What is Colorado's position on domestic dogs chasing wildlife? Can a licensed hunter kill said animal??

I am not familiar with Colorado's laws on domestic dogs chasing wildlife, but I doubt a hunting license would be valid for taking domestic dogs. I recommend contacting the county animal control officer to pursue the dogs owner and remove the dogs.

Shoot shovel shut up. Jk don't do that.

if a dog is harassing wildlife on it can legally be shot by anyone, that is my understanding of colorado.

make sure it is a safe and legal shot and do it.
by legal i mean not from a road, in town, etc...

I have always been told this

Yeah, colorado is insane like that. I have heard the same thing. If someone shot my dog I would be shooting back. This is one of the worst game laws I have ever heard of. Most every dog has to be broken from deer at some point...

I believe the law is outdated. It was put in the regs because people from the south would come to visit CO with their pack of hounds. Its to stop people from running big game with hounds.

it is NOT to stop people from running game with hounds. it is to prevent the harassment of deer, elk and other game from dogs left to their own devices.
about 3 or 4 years ago there were two dogs in the area of the Aspen hospital that were harassing a yearling cow elk. they were large breed dogs and by the time the DOW officer got there, the two dogs had opened up the belly of the cow elk. the officer shot the two dogs, he was quoted in the paper as saying that the only reason he did not cite the owners of the dogs for illegal take of an elk, is because he killed the dogs. but he could have cited them anyway. i know the officer, he is a good guy and would not have killed the dogs if he did not need to.
there are people all over this more and more liberal state that let their dogs run. in the months of december, january, and february, the deer are very vulnerable. the weather is sometimes brutally cold, their food is buried in the snow, and a dog harassing them often times means a slow and lingering death.
i spend a great amount of time hunting coyotes in the wintering range of deer, which also happens to be near houses. i have seen dogs chasing deer, i have seen dogs eating dead deer, and i have had dogs come at me while they were defending their kill.
there is also the ranching industry, if a dog is out harassing livestock, they can and should be shot. i hunt on quite a bit of land owned by cattle ranchers. they are VERY happy when i take out a domestic dog that is out on the property, and most tell me to shoot any dog that is not theirs when they grant me permission.


the law is NOT outdated, it is needed more now than ever. i was just up scouting for deer yesterday. i was near the trail that goes up over Maroon Pass. i was about 800 yards from a doe with 3 fawns, the trail was about 200 yards from me and 600 yards from the doe. a couple was coming down the trail with 2 dogs, one unleashed (illegal). the doe was focused on them for several minutes until they passed. it stresses the animals when they see a predator. they do not know the difference between a coyote and a dog not on a leash. all they know is it is something that is a threat.

if you are in colorado and see a dog out harassing wildlife or livestock, shoot it. the laws against letting dogs run and dogs harassing animals are not enough deterrent to people letting their dogs run.

i was at a party last summer, there was a woman there that had been cited by the DOW for letting her dogs harass wildlife. numerous people had complained over the span of many months. she did not deny letting her dogs run. she was furious that she had been cited, and professed that it was natural for the dogs to run and chase wildlife. then went on to say many nasty things about the officer (i know him personally). she does not like me much, and didn't come to the party this year.

she is not an unusual type of person around here. she paid the fine, but i doubt her behavior has changed. the only way it will is for the dog to not return home!

Dogs that chase wildlife are Coyotes.

absolutely correct!

Well said PRAIRIESHADOW; well said.

Y'all may want to check with Huntsman 22 that is a member here.

It is hard for me to remember the exact details, but I know his brother shot a dog or two that were chasing wildlife. Deer, I think.

Even though he was legal in doing so according the CO law, he had animal cruelty charges brought against him by another agency with pressure put on them by bunny huggers.

I do think he got off eventually, but I know the defense cost to him was staggering...

It would be good if Huntsman22 would put the details up here for reference.

Huntsman was banned.

I got my information about the law being created for hound hunting directly from CO DOW. I e mailed them about it when I was considering moving to CO because I am a beagler. While my dogs are broken from deer I would not want to live where people are allowed to shoot dogs. There is also a crazy number of days hounds are not allowed to run. It is anytime there is a big game season open in that area. So that is like most the rabbit huntin season.

Dog owners who allow their pets to roam at large are not really pet lovers. They are lazy, irresponsible, and just plain stupid. In my cattle ranching days, I constantly had to control feral packs and roaming pets. It was a constant pain in the [beeep]. Those idiots need to pay the vet bills for the horses and cattle that are chased through a wire fence or shredded by "playing" dogs. Harassing wildlife is just as bad. The lady in CO who lets her dogs roam free to enjoy their "natural" proclivities should be cited for animal cruelty and prohibited from owning a pet, EVER.

I killed 2 beagles running a buck to death on our hunting land.Word got out about it and 6 months later I was confronted at my gate by the 26 year old owner of the dogs.I recieved a sore head and busted knuckles and he got a black eye and mashed nose.He doesn't let his dogs run at large anymore. He called the sheriff and they told him that a dog at large in Oklahoma was open season and wanted to know if I wanted him arrested for starting the fight(He hit me first).I told them to just let it go.One thing I did figure out though....A 50 year old doesn't heal up as quick as they did when they were 25.

Domestic/wild dogs in a pack are worse than coyotes, they're less afraid. Agreed it's cruel to just dump them or let them run, running livestock will get them dead in a hurry.

Same around here. If its running animals wild or not theyre targets. My dogs have broken fence a couple times, last time they ended up chasing a neighbors horses. He was pissed, rightly. I was pissed, at the dogs. Their puppies sell for 1k each, but if he had popped them i would have understood. I wouldnt be happy, but i would have understood.

The general application of many 'loose animal' laws/ordinances come down to owner control at the immediate time...

If an animal is off the leash, but still responds to the owners commands, then it is considered controlled.. If the owner is not present, or the animal fails to respond as directed, then it's in violation...

While shooting an animal that is owned by someone else may open up a can of civil worms (especially in an urban area), an uncontrolled animal that is presenting a danger in other areas may be perfectly legal from a criminal aspect..

Pretty much the same scenario with me a year ago, except they( 2 boxers) were trying to get to my Golden in our back yard. Heard later that the owner was doing the usual "macho bs tough guy act" down at the Co-op. My buddy told him he might want to walk a litle softer--I,m 68yrs old--too old to fight--just put him in the same hole with the dogs.

So lets say Joe puts his four walkers on a 2 hr old cat track, the dogs are deer broke, don't run deer, but 1 hr ago 2 does drifted into a patch of cover the cat walked through. The hounds stay on the cat track, but the deer bust out anyway. Tom & Ray sitting on the tailgate hear the dogs, see the deer bust out, and when the dogs show, they shoot them. Anytime I read " I shoot any dog I see " or similar, I think "you are an #@$% head"

well, if the deer bust out and the dogs are following them, then they die. but i am going to guess that dogs that are running lions are not going to be far from their handlers and the situation wont go down like your hypothetical.

While deer hunting in WY this year we packed into the High country. We got rained on and forced into our tents for about 6 hrs the day before the opener. We come out of our tents just before dark to look around as it had stopped raining. We came out and we had thousands of sheep in our camp. Then came the sheep dogs. Great Piranease or however you spell it. Anyways the next morning we start hiking towards our glassing point and here comes 3 deer with 5 dogs chasing them 20 yds out right by us. That was the only deer we saw that day. We thought we were going to have to shoot them later that morning when they came back by us and started growling and barking at us.

if you saw them chasing deer, why did you not shoot them?

This is absolutely correct. I certainly do not think that any caring owner allows their dog to run about chasing game on some one else's property. Any dog doing that certainly must have been abondoned, or is a wild dog with no home.

People accidentally get shot all the time in the woods by other hunters. I am certain mistaking a dog for a coyote is even more possible, and understandable. I would not be out broadcasting it, but I wouldn't loose any sleep either.

If you shoot a dog chasing game, and then broadcast it out just to challenge what can or cannot be done is not something I would encourage.

You best hope nobody ever sees you chasing a deer! people wonder why some people shouldnt have guns..........WASFI!!!!!!!!! PERIOD!!

This doesn't even make sense. It's no secret that in most states I know of its legal to kill a dog chasing big game or livestock. Equating an unruly dog to a human is nonsense.

Just call them coyotes.. shoot em, and move on. Someone here has a quote.. If I doesn't have a collar, its a Coyote. Use your best judgement.

NO U R NONSENSE...the reference was only made to make people THINK FIRST NOT SHOOT FIRST....explain to me what mental telepathy powers u posess to let u know the dog is UNRULY and not just chasing due to one of the following reasons:

the owner is hurt in the woods after falling being knocked out and breaking their hip and the dog got away and chased yet if found could lead them back to the hurt person to help them

OR a couple kids out for the first time just dont know any better and the dog got to far away from them and chased

OR a guys out for the first time squirrel hunting and its deer season or not and his dog gets away cause hes learning and it chased

if u think any of the above reasons warrant a dead dog your completely WRONG and you shouldnt be allowed out with a gun by yourself because u ABSOLUTELY have NO WAY of knowing what the reason......PERIOD......your kill it because its LEGAL excuse carrys about as much merit as your mental telepathy does MR ITS LEGAL TO SHOOT THEM cause it says it in a rule book......i could come up with more VALID reasons than this forum has threads to NOT kill a dog just beacause its chasing a deer...just so we are straight i dont condone dogs chasing deer....PERIOD..........but its the owner u need to deal with and figure out the reason.......NOT SHOOT FIRST ASK QUESTIONS LATER.......that analagy is a JOKE and anyone with decent morals, good common sense and ethics knows it........a dog comes at me with REAL AGGRESSION ITS DEAD PERIOD NO QUESTIONS ASKED..........but other than that you guys seem to be just KILL HAPPY MENTAL TELEPATHY KNOW IT ALLS that probably shouldnt be allowed to have real weapons out in the woods all by yourselves with judegment skills like this.......

then you put this out there for new hunters to read and think its OK because it says it in a rule book...

like i said this SHOOT FIRST ANALOGY cause its LEGASL is a REAL JOKE .......PERIOD!

I have seen some pretty nonsensical crap in my day, but that just about takes the cake....wow. You "what-if'd" the [beeep] out of that one...

There is not a valid reason on earth for a domestic dog to chase wildlife or livestock. Period.

the title doesnt say a word about livestock it says WILDLFE those are the animals in the woods that feed themselves.......good try..........u must have mental telepathy as well.

I understand that Livestock was not mentioned...which is why I included wildlife in my statement. In my experience, a dog that will chase a deer will chase a cow or horse. I don't need telepathy to know a n uncontrolled dog chasing stuff it shouldn't be is a nuisance, and needs to be dealt with. Oddly enough, the majority of folks in this thread feel the same way. Even more oddly, most state governments seem to have felt the same way with the passage of various relevant pieces of legislation over the years.

14 people with inaccurate judegement calls based on nothing more then speculation doesnt make them right and im not refering to cattle........now u seem to know if a dog chases a cat it will chase everything because u seen one do it once......WOW.....u must have metal telepathy......that or u just basically WHAT IFD in a whole new manner other then the manner u said i was doing it in.......let it go!

now u r gonna tell me all the laws legislature makes are good for WILDLIFE........hahahahahahaha........yeah right!

Was "telepathy" yesterday's entry on your Word of the Day calendar? Methinks it does not mean what you think it means. Regardless..

I am not basing my supposition on one dog chasing one critter. I have been around livestock, dogs, and wildlife my entire life. Experience tells me that same neighbor's dog that is chasing cows is also chasing deer, and anything else it can find to chase. I would imagine that the other folks in this thread have much the same experience.

In all my years growing up running bird and coon dogs, we had one chase deer. That dog chased a deer one time, and it never made the trip home. We took care of the problem ourselves. We would have expected anyone else who saw it happen to do the same.

Further, I have yet to encounter Lassie in the woods who, after Timmy falls in the well, chases deer to get the attention of hunters to let them know he needs help. Maybe I am just sheltered?

u can try and pick apart my choice of words all u want to but its only because u r running out of a defense.......also u can kill whatever animal you want of yours and i could care less as thats your right...... doesnt make it right but it is your right...PERIOD.....in turn you should also use some common sense and take heed when u think shooting other peoples dogs is correct because its legal and says so in a rule book u read that a legislative body voted to approve.........i mean doing that to the wrong persons dog and getting home could be difficult......just a bit of insight as there are some very protective people out there that treat pets like family regardless of what they have done.......not u of coarse but real people...funny how u can only refer to ONE example i gave to pick apart when they all have merit......FACT!

reid, you need to calm down.

there is no need to insult people personally just because you disagree with them. your implied threats are simply ridiculous.

the facts are that in most states it IS legal, it is also the opinion of most people posting in this thread that it is also ETHICAL to put down a dog that is chasing wildlife OR livestock. laws against dogs harassing wildlife are there for good reason. far too many people knowingly let their dogs chase wildlife and when confronted claim that it is the only time it has happened, or that it is the only time he got out. it is almost always b.s.

if it is so wrong to shoot a dog chasing deer or elk, at what point do you determine that it is warranted? after the deer gets chased into traffic, after the deer's guts are pouring out on the ground? or does the dog have to kill the deer? if the deer doesn't die right away, but rather gets worn out and dies a few days later after having used up all its reserve energy, can i go to the dog owners home and kill the dog then, or do i have to wait to catch it in the act of actually killing the deer?

i will proudly admit that i have put down dogs that were chasing wildlife, it is every ethical hunter's responsibility to do so.


if the thread bothers you that much, maybe you should start a campaign to educate dogs and their owner to prevent the situation from coming up.

maybe you can respond without massive anger, hatred, insults and threats.

maybe u shouldnt tell people their comments are nonsense when thats all u r typing.....u can keep trying to hang your argument on whatever BAD reasons u want.....FACT is u r basing a KILL decision with out FACT other than its LEGAL and thats LAME and if u cant understand that u have the problem not me.........i can state my opinion just as u can if u dont like it i guess u need to not log onto forums and give young hunters BAD ADVICE and others who know its bad wont have to respond to it and try to make people see there can be reasons to not shoot a dog thats doing something u dont condone like chasing WILDLIFE..try figuring out why or findng the owner and get it settled not kill it just because u can and feel its OK thats LAME.......take it however u want but spreading bad i dont have the facts judgement calls advise cause it says its legal on a piece of paper is LUDICROUS and if u dont understand that then i understand why u do the things u do...just because its legal wont bring bad publicity will it....GET REAL....u know the ONE BAD APPLE THEORY guys like u r it that make factless based kill decisions and have more chance to cause ANTIS reasons to revolt against our traditions then a dog chasing a deer does 10 fold as it only takes killing one wrong dog to do so not one dog killing one deer.........try thinking about the BIG picture not some wild animal that has more survival skill than u could even begin to know unless now your an animal bioligist as well.....you killing pets out of lack of knowledge and soely based on ASSUMPTION without fact as to why its happening other than u dont like it so now u can fire your gun is a JOKE.....PERIOD.......people should think not kill everything they can because they dont like it or because its leagal......better yet maybe u should help destroy every coyote and wolf out there since they chase deer as well and kill them and gut them and run them to death......do u really think domestic dogs impact deer enough deer on a yearly basis to impact their population....NOT...but coyotes an d wolves sure do so get busy......u just have it in your heart to save the ONE deer u see so now u can kill someones dog because u feel its justified due to a piece of paper staing the fact and thats not always the case...decisions made like that are utterly ridiculous......also im not mad about anything im just not afriad to voice my opinion when i know it has merit and people could be giving young hunters extremely bad advice that gets them in situations that get them hurt for no other reason then they read bad advice on a forum........FACT!

Your opinion would most likely be a bit more respected if you were to state it in some language remotely similar to English......FACT!!

if u cant read thats an issue u should have dealt with in school.......BET!!!!!!!!

Please stay on topic without making personal attacks and keep it civil.

The fact is I'm basing my decision on the FACT that the dog is chasing wildlife. That is unacceptable and illegal, period.

Your Lassie scenarios did make me smile though. What if the dog was rabid and had just chewed up a group of orphans and was now chasing a deer in an attempt to lure in unsuspecting passerby's trying to help the poor deer so it could continue it's rampage? Wouldn't it be irresponsible not to shoot it?

Does this include both private and public property? I know I've seen my dogs chase deer off my property before but they stay home. FWIW I have never seen them hurt one or follow them to a neighboring property. I have these deer on my fields all the time.
Another true scenario, I have also seen them chase coyotes off my ground. Which one am I supposed to shoot, the dogs or the coyotes?

I agree 100%

Wow, thanks for the name calling. I still do run cattle on my place. Been doing it for years. My dogs do a great job of keeping the coyotes away from my cows/calves. Don't come on to my place and shoot my dogs.....ever. The way I see it they have as much right on the ground they're supposed to be on (mine) as a deer.
By the way, you didn't answer the question, If they're chasing a coyote, which one do I shoot?

Being as Deer are wildlife, and coyotes are a nuisance animal, the choice is not difficult. As for what your animals do on your property, I could care less. I can assure you, however, that if they will chase a deer on your place, they will, and are, doing it elsewhere. Whether you see it or not, its happening.

some guy gut shoots a deer never finds it deer dies in the woods.......im out in the woods coyote hunting days later and my dog roams a few hundred yards which is typical coyote hunting trying to draw yotes in but my dog finds the already dead deer thats been chewed on by coyotes and my dog chews on it and u come by see my dog chewing the ALREADY DEAD DEER with your mind set its kill time because with your type thnking u ASSUME incorreclty it killed that deer...hence u would be WRONG but u have know way to know the difference.......with this thought process you would have made a decision to kill with out FACTS its just that simple and that type thinking is harmful legal or not and in this case would be illegal......PERIOD...we can go back and forth with hypothetical all day but my hypothetical doesnt harm peoples pets or have the chance to diminsh our hunnting rights through people finding out i didnt kill a personal pet........your thinking kill them all can harm us all with this info in the wrong hands legal or not........PERIOD!!!!!!

point being and the REAL FACT is u dont know one way or the other whether its RABID or a PET the first time third time owner is coming right behind it trying to stop it train it or any of that and that is my entire point and u dont care either way from all your statements and that could have detrimental impact to ones self or ALL hunters everywhere in the wrong instance...... like i said unless u have mental telepathy to communicate with the dog to determine that prior to making your split second decision to kill it......ridiculous decisoin making at best....u only know its legal to kill them when they chase and u dont approve of it regardless of circumstance and it gives u a legal reason to fire your gun at something and kill it based on personl belief and a piece of paper the laws written on thats says its legal....thats it no more no less.......other than that u have absolutely no other valid argument to present whatsoever.....your ethics are suspect to say the least and could drastaically harm our sport when u kill the wrong dog OR get others harmed for doing what u say u do which is make a decision to KILL a dog without facts other than legality....i can only pray your not a any type of law enforcement with a badge & gun with this thought process...BAD CHOICE OF JUDGEMENT to say the least and could have more harmful impact then the deer u are so adament about saving from a domestic dog......if u cant see the truth in that there in lies the real problem which is people like yourself in the woods making decisions in split seconds about killing because its legal to do so...PERIOD!

deer are nuisance animals in loys of cases.....ask certain the Indiana farmers that dont allow coyote hunting on their land because they help cull the deer eating their crops an ddestroying them and hurintg their wallet......and as well anyone that doesnt know coyotes are also wildlife shoulndt be taken to seriously............SIMPLE as that.

also knowing something is happening even though u cant see it to prove it.....what a JOKE........as well if u can prove something is happening even though u arent there to see & prove it you should sell that service....... as i assure u if u have that ability, which highly i doubt, u can make MILLIONS in law enforement to stop crime or the stock market....BET!!!!!!!!!!!

The words dog and coyote are interchangeable here. Flip a coin and shoot the loser.

in this thread they do determine a difference that maybe u cant understand/phathom......as far as the second portion of your statement.......well i guess maybe that justifys your confusion between dog & coyote in this thread........RIGHT!

In Pa it is only legal to shoot a dog that is attacking a big game animal. I like this law just the way it is only for the fact a few times I've come across bow hunters drew back on my dog because they simply saw some deer running ahead of us, we were grouse/squirrel hunting at the time and my dog is broke on deer. I believe the only thing that kept these mental midgets from shooting my dog was the sound of my pump and the sight of a 12 ga barrel pointing at them. My dog was in sight the whole time and was absolutely not chasing the deer. I do agree that a dog chasing or otherwise harassing big game should be dealt with if it's absolutely obvious they are doing it. Not all people take the time to make sure though. What really made me angry about those situations was that I was no more than 40 yds from my dog,a jack russel, and a quick look around would've shown that I was not far behind.

Your dog wasn't chasing deer and it didn't get shot. Good example. You, by your account, pointed a gun at another person...maybe not such a good example.

no, but my dog didn't get shot and they learned a lesson. I put a lot of time into training that dog to hunt and to not chase what he shouldn't. To have someone take his life due to a poor decision that could have been avoided by simply taking a second to look around would have been devastating to my family. I'll bet next time they think a little and maybe look around. that still doesn't excuse negligent dog owners from letting them run wild

...but your dog didn't get shot, it wasn't chasing deer. Obviously the "mental midget" hunters didn't shoot first and ask questions later. Sounds like a well trained dog and you sound like a good owner. There are a lot a 1 in a million hypothetical situations being thought up in this thread. Your dog has a much higher chance of getting run over or being killed by a coyote than killed by someone who mistakenly thinks he chasing deer.

True. However I believe the only reason they didn't shoot is because I saw them draw back, and the fact(which I failed to mention) that they were very apologetic and told me they thought he was chasing deer. All I'm trying to say is every situation is different, sometimes a second is all that's needed to avoid a disastrous outcome. Again, I am in no way trying to defend irresponsible dog owners. sometimes I think they deserve the same punishment as the animals. I've tried to explain to my neighbors that the reason they lose a dog every few years is because they let it run wild, but it falls on deaf ears every time.

if i were in a stand and you pointed your 12ga at me, the arrow would not be going to the dog, it would be going to you. pointing a gun at someone is a felony in most places, and a good way to start a deadly confrontation.

pretty sure that here in colorado it is illegal to hunt with dogs for small game while there is an active big game season going on in that area.

if you have dogs that are trained to chase coyotes off of your property, that is an entirely different scenario, however, if they continue the chase AFTER they enter someone elses property or public lands then the table is turned. chasing deer even on private land is a death sentence here. there have been plenty of times where i have seen a dog chasing a deer, but i am too far away, or do not have a rifle. the next time i see that dog i will shoot it. but the way some of you talk, i would have to wait until i saw the dog actually take a bite out of the deer, at that point it is too late, how many deer has the dog taken down by the time i see it happen?

it appears that there is some difference in opinion based on where people live, those of you back east seem to be more willing to let dogs get away with whatever you want, while people who live in the west seem to be more of the opinion that a dog doesn't get several chances.

it is really amazing to me that after all these years of dogs getting shot for running at large, chasing livestock, chasing wildlife, killing wildlife, that there is no end to the number of people that let their dogs do it. and then when the dog gets killed, they swear that it was the first time the dog had ever done it.

a few years back in El Jebel Colorado, a story was in the paper where one dog was missing and the other one came home with 13 or so 22 bullet wounds. there was an immense public outcry, even a march to the courthouse. the owners swore up and down that someone must have targeted their dog, that the dogs were always confined. there was a reward put up to catch the shooter. after a week or so of the hoopla, the truth came out. there had been numerous complaints about the dogs chasing and KILLING swans that a nearby rancher owned. he had finally had enough and shot both the dogs, but only one made it home. the issue disappeared from the papers instantly.

An extremely poor example by all accounts...

In our area, anyone's dog running loose or harassing livestock/wildlife is identified and the OWNER is contacted and advised that if the behavior continues? Puppy isn't coming home!! IF the dog(s) are seen in a sheep flock? The bugger does not get a second chance. To many sheep are killed by the 'family pet' to warrant a second thought about doing them in. EXAMPLE: One of the neighbors lost a bunch of geese to a 'family pet'. The goose owner put the dog down, took the collar and hung it in the public notice case at the post office. The dog owner saw the collar, contacted the goose owner and was presented with a bill for 35 dead geese. The same thing happens with sheep, calves, foals and chickens. First timer chasers get a bye run(generally), killing, crippling livestock OR wildlife? The dog is toast!!

the suggestion has been made to contact the dog's owner and resolve the issue that way. well, i have tried that, it does NOT work.

new neighbors moved into the subdivision (35 acre lots 6 miles from the nearest paved road), they were informed that by others that i would kill their dogs for no reason given any chance. not long after they moved in, the dog was roaming my property, i chased it off. i informed the owners directly that roaming dogs would not be tolerated. a year or so goes by and i look out and see the dog on my bait. i tied a piece of deer hide to its collar and sent it home. the neighbor came looking and i told her what had happened. she claimed that her dog would not do that, that it did not eat meat. that dog got cancer and was put down. they got another dog and the same thing happened, after seeing it on my property more than once, one day it did not make it home.
other new neighbors were told the same thing about me. they have a pitbull, i would find it on my property and roaming the neighborhood fairly regularly. i told the wife that i would not let it keep happening. one day i turned around and there it was, i had no gun so i threw a sharp heavy stick at it, trying my best to hurt it. i told the wife exactly that. that still did not settle in, so a few months later when i look out and see that dog on my bait, i tried to figure what gun i could shoot it with to hurt it, but not bad enough to kill it. so i grabbed a 12ga with some 7-1/2 shot target loads. i aimed high to account for the 90 yard shot and fired. i went out to check the situation and found that most of my pellets were low, but a few were high. so i am sure i hit it with a least a few. maybe they did not break the skin. but, they still let their dog roam. it is a matter of time before it will not make it home.
the point is, most dog owners that i know and talk to do will not change their behavior to save their dog.

This is always a hot topic. Im ok with a warning or two but the repeat offenders that let thier dogs constantly run doesnt fly. I had a nieghbor that constantly let his dogs roam across my property and everyone elses. I seen them repeatedly chasing deer, left him a nasty note, he got the message for the time being.

Yep, the original question that started the thread has been answered, and it's turned into one of the typical train wrecks that always occur when dog killing is discussed.
If y'all want to keep the discussion going, take it to pm's.