Contact all the local news stations with your story. Embarrassing the sheriff’s office with publicity is likely to be the only way to get them to take action.
As a city of huntsville animal control officer, I can tell you a couple of things. Madison County has like 3 officers. They operate off of state law and not city ordinances. The state is very lax on laws concerning animals, while huntsville is very progressive on that front. What needs to happen is this. Get evidence of the animals off their property and on yours or hers. Get evidence of the threatening manner in which they are behaving. Then, take the owner to court. Citizens can issue citations and go before the judge to have a case adjuticated. I'm not sure about the process in the county, but in the city, you just have to provide evidence of violations to the magistrate.
Thank you so much for your insight. We will begin recording incidents. It looks like this may be our only option. We were hoping to avoid court, because honestly the neighbors are sketchy and have already somehow gotten my moms cellphone number and contacted her. We don’t want any retaliation or to cause an unsafe situation.
It is crazy to me that we would have to take action and go to court for the county to enforce the law.
If dogs are threatening your family, especially little ones, you could always just shoot them.
It's understood in the sticks that if your dogs go on the wrong property they will be shot. The alternative is someone (or their animals) getting killed by dogs.
You do you, but there's a point where that's what I'd feel I have to do. There was an elderly woman about a block from my parents' house in Florence. She was outside and 2 large dogs came into her yard, attacked her, and it was nearly an hour before someone happened to drive by and see her on ground. Her achilles tendon was severed in the attack and she was permantly crippled.
If you’d feel comfortable with a non-lethal alternative, I’d highly recommend getting pepper spray or pepper gel (the gel form reduces risk of blowback).
We have issues with loose, aggressive dogs in our neighborhood—just individuals, not in a pack so far—so I carry pepper spray or gel every time I walk my dogs.
I’ve only had to use it once, but it stopped a large pit mix long enough for us to get away. I’m very very thankful that I had it that day.
It seems they could recover from the pepper spray or at least not need surgery to do so, whereas it's a very different matter with bullets or BBs.
If you have research to prove otherwise, I would welcome you providing it.
Packs of dogs used to come in our yard growing up. When I was young, my dad had the same concern about attacks and would shoot at them with birdshot. I don’t remember any ever dying. I don’t even know if he actually hit them, it was mainly to scare them off.
A BB gun won't work because it doesn't have the sound. The sound is what counts. So I've given you the solution. Take it or just get accustomed to being ignored.
Came here to say this. The owner of the dogs is not going to suddenly change and the problem will persist until the dogs are gone. I experienced a similar situation many years ago and it was absolutely awful and made life miserable.
I’m a Vegan, bleeding heart, animal lover to the core. However, if my little ones, or my neighbours’ little ones, were menaced by a pack of “wild” dogs, a gun would be at the end of my rope. If guns aren’t your way to handle this, get some bear spray. You must protect your kids and the vulnerable/elderly.
I'm the same as you. I go outta my way to save bugs even but if it's gonna hurt me or the one's I care for, no holds barred! I'm gonna pull the trigger or shoot the spray. We all should have limits for what is ok and know what we need to do. It's only gonna get worse from here.
Absolutely coordinate with as many other neighbors as possible and take legal action as a united front. You’ll have a much stronger case and be more protected from retaliation. Very few guarantees in life, but one of them is that trashy dog people *will* retaliate against anyone who calls them out for being trashy dog people. They see the problems created by their irresponsibility as other people’s problems and if they get backed into a corner they’ll snap back just like their untrained dogs.
Yup. I helped an HPD officer (probably off duty and on his way home at that) catch a small dog that was likely lost in a field. He called county because we were out of city limits and they told him to just kill it. He lost his fucking mind on whoever it was. I’ve never had an interaction between the 4-5 times I’ve called whoever answers county dispatch and them not act like a massive piece of shit. Between that interaction with HPD calling them and me calling about shit in the neighborhood i always feel like I’m interrupting a 14 year old’s call of duty match.
What the fork? They told him to shoot it? Kudos to him for responding the way he did.
That stinks that they respond that way to you in general. I'm sorry it's like that.
Not many people know but the sheriffs office has tons of incompetent people working there including the sheriff himself who rarely ever shows his face unless he’s trying to smooth over something negative that happened or to woo the public. They have plenty of employees (roughly 130) but only have between 6-8 deputies working at a time for the whole county meanwhile all the others are home with their feet kicked up, and the jail is even worse. It has been under a federal consent order for years that has been violated over 800 times in the first 3 years and still continues today, also the jail staff is about 80 officers short. The deputies and corrections officers are underpaid and lied to constantly about raises. I encourage anyone who reads this to dig a little and you’ll see they have money to spend on tons of equipment, cars etc but don’t take care of the people who work for them. Also when elections come back you can make your own decisions but the current sheriff is only a politician and cares about nobody but himself. Multiple issues have been brought to his attention and he absolutely refuses to do anything about them.
HAS is terrible. Y'all give abused/neglected animals back to owners. You return frequent flyers that are intact back out to owners. People are sick and tired of dogs running loose. You also failed to tell folks, you can shoot a dog on your property. Perfectly legal and the safety and well-being of your family is a priority. As an animal control officer y'all need to start enforcing the law and stop letting people slide.
You can shoot a dog on your property, and you can pay hefty fines and possibly jail time for discharging a fire arm in city limits. Different results in different counties.
I have a gun to protect my home and family. I'll discharge my firearm into an aggressive dog. If it's on my property and a threat to my boys or pets. And ain't nobody going to jail for using a weapon they legally possessed to defend themselves. And, show me just one instance of anyone being fined or jailed? Hell they don't even fine the owners of dogs that kill people. So I'm gonna eliminate the threat.
This is a sad fact of life in Alabama. As a cyclist, I deal with this often. I'm sorry that this has happened to you and your family. Keep records and consider legal action. Contact county commissioners, and any other elected officials. Regrettably, you'll have to put a lot of effort and time into this and that's just not fair.
Following is from Ala. Code 1975, § 13A-11-241(b).
"[Read as appropriate]: The Defendant cannot be convicted if he/she is one of the
following persons or institutions: [Read as appropriate]:
1. Academic and research enterprises that use dogs or cats for medical or
pharmaceutical research or testing;
2. Any owner of a dog or cat who euthanizes the dog or cat for humane purposes;
**3. Any person who kills a dog or cat found outside of the owned or rented property
of the owner or custodian of the dog or cat when the dog or cat threatens
immediate physical injury or is causing physical injury to any person, animal,
bird, or silvicultural or agricultural industry**"
**This is not legal advice** and there is more to the law that won't fit in a wall of text. Read it for yourself and make your own decision on it. At the very least know that if there is a malicious attack by one of these dogs there is an AL code you can try and fall back on.
> It seems bizarre to me that the sheriffs offices is unable/ unwilling to keep the community safe
Police have zero responsibility to the individual citizen. They can literally stand there and watch you get beaten to death without any legal consequence... as been proven out repeatedly in the judiciary all the way up to the Supreme Court.
You are responsible for your own safety unfortunately. Pepper spray or pistol seems prudent if you're concerned.
Statute? None exist. The law doesn't work like that. You're asking the equivalent of "cite the statute that tells me it's ok to jump on one leg"...it's lunacy.
I can however point you at a number of cases where the judiary have affirmed that the police have no responsibility to do anything.
- [DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services](https://www.oyez.org/cases/1988/87-154)
- [Castle Rock v. Gonzalez](https://www.oyez.org/cases/2004/04-278)
- [Warren v. District of Columbia](https://law.justia.com/cases/district-of-columbia/court-of-appeals/1981/79-6-3.html)
This is the best idea I have seen so far... If they are safe enough to be handled. A humane euthanasia in a shelter is kinder than shooting them. Unfortunately, the dogs are victims of the owner, too.
Get the dispatch number for animal control. If you can talk to the dispatcher, you may have better luck. It was suggested to me by the humane society when I was concerned about some animal cruelty. They sent someone out, and they took the dogs.
Oh I’ve spoken with them and animal control has come out several times… they caught them all one day and the homeowner confronted them and they let the dogs out.
If they're out, you could (I know you may not be comfortable with this) knock on the door and tell the homeowner the dogs are out. If the homeowner isn't home or doesn't respond, you could call animal control again.
She's outside the city limits. So get her a gun and some rat shot ammo and tell her to bust them. It won't kill them or even injure them seriously unless per chance one little pellet hits an eye. Highly unlikely. I love dogs but I don't let my collies run loose to harass folks. If the sheriff won't do anything, you have to stand up for yourself. And I know from experience that this will work.
The cops aren’t equipped to deal with animals and it isn’t their job to respond to things like this. Animal control should be issuing warnings to the owners but since she’s out of the city limits, nothing will likely happen. If you can, I’d capture them and take them to Huntsville animal services
It's crazy that you pay for services and they aren't enforcing the laws. If a dog is found running at large or on your property they need to pick them up. They need to take them in and let the owners meet the criteria to claim. They need to have proof of vaccination and Huntsville has a dog license policy so they have to have one . Other cities will require spay/neuter if the animal is habitually at large.
Here's the thing, if animal control is called and picks them up ..you don't just hand them back to the irresponsible owner with no consequences. If the meter expires and the parking authority is ticketing your car, you can't run up and say sorry and avoid a ticket. The laws are there and need to be enforced
Contact ALEA (AL law enforcement agency). We have a neighbor with farm animals that get out and they were the most helpful. I'm in the county and MCSO could not do a single thing to help. ALEA can confiscate animals as long as there is a rescue for said animal (we had donkeys and cows in our yard - no rescue shelter for them so they could not capture). Plenty of no-kill shelters for dogs!
There is a county ordinance about having dogs behind a fence or something. It may have to be of a certain height. I don't recall. It was passed several years ago. I think that was just for Madison county, so whoever is saying that the county only has state laws applying to it may be mistaken. You might need to Google it to find out more.
The neighbor probably got your mom's cell phone # off the internet by searching for her name.
Perhaps pleading with the neighbors about the dogs being a potential threat when they're out of the fence in a pack and also pleading with the owner for the dogs' safety could help, especially as one has been hit.
Perhaps politely contacting the sheriff himself about it could help (explaining that you haven't gotten enough help from the animal control for the area). If that doesn't work, you could try contacting the news like others have said. I recommend doing your research first, though, about any applicable ordinances and laws.
(and some of it is just a repeat of what other people said, so how is that even possible?) Like, what?
Please don't answer that, as it's a rhetorical question and I don't want to hear from you again about this.
I think you might be thinking of Huntsville’s law not allowing people to chain their dogs up. I believe the county says you just have to contain them to your property without saying how. And they still allow chains in the county.
No, there was definitely a county thing. I'm thinking it was at least within the last 15 years. Thanks, though. I am pretty sure it passed, however, it was definitely voted on.
First of all, block the person's number on your mom's phone. I would keep a bucket of water and a bat handy, too. If a dog attacks, throwing water on them should distract them enough to let go. I think you know what the bat is for. Good luck with all of this.
Embarrass the sheriff’s office publicly like others said. Tell the news, spread it around on social media, do everything to get the word out about it if no one will help. Unfortunately, sometimes embarrassing people is the only way to get them to act.
And to preface, I love dogs. I grew up with dogs, big ones like a Great Pyrenees and an Irish Wolfhound mix that I both miss dearly, and I will say that if your family is in a dangerous situation where a dog is about to maul your loved ones - please don’t hesitate to defend yourself/your loved ones. As much as I love dogs and other animals, it’s a hard red line for us.
I agree that the news crew is probably the next best step. Make sure to have a list of dates, times, and events to show that it is an ongoing problem….especially of times and dates when the sheriff was called and why. This will mean talking to neighbors and combing through past phone “records”….but this would provide enough support for the news crew to create and research the story.
If this is happening out on farming land and the dogs were creating a threat to livestock (such as getting into pens and terrorizing stock), shooting them is lawful (at least it was when I was a kid on our family’s farm).
Thanks for the update!
I would be interested to know what you (or someone else) did that worked.
Edit:
The director of MSCO says "Do not run." There's that from someone who works with animals in an official capacity--take that people who think you can't influence a dog's behavior.
We ended up emailing the head of the county commission, our count commissioner, the sheriff, called animal control, left letters for neighbors asking them to contact animal control and county commission, and WAAY 31 came out and did a story.
I’m glad we finally got some action, because loose dogs seem to be a big issue around here.
https://whnt.com/news/huntsville/woman-arrested-for-dog-attack-that-killed-2-year-old-in-owens-cross-roads/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=socialflow
Contact all the local news stations with your story. Embarrassing the sheriff’s office with publicity is likely to be the only way to get them to take action.
I think this will help. Cellphone video will say more than any phone call. Give the little kids the phone and have them narrate how afraid they are
As a city of huntsville animal control officer, I can tell you a couple of things. Madison County has like 3 officers. They operate off of state law and not city ordinances. The state is very lax on laws concerning animals, while huntsville is very progressive on that front. What needs to happen is this. Get evidence of the animals off their property and on yours or hers. Get evidence of the threatening manner in which they are behaving. Then, take the owner to court. Citizens can issue citations and go before the judge to have a case adjuticated. I'm not sure about the process in the county, but in the city, you just have to provide evidence of violations to the magistrate.
Thank you so much for your insight. We will begin recording incidents. It looks like this may be our only option. We were hoping to avoid court, because honestly the neighbors are sketchy and have already somehow gotten my moms cellphone number and contacted her. We don’t want any retaliation or to cause an unsafe situation. It is crazy to me that we would have to take action and go to court for the county to enforce the law.
If dogs are threatening your family, especially little ones, you could always just shoot them. It's understood in the sticks that if your dogs go on the wrong property they will be shot. The alternative is someone (or their animals) getting killed by dogs.
We won’t be shooting them… and I feel bad to say that I hope someone does…but I hope someone does. It just sucks. It isn’t the dogs fault.
You do you, but there's a point where that's what I'd feel I have to do. There was an elderly woman about a block from my parents' house in Florence. She was outside and 2 large dogs came into her yard, attacked her, and it was nearly an hour before someone happened to drive by and see her on ground. Her achilles tendon was severed in the attack and she was permantly crippled.
If you’d feel comfortable with a non-lethal alternative, I’d highly recommend getting pepper spray or pepper gel (the gel form reduces risk of blowback). We have issues with loose, aggressive dogs in our neighborhood—just individuals, not in a pack so far—so I carry pepper spray or gel every time I walk my dogs. I’ve only had to use it once, but it stopped a large pit mix long enough for us to get away. I’m very very thankful that I had it that day.
That's a much better alternative to shooting, even with a BB gun, as even those can hurt the dogs and result in costly surgery.
At the point in which you’re required to use pepper spray, I think you’re well past the point of “not hurting them”
It seems they could recover from the pepper spray or at least not need surgery to do so, whereas it's a very different matter with bullets or BBs. If you have research to prove otherwise, I would welcome you providing it.
Packs of dogs used to come in our yard growing up. When I was young, my dad had the same concern about attacks and would shoot at them with birdshot. I don’t remember any ever dying. I don’t even know if he actually hit them, it was mainly to scare them off.
One of the neighbors has been doing this or maybe it’s just a BB gun. Some of them are limping… but it isnt slowing them down much.
An airhorn might help!
Get some bear spray
A BB gun won't work because it doesn't have the sound. The sound is what counts. So I've given you the solution. Take it or just get accustomed to being ignored.
I am forever indebted to your great genius. /s
When you live in Rome, do as the Romans do.
Came here to say this. The owner of the dogs is not going to suddenly change and the problem will persist until the dogs are gone. I experienced a similar situation many years ago and it was absolutely awful and made life miserable.
[ Removed by Reddit ]
If you can get other neighbors to take videos and join you in pursuing legal action, you might be able to take some of the heat off of your mom.
I do know others have called to report it numerous times, and I think everyone is feeling at the end of their rope.
I’m a Vegan, bleeding heart, animal lover to the core. However, if my little ones, or my neighbours’ little ones, were menaced by a pack of “wild” dogs, a gun would be at the end of my rope. If guns aren’t your way to handle this, get some bear spray. You must protect your kids and the vulnerable/elderly.
I'm the same as you. I go outta my way to save bugs even but if it's gonna hurt me or the one's I care for, no holds barred! I'm gonna pull the trigger or shoot the spray. We all should have limits for what is ok and know what we need to do. It's only gonna get worse from here.
Absolutely coordinate with as many other neighbors as possible and take legal action as a united front. You’ll have a much stronger case and be more protected from retaliation. Very few guarantees in life, but one of them is that trashy dog people *will* retaliate against anyone who calls them out for being trashy dog people. They see the problems created by their irresponsibility as other people’s problems and if they get backed into a corner they’ll snap back just like their untrained dogs.
If they are texting her you can also take that to the magistrate and press charges for telecommunication harassment
Yup. I helped an HPD officer (probably off duty and on his way home at that) catch a small dog that was likely lost in a field. He called county because we were out of city limits and they told him to just kill it. He lost his fucking mind on whoever it was. I’ve never had an interaction between the 4-5 times I’ve called whoever answers county dispatch and them not act like a massive piece of shit. Between that interaction with HPD calling them and me calling about shit in the neighborhood i always feel like I’m interrupting a 14 year old’s call of duty match.
What the fork? They told him to shoot it? Kudos to him for responding the way he did. That stinks that they respond that way to you in general. I'm sorry it's like that.
Yup. Just immediately responded to put it down. Me and that officer had the exact same facial reaction
Wow.
Not many people know but the sheriffs office has tons of incompetent people working there including the sheriff himself who rarely ever shows his face unless he’s trying to smooth over something negative that happened or to woo the public. They have plenty of employees (roughly 130) but only have between 6-8 deputies working at a time for the whole county meanwhile all the others are home with their feet kicked up, and the jail is even worse. It has been under a federal consent order for years that has been violated over 800 times in the first 3 years and still continues today, also the jail staff is about 80 officers short. The deputies and corrections officers are underpaid and lied to constantly about raises. I encourage anyone who reads this to dig a little and you’ll see they have money to spend on tons of equipment, cars etc but don’t take care of the people who work for them. Also when elections come back you can make your own decisions but the current sheriff is only a politician and cares about nobody but himself. Multiple issues have been brought to his attention and he absolutely refuses to do anything about them.
HAS is terrible. Y'all give abused/neglected animals back to owners. You return frequent flyers that are intact back out to owners. People are sick and tired of dogs running loose. You also failed to tell folks, you can shoot a dog on your property. Perfectly legal and the safety and well-being of your family is a priority. As an animal control officer y'all need to start enforcing the law and stop letting people slide.
Yeah, almost nothing in your comment is correct. But thanks for your opinion. Discharge a firearm in huntsville if you want to.
You can shoot a dog on your property, and you can pay hefty fines and possibly jail time for discharging a fire arm in city limits. Different results in different counties.
I have a gun to protect my home and family. I'll discharge my firearm into an aggressive dog. If it's on my property and a threat to my boys or pets. And ain't nobody going to jail for using a weapon they legally possessed to defend themselves. And, show me just one instance of anyone being fined or jailed? Hell they don't even fine the owners of dogs that kill people. So I'm gonna eliminate the threat.
I never said don't protect you and yours. Just be aware that you're going to have a headache after. Laws aren't really there to protect the innocent.
I sympathize with you. Packed dogs in counties have become a nightmare in Alabama. Your fears are real, multiple people have died.
This is a sad fact of life in Alabama. As a cyclist, I deal with this often. I'm sorry that this has happened to you and your family. Keep records and consider legal action. Contact county commissioners, and any other elected officials. Regrettably, you'll have to put a lot of effort and time into this and that's just not fair.
Have you seen the cyclist that mounted a very strong ultrasonic speaker to the back of his bike?
Following is from Ala. Code 1975, § 13A-11-241(b). "[Read as appropriate]: The Defendant cannot be convicted if he/she is one of the following persons or institutions: [Read as appropriate]: 1. Academic and research enterprises that use dogs or cats for medical or pharmaceutical research or testing; 2. Any owner of a dog or cat who euthanizes the dog or cat for humane purposes; **3. Any person who kills a dog or cat found outside of the owned or rented property of the owner or custodian of the dog or cat when the dog or cat threatens immediate physical injury or is causing physical injury to any person, animal, bird, or silvicultural or agricultural industry**" **This is not legal advice** and there is more to the law that won't fit in a wall of text. Read it for yourself and make your own decision on it. At the very least know that if there is a malicious attack by one of these dogs there is an AL code you can try and fall back on.
Shoot them. Problem solved
> It seems bizarre to me that the sheriffs offices is unable/ unwilling to keep the community safe Police have zero responsibility to the individual citizen. They can literally stand there and watch you get beaten to death without any legal consequence... as been proven out repeatedly in the judiciary all the way up to the Supreme Court. You are responsible for your own safety unfortunately. Pepper spray or pistol seems prudent if you're concerned.
Can you cite the statute in which police have zero responsibility? Not picking a fight, simply to clarify.
Statute? None exist. The law doesn't work like that. You're asking the equivalent of "cite the statute that tells me it's ok to jump on one leg"...it's lunacy. I can however point you at a number of cases where the judiary have affirmed that the police have no responsibility to do anything. - [DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services](https://www.oyez.org/cases/1988/87-154) - [Castle Rock v. Gonzalez](https://www.oyez.org/cases/2004/04-278) - [Warren v. District of Columbia](https://law.justia.com/cases/district-of-columbia/court-of-appeals/1981/79-6-3.html)
Pick up as many as you get at a time and turn them into the dog pound or a shelter. Tell the truth…they were loose, wandering the streets.
This is the best idea I have seen so far... If they are safe enough to be handled. A humane euthanasia in a shelter is kinder than shooting them. Unfortunately, the dogs are victims of the owner, too.
This is actually my favorite idea so far.
I’m not a lawyer, but I would suggest some big, humane traps on your property. Check them every day.
Off Wess Taylor Rd by chance?
Yep.
Unfortunately , I knew it. A good deputy advised to use lethal force if they are off property and threatening. As a dog lover , I'd hate to do it.
If you live around there I would appreciate if you called to report it.
Sounds like OP doesn't really want a solution but just wants to gripe and maybe get someone else to solve her problem. She must not be from Alabama.
Not everyone is strapped and willing to pop off random shots in the middle of a residential area.
boo fuckin hoo.
You're a special tough snowflake. Good job, buddy.
Thank you. But the local dogs won't be hurtin my grandma. What can I say? Stop whining and suck it up buttercup.
Get the dispatch number for animal control. If you can talk to the dispatcher, you may have better luck. It was suggested to me by the humane society when I was concerned about some animal cruelty. They sent someone out, and they took the dogs.
Oh I’ve spoken with them and animal control has come out several times… they caught them all one day and the homeowner confronted them and they let the dogs out.
If they're out, you could (I know you may not be comfortable with this) knock on the door and tell the homeowner the dogs are out. If the homeowner isn't home or doesn't respond, you could call animal control again.
She's outside the city limits. So get her a gun and some rat shot ammo and tell her to bust them. It won't kill them or even injure them seriously unless per chance one little pellet hits an eye. Highly unlikely. I love dogs but I don't let my collies run loose to harass folks. If the sheriff won't do anything, you have to stand up for yourself. And I know from experience that this will work.
The cops aren’t equipped to deal with animals and it isn’t their job to respond to things like this. Animal control should be issuing warnings to the owners but since she’s out of the city limits, nothing will likely happen. If you can, I’d capture them and take them to Huntsville animal services
It's crazy that you pay for services and they aren't enforcing the laws. If a dog is found running at large or on your property they need to pick them up. They need to take them in and let the owners meet the criteria to claim. They need to have proof of vaccination and Huntsville has a dog license policy so they have to have one . Other cities will require spay/neuter if the animal is habitually at large. Here's the thing, if animal control is called and picks them up ..you don't just hand them back to the irresponsible owner with no consequences. If the meter expires and the parking authority is ticketing your car, you can't run up and say sorry and avoid a ticket. The laws are there and need to be enforced
Contact ALEA (AL law enforcement agency). We have a neighbor with farm animals that get out and they were the most helpful. I'm in the county and MCSO could not do a single thing to help. ALEA can confiscate animals as long as there is a rescue for said animal (we had donkeys and cows in our yard - no rescue shelter for them so they could not capture). Plenty of no-kill shelters for dogs!
Keep a firearm present and shoot to kill if necessary.
There is a county ordinance about having dogs behind a fence or something. It may have to be of a certain height. I don't recall. It was passed several years ago. I think that was just for Madison county, so whoever is saying that the county only has state laws applying to it may be mistaken. You might need to Google it to find out more. The neighbor probably got your mom's cell phone # off the internet by searching for her name. Perhaps pleading with the neighbors about the dogs being a potential threat when they're out of the fence in a pack and also pleading with the owner for the dogs' safety could help, especially as one has been hit. Perhaps politely contacting the sheriff himself about it could help (explaining that you haven't gotten enough help from the animal control for the area). If that doesn't work, you could try contacting the news like others have said. I recommend doing your research first, though, about any applicable ordinances and laws.
This is perhaps the least helpful thing I’ve ever read.
Too bad, as it's probably the most reasonable thing to do.
(and some of it is just a repeat of what other people said, so how is that even possible?) Like, what? Please don't answer that, as it's a rhetorical question and I don't want to hear from you again about this.
I think you might be thinking of Huntsville’s law not allowing people to chain their dogs up. I believe the county says you just have to contain them to your property without saying how. And they still allow chains in the county.
No, there was definitely a county thing. I'm thinking it was at least within the last 15 years. Thanks, though. I am pretty sure it passed, however, it was definitely voted on.
First of all, block the person's number on your mom's phone. I would keep a bucket of water and a bat handy, too. If a dog attacks, throwing water on them should distract them enough to let go. I think you know what the bat is for. Good luck with all of this.
Build a fence?
Around the front yard? The back yard is fenced and they are still coming under/over.
How are they coming over? Is the fence short? Do they jump over it?
It’s just a regular chain link fence.
So how exactly are they “coming over”? Coming where to, specifically?
Jumping/climbing
So build a proper fence. Dogs can’t jump over a proper fence. Or electrify it.
What is improper about a chain link fence?
It’s too short obviously. My dogs were not able to jump over 6ft chain link fence. Even kids can climb over a short one.
My husband had a dog, she was maybe 60 lbs, who could jump up and pull herself over a 6ft wooden fence.
Some dogs can climb fences. Some dig under them.
Embarrass the sheriff’s office publicly like others said. Tell the news, spread it around on social media, do everything to get the word out about it if no one will help. Unfortunately, sometimes embarrassing people is the only way to get them to act. And to preface, I love dogs. I grew up with dogs, big ones like a Great Pyrenees and an Irish Wolfhound mix that I both miss dearly, and I will say that if your family is in a dangerous situation where a dog is about to maul your loved ones - please don’t hesitate to defend yourself/your loved ones. As much as I love dogs and other animals, it’s a hard red line for us.
I agree that the news crew is probably the next best step. Make sure to have a list of dates, times, and events to show that it is an ongoing problem….especially of times and dates when the sheriff was called and why. This will mean talking to neighbors and combing through past phone “records”….but this would provide enough support for the news crew to create and research the story. If this is happening out on farming land and the dogs were creating a threat to livestock (such as getting into pens and terrorizing stock), shooting them is lawful (at least it was when I was a kid on our family’s farm).
What is the neighbor texting your Mom?
Go down and purchase a tauras judge it can shoot a .45colt and 410 shotgun load. Either round will take care of your problem.
The county needs to make a leash law I have had to have my neighbor arrested for his dog running at large and take him to court
Thanks for the update! I would be interested to know what you (or someone else) did that worked. Edit: The director of MSCO says "Do not run." There's that from someone who works with animals in an official capacity--take that people who think you can't influence a dog's behavior.
We ended up emailing the head of the county commission, our count commissioner, the sheriff, called animal control, left letters for neighbors asking them to contact animal control and county commission, and WAAY 31 came out and did a story.
Thanks for filling us in!
I’m glad we finally got some action, because loose dogs seem to be a big issue around here. https://whnt.com/news/huntsville/woman-arrested-for-dog-attack-that-killed-2-year-old-in-owens-cross-roads/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=socialflow
I guess so. I would think it's more of an issue in the county than in the city.
No.