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Something you have to deal with, even with the best fence maintenance and using care to avoid those situations, with the intent to mind your own business, it happens, horses and other livestock don't behave like a agressive dogs that pair or pack up if they get out, you have to be responsible for that, when I was a kid I had to deal with it quite a bit, it's no fun, and I was not a big fan of those horses for a variety of reasons, but I was entrusted to take care of them, something I was born into, not something I chose to do. If someone takes offense and shoots a loose horse, cow, bull, pig, sheep, what have you, well it's their conscience they have to live with. I've seen plenty of friendly stray's, they get fed and taken care of until someone can claim em, you do what a good neighbor should, but when you got someone nearby with abandoned farm buildings and 2 dozen or even just a pair of dogs running, it's a problem. Even just a few or the odd situation as described here, it ain't right that someone elses problem becomes yours when they attack something of yours unprovoked, like savage carnivores that are hunting for a meal to survive. Yeah dogs will be dogs and that is fine, I'm talking about when they cross the line. Say you invest in a horse, train with the best rider, feed, vet bills, all the rest, + all the hard work, whatever, you compete as a hobby, or as a pro, and while your horse is stabled on your property, someones problem dogs are on the loose and corner the horse into a fence while in the pasture, causing very serious injury to your horse. We're talking a chunk of flesh a 4" x 12" flap hanging. You bought the land, you pay the taxes, you work to provide for your family and your farm endeavors whatever they may be, and it's ok that you lose a substantial investment because some idiot harbors dogs that are agressive, dangerous and are on the loose without any care as to what damage they do. This happened here and I shot every last one of those wild ones, some on their property when the pack decided I was next, or should I have let em maul me, then let a judge decide, that is if I survived. Someone surprises and attacks you, do you A.) defend yourself in self preservation? B.) Take the beating and take the chance that you will not be killed, seriously injured and hope the legal system works ? I took choice A.) once, the assailant ended up on a stretcher almost dead, and I had my day in court, the guy was a known violent criminal with a long violent rap sheet and would have killed me if I did not defend myself. It still cost me $600.00 for counsel and the ridiculus charges were dropped and I was uninjured. I had no idea what I was dealing with at the time, asssailant was a lune fueled by drugs, quite strong and hard to combat due to the drugs, same is true when dogs go bad, you can't take that chance. People just don't realize, that dogs can and will get out of hand very quickly and when they multiply unchecked, you get what we had here 35 years ago, a large pack of dangerous dogs that were hungry, vicious and there was no animal control person to call nor anyone that would do something, heck the road there was not even paved then, telephone poles still had glass insulators, party line service, it's funny now they want to put a walmart there. I did not even ask permission to use a firearm back then, I taught myself to shoot for the most part with some safety guidance from adults when I could get them to spend a few minutes with me at this very young age, and I did what needed to be done because of what I saw going on. I used to get into trouble because I was not afraid to figure things out on my own, running the tractor was one and firearms was the other. My father worked a lot back then as did most parents, kids had to fend for themselves and learn on their own if they were to become useful around the farms. Kind of odd but true. I've seen this problem in many different settings, most in rural areas, our town was still quite rural back then. Each time the dogs become more agressive and a bigger problem, you can't afford to take chances with them, you should see the scars on the girl I know that was mauled, she covered her face, but it aint no joke, they packed up and got her, she was lucky someone got to her in time. It literally took years to rid this area of them. Years ago it was fine for kids to roam on farmland, and what I saw in those abandoned barns, dead dogs, some with collars, others cannibalizing them, snarling teeth, I had no idea the danger I put myself in that day, and was lucky not to have alerted the pack which was not that far away, down by the decrepid and derelict run down farm that was still inhabited by some real strange people, it was frightening to ride by the place in the back of a pick up truck. We used to use that road to get to the back of our place. I was fortunate to have my german short haired pointer with me that day, for some reason they wanted nothing to do with him and I that day, and I carefully backed away, and never went back unarmed. Our placed bordered theirs, you could not even go out on your own property without the threat of this pack. Don't think for one minute dogs won't revert to their wild ways given a chance, give em an inch, they'll take a mile, and it's people that cause this problem, not the dogs. I'd do the same again if I had to, thankfully those days are long over, but not forgotten.
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