MISSING DOG ESTATE LA GRANGE

DaChief, don't get me wrong, rescue is great and respect is great, but you're saying that you have a neighbor who will bait your dogs into their yard and poison them and that it has resulted in the death of your dogs before, yet you continue to allow your dogs to wander around, even into the same neighbors yard. I feel awful for you over this, but feel much worse for the dogs. They counted on you to not let that happen again.

You can't live anywhere more rural on this island than I do and if my dog leaves my small back yard, it's on leash and harness and with me. If she is outside, it's with me. Even if I'm doing something outside like fixing a car, she might be on leash. And she has wandered off one time in her year and a half long life. If we go for a run or long walk, she is on the leash. That's fair to other people and her.

I was driving south shore road the other night, night much around, 4 dogs come out of nowhere and chase my truck. I stopped and couldn't get them to go back. I was trying to slow traffic to let them know there was 4 dogs in the road and I could have been hurt by the big rottie.

People in this territory should be ashamed of how the animals get treated, agreed. It's heart breaking daily. Nobodies dogs should be outside, with out a fence, unmonitored. If they are and something happens, especially knowing what could or most likely will happen, that's on you.

As noted by previous bloggers, you are a cold, callous and mean spirited individual with little regard for people's feeling even at a time of great sorrow. You delve and delight in other people's misery I think. If trhis had happened to you, you would be cowering in the corner somewhere...

SO OLDTART- It's then ok for individuals to poison, harm or kill animals because the run free? BS. Animal Cruelty is illegal. Period.

YOU ARE BOTH WRONG. There is NO EXCUSE for ANY Person to Harm Defeneless Animals-

I do not believe that anyone here would want any animal hurt by anyone.
I wholeheartedly agree that there is no excuse for anyone to hurt a defenseless animal.
However, if you have this problem with your neighbors then wouldn't it be prudent to do your best to keep them from harm and the constant threat of harm by fencing a portion of your property?

That's the only way to be sure they do not roam, chase cars or get enticed onto your cruel neighbors property, only to be killed.

I hope law enforcement can stop this. If not you may want to contact an attorney to sue them for the loss of your pets, but you may have to prove you did everything possible to keep them on your property, knowing the neighbors predisposition.

We all join you in grieving for the loss of your pets. We just don't want you to lose anymore!

As noted by previous bloggers, you are a cold, callous and mean spirited individual with little regard for people's feeling even at a time of great sorrow. You delve and delight in other people's misery I think. If trhis had happened to you, you would be cowering in the corner somewhere...

SO OLDTART- It's then ok for individuals to poison, harm or kill animals because the run free? BS. Animal Cruelty is illegal. Period.

YOU ARE BOTH WRONG. There is NO EXCUSE for ANY Person to Harm Defeneless Animals-

It's unfortunate that you're confusing very different issues and accusing those who would like to see your animals protected as those who condone any sort of animal abuse. I've been rescuing animals and fighting animal abuse for decades, my heart has bled many times over and your presumptions to the contrary couldn't be more completely offensive and unwarranted. Alana is correct in noting that any legal action you may take against this ghastly neighbor is going to be rather tempered by your having made no attempt to mitigate the problem and particularly in light of the fact that this is a second occurrence.

As noted by previous bloggers, you are a cold, callous and mean spirited individual with little regard for people's feeling even at a time of great sorrow. You delve and delight in other people's misery I think. If trhis had happened to you, you would be cowering in the corner somewhere...

SO OLDTART- It's then ok for individuals to poison, harm or kill animals because the run free? BS. Animal Cruelty is illegal. Period.

YOU ARE BOTH WRONG. There is NO EXCUSE for ANY Person to Harm Defeneless Animals-

It's unfortunate that you're confusing very different issues and accusing those who would like to see your animals protected as those who condone any sort of animal abuse. I've been rescuing animals and fighting animal abuse for decades, my heart has bled many times over and your presumptions to the contrary couldn't be more completely offensive and unwarranted. Alana is correct in noting that any legal action you may take against this ghastly neighbor is going to be rather tempered by your having made no attempt to mitigate the problem and particularly in light of the fact that this is a second occurrence.

Baloney. Victims are under no legal obligation to "mitigate" the criminal actions of violent perpetrators. These comments are beyond cruel. And are especially troubling coming from individuals involved with the territory's humane society. One would hope that humane society volunteers would command a basic understanding of canine behavior patterns or, at minimum, understand the definition of animal cruelty. . .

Jeeze, blu - you are missing the point here!

No one is condoning any kind of ill treatment towards animals.
I believe we all would like to see harsher penalties and laws in place when it come to people abusing, mistreating and killing someones beloved pet(s) or any animals, for that matter.

We all want DaChief's animals to be safe but with his neighbors propensity to killing his animals, the only way I see to protect them, is to fence them in or keep them inside and on a leash, outside.

I'd rather have a live dog in a large enough fenced enclosure than a dead, free roaming animal when there are things in my control that I can provide to protect an animal from harm. Dogs will roam, if allowed.

We all feel for DaChief's loss but he must become proactive to prevent further losses.

Perhaps someone should have a SERIOUS talk with the neighbor....

I also have a dog that is an escape artist and I have a 6 foot fence. She has gotten out several times and once hit by a car and seriously injured. Now, when she is in the yard, I don't take my eyes off of her and when out of the yard,she is on a leash. A bit of an inconvience considering that's why I have a fenced yard but I love her and she is my responsibility. I can not allow her to roam, she is not safe .....from other animals, people or vehicles on the road.
consider the history and the circumstances.....your animals are not safe roaming around unattended, as much as they may like it.
I say this out of concern and care for you and your animal friends, not of judgement.

I'm a mean person? I don't think so. I feel terrible for you. I feel terrible for your dogs. I don't wish harm on your neighbor, because I don't believe that violence cures violence and I am a pacifist.

Here is some advice though. You live next to a person who poisons dogs. Don't let your dogs out off a leash or he will poison them. It's happened to you twice. It will happen again.

My heart breaks for you and your dogs and the others that have fallen victim to your evil neighbor. Yes, what they have done is so very terribly wrong, and I expect I would react like a total maniac if someone did that to mine. HOWEVER, I do everything in my power to keep my pups safe. Sure, they would love to run wild over our acreage, but it's not safe for them. It's my duty to keep them safe, and I will do whatever it takes to keep them safe. We built a small area for them to be able to have some space and stay contained for their safety, and we only take them out of the area on leashes.
I hope you'll consider changing your mindset regarding the safety of your sweet pups, they really need your help in keeping them safe. They are clearly in danger if they're allowed to run wild. You don't need to fence the entire yard, just an area for them to be contained and SAFE.

I just saw a news story where someone filed a restraining order on a dog's behalf to keep that dog safe and the someone 500 ft/yards (?) from the dog.
May be worth a try?

Well, now that have "cooled down" somewhat, I can continue to respond, for OT and J- you'll be happy to know that a fence is going up, and it is very expensive.... Bear in mind, that we will be the only house with a fence in the neighborhood, and just about everyone has dogs.

The fact STILL remains, that ANYONE who poisons, injures or otherwise attacks an animal, irrespective of whether penned, fenced or free, is subject to prosecution under VI Code 14, Ch-7 Parts 181 and 182. The law is quite specific in this area. This law was enacted and brought into force in 2005, as part of the Territory becoming uniform under the existing Animal Cruelty Laws.

There are further developments with regard to what's happening in Brownie's case, developments which I won't go into...

Please continue to pray for justice for Brownie...

A heartbreaking note, "Brownie" had a companion rescue dog (yes she was picked up at the Shelter) who was quite close to Brownie- when on supervised walks, she wants to bolt up the hill looking for him, and searches throughout our property in Brownie's "cubby holes" and is till looking for him passed the previous week, the dog is melancholy to state the very least.

OT and J, though I give some merit to what you are saying about fencing, the fact still remains that I find an inordinate amount of sting to your comments coming so close to a loss, it amost seems cruel to rub someone's nose in their tragedy...The fact still remains that fence or no fence, this should not have been done to a defenseless animal...

I am sorry and I would be heartbroken and I know it could happen to me at anytime. My Maggie ran off once, while I was watching a meteor shower and came home late from work. It happens. I honestly was just calling a spade a spade. Ultimately and completely, your neighbor is a god awful loser who is the real problem and I don't dispute that for a second. It's sad that people like that exist.

I'm so glad you got the fence up! Several years ago my Dad passed away and, although he wasn't a wealthy man by any stretch he left me $500 and, after much thought, I used it as I know he would have approved of - towards a fence to protect my own animals from loose roaming dogs. One of my pets had been dragged and killed right in front of me by two of them. Everyone in the neighborhood apparently knew where the dogs lived but knew too that the owners were "bad" people and stayed well clear of them. A couple of months after my pet was killed, the dogs simply disappeared and neighbors later told me that the owners had also upped and left.

Getting the animal cruelty act passed took years and I was one of the many people who fought long and hard from the very beginning to get it onto the books.

I felt and feel very much for your loss under such horrible circumstances but the expense involved in keeping your other animals protected will be well worth it. Although justice takes time, I hope that eventually those barbarians will be held accountable and be severely punished for their ghastly acts. In the UK (and I believe in many other countries) those found guilty of cruelty to animals are not only severely punished through jail time and huge fines but are also banned from owning animals for long periods thereafter ranging from years to life. Hopefully as time goes on we'll see further advances in our territorial laws making the penalties more severe.

I'm sure you know that the local humane societies' hands are severely tied since the government has failed to pay them (for years now) the mandated annual fee (at last count it was $75,000) which covered such as animal cruelty investigations, trapping and collecting roaming livestock and dogs and many other services which the government is supposed by law to cover but which they're unable to do and "farmed out" to the humane societies. The societies do what they can in this regard with their limited resources but as long as the government fails to fulfill their end of the bargain it's a continual struggle.

Glad to hear you are working on the fence.
The only people who can protect your animals is you.
This is true for everyone who has pets.

Someone tell me how many arrest and convictions for animal cruelty under the animal cruelty act?

The police are in way over their heads with all the crime and sadly crimes on animals I am sure is not top of the list.
People last night report to Police a person struck by someone throwing a bottle in c'sted, witnesses try to give description of the person responsibile are told we don't need that.
What? Do not need a desciption of eye witness? Why is this?

Good Luck with your new fenced in area, DaChief.
I know what an expense it is and hope your remaining dog(s) will be forever safe and not be escape artists!
You are doing the right thing.:P