killer dogs

[KEITHBEEF]

my next door neighbours dog broke into our garden and killed some of pet chickens. does anyone know the law on how we stand as to taking action against the owners

[Gavinson]

kick him in the bawls

[orange-gnome]

Not sure about the law on this one, but I have to say that if you keep chickens in a garden next door to a dog, you should make sure that your garden is 100% secure to prevent these things from happening.... most dogs will kill them if they are able to get in, just the nature of dogs and certainly doesn't make them dangerous dogs!!

[southerngirl]

Also you need to double check that you are allowed to keep chickens in your garden. Some house property deeds state that you can't keep chickens, pigs, ducks etc. in your garden especially if you live in a town or city.

[lankeela]

Gavinson I presume you mean the owner!

[PatriciaH]

Thank god you didnt have any children in the garden! are these dogs usually "nice" or ? our dog walks past cats and ducks etc and has been trained not to chase never mind kill...i would follow this up, maybe the police?

[cyclone]

As far as I know, the owner is responsible for a dogs actions i.e. it's not your responsibility to make sure somebodys dog can't get in, it is the owners responsibility to make sure it can't get out.

This is different from a cat for example which is classed as a "free agent".

[WendyS]

How upsetting for you. My neighbour's dog broke through a fence some years ago and killed my 70 year old pet tortoise. I threatened to sue her but in the end pulled out because of other personal stress I was under at the time. However, they should at least compensate for the cost of replacing the chickens, and if it was your fence, they should repair the damage. They may have a Public Liability Indemnity clause in their house insurance which would meet the cost of the claim. I would also report this incident to the police so that this dog's possible dangerous personality can be put on record. It may go on to attack and injure a child.

[Catso]

I am sorry to hear that. I keep hens, and I did have problems with a dog at one time. ('Course, the owners always say ' My dog? Can't be, he's so placid')
You do have some responsibility for having a proper boundary; an 'open plan' garden, with no walls/fences is asking for trouble. Assuming you have, you have no reason to keep them in a separate pen. It's the owner's responsibility to keep their animal under control.
Taking action: if a dog is caught 'red-handed' I believe farmers still have the right to kill any dog worrying their stock. With a neighbour, I don't suppose you'd want to go that far! But you could perhaps point that out to them. You certainly also have the right to make a claim for compensation against them providing you have some evidence to prove whose dog it was and that the dog did kill the birds. Without evidence, or an admission, I don't think you'll get far as the owner can simply say 'not my dog, your honour'.

[orange-gnome]

Of course the dog owner should make sure it can't get out, I wasn't suggesting that they are not responsible for this but all I was trying to say that if I kept chickens next door to a dog I would make sure the fence was secure!!

Just because the dog killed the chickens doesn't mean it would hurt a child!!! My dog kills wild rabbits all the time, its in his natuer as a jack russell but would never even think about hurting a person!

[PatriciaH]

No dog is 100 percent safe and trustworthy around other animals or people...