a dog to be put down....and they must be people bitten, not animals, or so I thought. However, my cousin's dog got attacked badly, and he was bitten by a dog who had escaped from its garden. It was a totally unprovoked attack and the dog had past history of attacking dogs, and even attacked another dog on the same day. Local people got up a petition etc, the police even had the dog and its companion for a while in a dog pound but although my cousin got compensation (not a lot, and he had to persue it privately and it put him under a lot of stress....and he ended up giving a lot of the money to the RSPCA as he felt it was blood money) the dog was not put down. The owner got both dogs back. I am not sure why, and they weren't classed as dangerous dogs (greyhound and German shepherd type) ...they behaved the way they did because of the way they were brought up and treated, as outside guard dogs. The owner always treats his dogs in this way, previous ones have escaped and caused harm , and nothing is ever really done. Mind you, he is well off and q powerful. It's very wrong though and my cousin has suffered with anxiety and nerves ever since and ended up moving areas as he was so scared of meeting them again. It took him a while to get the confidence to walk his own dog, a labradoodle.

So....I think the name and shame might help. I am a dog owner too, and animal lover, and am so sorry this has happened. We would shoot dogs worrying our sheep, not sure about horses, but we don't have any. The owner is the one at fault here....but unfortunately you can't shoot him/her!