With a neighbor like this....

[damaya]

Man charged with shooting neighbor's beloved Bernese Mountain dogs - U.S. News=

I'd say there would be problems.

He would never had made his "I shoot first" comment because I wouldn't have bothered with a "why" question first.

Most likely I would have at least one charge out of the situation too.
Shot the second dog "as it was running away".

Some people.

[gsdraven]

This was close by and I have some friends that are Berner breeders and have been very upset by this because it could have easily been one of their dogs. It's so very sad. They are such sweet dogs. My understanding is these aren't the first dogs he's shot either.

[Nigel]

Idiot!

RIP Argus and Fiona

[LifeofRiley]

Wow, so tragic!!! I have never understood why people's first instinct would be to shoot a dog. In fact, I never knew it existed until coming to this forum. By that, I mean, there have been several threads were people have said they would shoot a stray dog that was near their livestock. I just don't think I will ever understand that!

[Verivus]

Well I guess I could see why he did it. Probably has had strays try and chase his sheep before and is no longer tolerant towards any dogs near his flock. Also, not everybody is a dog person and a BMD is certainly not a small dog and this guy finds not 1, but 2 of them in his yard. Not everyone is willing to approach loose dogs, even less when they're 2 huge ones. Not saying it was right of him to shoot first since they were not actively chasing, but I can understand why he did what he did. I don't know why he would shoot a dog that is running away though.

[selzer]

I understand it. People name livestock. They have a responsibility toward that livestock to keep them safe. They feel that people aren't caring enough for their dogs to keep them safe and if their dogs are coming on their land and near their livestock the dog has to go, and shooting the dog is the only sure way to eliminate the threat.

Especially when cows are calving, or goats or horses are having young, anyone with chickens might take out dogs, because a dog around chickens or rabbits may kill them all. That happened to my vet, a dog got to her chicken and made a regular bloodbath.

We are dog lovers here, but people love their other critters too. And too often displaced city folks move out to the country and suddenly think their dogs can just run free. A loose dog in farm-country isn't generally long for the world. If they dog get run over, or killed by a pack of coyotes, shot running deer, then they will likely be shot by farmers for bothering livestock.

We can't change them, but we can keep our dogs safe. Accidents may happen, and they may be fatal too. Keep your dogs safe.

[Dainerra]

nope, agree with the guy 1000%.
Until you have tried to comfort a child who just watched a beloved family pet get ripped apart by the neighbor's dog, then you can't understand the "shoot first"

Your dog is a beloved pet when it is in YOUR yard; in MY yard it is a predator.

[codmaster]

[QUOTE=LifeofRiley;3040298]Wow, so tragic!!! I have never understood why people's first instinct would be to shoot a dog. In fact, I never knew it existed until coming to this forum. By that, I mean, there have been several threads were people have said they would shoot a stray dog that was near their livestock. I just don't think I will ever understand that![/QUOTE]

You might if you have ever seen a cow disembowled by dogs or calfs mauled to death!

I am not condoning what happened, but .......................

[Dainerra]

when I was a teenager, there was a pack of roaming dogs that started attacking cattle as they were giving birth. They would actually rip the calf out of the cow as it was being born, killing both of them.

[Caitydid255]

I have to side with the farmer. In other articles it was stated that he had recently lost some sheep to dogs and he found the two dogs in the sheep pen. I felt horrible enough about losing several chickens to a stray dog, I couldn't imagine losing one of our cows or in this man's case, his sheep. I love dogs but I value my animals over one I don't know.

Sadly this is another cautionary tale about leaving your dogs unsupervised in a fenced in yard. Sometimes tree branches take out your fence and the dogs escape.