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I have a friend who is facing down a felony "animal cruelty" charge for shooting two of her neighbor's pit bulls that came on her property recently. She killed one and winged the other. My poor friend has been at the mercy of these dogs for more than a year. Her neighbor had a pit bull that had puppies and he never found homes for them or bothered to contain them. These dogs have been menacing the entire neighborhood ever since and my friend has felt like a hostage in her own home. Her own dog was attacked last year and had extensive vet bills. The dogs recently cornered an elderly person in their neighborhood. The police and animal control have been out numerous times and the owner has been warned repeatedly, but nothing has ever actually been done about the dogs. Finally my friend ended up shooting two of the dogs when they came on her property, but because they weren't actually in the act of attacking her or her animals, the cop slapped her with an animal cruelty charge!
If dogs with a violent history have been running in a pack and menacing the neighborhood, I don't see how shooting them on your property is cause for a criminal charge! If you wait until they are already attacking you, it's probably too late to grab your gun. And if you wait until they're attacking your animals, the odds of you accidentally hitting your own pet is really high. I'm angry that the police would charge my friend with animal cruelty when they know full well that these dogs have been threatening the neighborhood for over a year and have already seriously injured my friend's dog. My friend is afraid to go out of her house unarmed, she's afraid to ride her horse from her own property, she can't let her dog outside unsupervised, she can't let her grandsons come over to her house and if they do they can't play outdoors. It's a nightmare situation. My friend hired a lawyer and I hope she wins her case, but if she loses she could have her animals taken away from her. I can't believe the law is this backwards! Just had to vent...
If dogs with a violent history have been running in a pack and menacing the neighborhood, I don't see how shooting them on your property is cause for a criminal charge! If you wait until they are already attacking you, it's probably too late to grab your gun. And if you wait until they're attacking your animals, the odds of you accidentally hitting your own pet is really high. I'm angry that the police would charge my friend with animal cruelty when they know full well that these dogs have been threatening the neighborhood for over a year and have already seriously injured my friend's dog. My friend is afraid to go out of her house unarmed, she's afraid to ride her horse from her own property, she can't let her dog outside unsupervised, she can't let her grandsons come over to her house and if they do they can't play outdoors. It's a nightmare situation. My friend hired a lawyer and I hope she wins her case, but if she loses she could have her animals taken away from her. I can't believe the law is this backwards! Just had to vent...