Pitt bull atacked my rabbits.

About 2 hours ago something told me to go outside. I heard all kinds of noise coming from my rabbitry. I get a flash light and go take a look. A Pitt bull is attacking my rabbits. He sees me and puts his head down and walks to the back of the inclosure with a guilty look on his face. I held the gate open and call for him to come out. He walked right out then walked across the property and left.

Turning my attention to the rabbits and cages.I found 2 cages empty and all messed up. Another cage on the ground but the rabbit was in it and scared but unharmed. I found the 2 escapes behind some feed boxes where the dog couldn't get them. One of them looks scared but seems fine physically. The other one has a swollen area under her right eye but the eye has something wrong with it like it is partially out of the socket. After getting them in my one empty cage I check out the other cages and rabbits. There are several rabbits that have toe nails ripped out like they were going crazy in the cages and ripped the toe nails out trying to escape.

The area is flooded because the water lines of the automatic system had been pulled out. I had some of that PVC corrugated sheeting under the cages that was at a downward slop to allow the rabbit droppings and urine to run down in a PVC rain gutter so I can collect it and give it away. All of the PVC stuff is destroyed.

Off the top of my head I figure at least $200 of damage and I will have to cull the rabbit with the eye damage.

I called the police to come and take a report. By the time the Officer got here the dog had returned and was sitting on my back porch.

The Officer asked if I had a rope. Hey I live in the country I have all kinds of rope. I tell him the dog seems friendly, so he walks up to the dog and puts the rope around his neck. Well I figured he is going to call Animal control and have them come get the dog. NOPE he informs me we don't have animal control out here. :x

So now I have a pitt bull tied under my shed to keep him out of the rain and from getting to the rabbits again. Now I have to cull the hurt rabbit, see to the others, go get materials to make repairs to the rabbitry and try and find out who the dog belongs to so I can tell them how much he/she owes me for damages.

I hope everyone else had a better Sunday evening.

Oh no, Craneman. That's awful. I am so sorry this happened. Hope you figure out who the Pit belongs to.

I hope the dog wasn't simply abandoned.

So sorry to read this. So sad.

I may be a terrible person, but I am not sure how long a dog with a known history of going after my rabbitry would be living under my porch, in light of there being no Animal Control. This coming from a person who has three rescued dogs in her life now.

I am so sorry, Craneman!

I'm with Marinea... I guess since the officer said so, make a brief attempt to find the owner. But you have the right to protect your livestock.

Dog returning = ongoing threat.

I'm figuring:
Friendly dog + attacking livestock + acting guilty = dog that knows what it's not supposed to do, was dumped, now hungry.

We had to put down our buck last fall, and the dog couldn't even get into the rabbitry. We also had two does abort because of the stress. You may end up having to put down more rabbits, if the stress causes them to succumb to illness like ours did. Someone else finally got that dog, thank goodness, but we've seen plenty of dumped dogs out here. I'm looking forward to finishing our fence.

If the owner can't be found very quickly, I wouldn't be keeping the dog around, if you get my drift. We have no animal control here, either (a few parishes away). You have to take care of your animals, and no one can blame you for it.

: I am a dog lover but I just don't know if I could keep this one alive long enough to find an owner.. :evil: .If it wasn't dumped it sure wasn't kept in it's own yard... ....My heart goes out to you.

katiebear":1colvl87 said:

: I am a dog lover but I just don't know if I could keep this one alive long enough to find an owner.. :evil:

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Yeah, prettymuch... the only reason I would give a quick look for the owner would be so, if the officer followed up, I could truthfully say I had looked.

Attention Craneman54,
I have experienced a bitter Dog attack in the past.
It has not happened again, the reason it hasn't is:
Because a game warden informed me that in most instances
the animals will be back within three days to finish what they started.
They DID! But I was waiting for them, that is why they will never come back again!
The funny thing is: Nobody ever posted any information
seeking the whereabouts of their Dogs!
Isn't that strange? You are within your rights to do what you must to protect your livestock.
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

JMHO, -Most people who are irresponsible enough to let their dogs run, will never even come looking for them, -- they just go to the pound and get some more.
I have had to shoot plenty of them, but-- the owners just go get more- so-- we start all over again--these people are the ones who are broken, and need "fixed"
The only people who came looking for the dogs were people who had an escaped dog, people who had been trying to take care of their pets.[I feel sorry for those people, when they find out their dog is dead.]
best of luck...

Ugh. I'm sorry there's no animal control.

I would have no pause in offing the dog found in the act. Have had dogs most of my life, love'm. But when they are doing something they should not, like the red queen says -- "Off with their heads!"

Having said all that if the dog appeared to be contrite you have an unusual task. Presuming you can't find the owner, take him in. But also get him (or do it yourself) to a trainer. PB's can be a good livestock dog if you need one. Otherwise rehome him, just be selective. PB's need an owner that asserts authority.

I decided to take the dog to a no kill shelter. They were full up and had no room for him. I spent 1.5 hours trying to find the Parish dog pound. They were in a town about 12 miles away. When I went in to talk to them I was informed they only took in dogs they catch in their town.
The dog was sick, coughing up mucus and blood. So I went to vet and they told me he would have to be put down and It would cost me $85.

I told them never mind I can do it myself for about 10 cents. :gun: Dog is now resting and not suffering any more.

From here on out any dog that comes on my property that causes any threat,damages anything or otherwise causes a problem is target practice. :2guns: :2guns: :2guns: :gun: :gun: :gun:

Wow. That's insanity. The vet I used when I had a dog doesn't charge for bringing in a lost critter for care. We lived in a house that backed up to a public park and it was a frequent dumping ground for unwanted animals. The saddest are the older ones. I saw a car drive up to the end of the back road to the park, stop for a second and leave. Then the whimpering started, and I found what looked like a lab and hound or dane mix.. very tall, skinny, and was solid black at one time but had long since become more "distinguished" around the muzzle and eyes. I don't know if he could see anything through the cataracts, but he was certainly trying to sniff out where the car with his person had gone. His twisted and swollen wrists and hocks were preventing him from going very far without collapsing and whimpering about his limitations. I went back to the house and got the car because there was no way he was going to make it down the steep hill even with help. The old guy put his head in my lap and slept all the way to the vet... he didn't even make it inside, stumbled in the parking lot twice, so I put a blanket down on the grass and the vet came outside where we did what his person obviously couldn't. That one still bothers me.

Anyway..... I'm glad the PB isn't suffering out there. It's awful that people think they can just let animals go and think they'll be alright or somehow just die peacefully. It's lazy, selfish, and a whole bunch of other things that I can't say.

JenerationX":332wnct4 said:

Anyway..... I'm glad the PB isn't suffering out there. It's awful that people think they can just let animals go and think they'll be alright or somehow just die peacefully. It's lazy, selfish, and a whole bunch of other things that I can't say.

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:yeahthat:

I have some neighbors who get a new puppy "for their kids" at least once a year. They are always out roaming the streets. The last one was developing some serious aggression problems. No idea what happened to it, but I can guess...

I recently saw another little one wandering around...in -10 degree weather. :evil:

The busted up cages are repaired. Before I could go put them in the hutch it began to rain so I just hurried up and covered the hutch with tarps put heat lights and an electric heater under the cages, grabbed the Doe that was injured dispatched it and ran to the house to skin and clean it. That must have been a heck of a sight,seeing a crippled old man running in the rain holding his Bubba mug of ice tea in one hand a dead rabbit swinging in the other hand and a 2 year old yellow lab chasing them both. :lol: :lol:

Dang them NZ's have alot tougher hide then cotton tails and swamp rabbits. I often wondered why people hung rabbits upside down by twine to skin them. I always just cut the skin at the belly grabbed both half's and pulled apart. Now I know why. Them hides be tuff. I guess I will be making my skinning station with the twine like Grummpy showed in his video. :roll:

craneman54":1hu6z1kz said:

I decided to take the dog to a no kill shelter. They were full up and had no room for him. I spent 1.5 hours trying to find the Parish dog pound. They were in a town about 12 miles away. When I went in to talk to them I was informed they only took in dogs they catch in their town.
The dog was sick, coughing up mucus and blood. So I went to vet and they told me he would have to be put down and It would cost me $85.

I told them never mind I can do it myself for about 10 cents. :gun: Dog is now resting and not suffering any more.

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On behalf of the dog, thank you for going above and beyond to find a solution his owners didn't, despite what he did to your rabbitry. You are a good hearted person.

Sorry to had to go through all that. It sounds like someone didn't want to take their dog to the vet and dumped it out there. I think you did the best thing for it. Now it he doesn't have to suffer anymore.

Marinea":i72tgskd said:

On behalf of the dog, thank you for going above and beyond to find a solution his owners didn't, despite what he did to your rabbitry. You are a good hearted person.

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I wholeheartedly agree. How awful that when this dog needed help, his owners abandoned him. Even if all they could do was put him down themselves, that would have been handling it responsibly.

craneman54":i72tgskd said:

That must have been a heck of a sight,seeing a crippled old man running in the rain holding his Bubba mug of ice tea in one hand a dead rabbit swinging in the other hand and a 2 year old yellow lab chasing them both. :lol: :lol:

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:rotfl:

I had similar but it was a much smaller dog dumped on our property so it couldn't break in to pens and it ended a lot better for the dog. It was a really really hot day and he chased some chickens to heat exhaustion with a good dozen dead. Called the police, caught the dog with a noose and some hotdogs, and then got told there is no AC, he can't legally transport the dog in his car, and they have nowhere to keep dogs. I was worried I was going to have to put this sick dog down myself. Luckily being a small town he said to bring it by the station and someone would take it. Sure enough there was half the police force waiting out back and I barely got the thing out of the truck before someone scooped the mangy, skin infected, starved little dog up and carried him off to a new home.

cmfarm--
Thats what I am thinking. It is a shame because the PB was trained and responded to some commands. He was even leash trained.When I put a rope on his neck he walked beside me and never pulled on the rope. When my lab went by him he submitted to her and never made an aggressive move. I am sure the PB tried to get my rabbits out of hunger more then anything.

It is completely stupid to me that someone would put that kind of training in a dog and not be willing to care for it when it is sick.
Also I have seen people around here that hated dogs so much, if they saw a dog in or on the side of the road they would purposely hit the dog and kill it with their truck.

The world can be a cruel place but there is no reason to make it worse by hurting defenseless people or animals.