Dogs at large!!!! Protecting our livestock.

§19-20-16. Same -- When lawful to kill dog.
A person may kill a dog that he may see chasing, worrying, wounding or killing any sheep, lambs, goats, kids, calves, cattle, swine, show or breeding rabbits, horses, colts or poultry outside of the enclosure of the owner of the dog, unless the chasing or worrying be done by the direction of the owner of the sheep, lambs, goats, kids, calves, cattle, swine, show or breeding rabbits or horses and colts or poultry.


§20-2-58. Shooting across road or near building or crowd; penalty.
It shall be unlawful for any person to shoot or discharge any firearms across or in any public road in this state, at any time, or within four hundred feet of any schoolhouse or church, or within five hundred feet of any dwelling house, or on or near any park or other place where persons gather for purposes of pleasure, and any person violating this section is guilty of a misdemeanor

Oh, and then there's this one.....

§19-20-12. Dogs, other animals and reptiles protected by law; unlawful killing thereof; aggrieved owner's remedy; penalties; penalties for unlawful stealing of companion animals.
(a) Any dog which is registered, kept and controlled as provided in this article or any dog, cat or other animal or any reptile which is owned, kept and maintained as a companion animal by any person, irrespective of age, is protected by law; and, except as otherwise authorized by law, any person who shall intentionally, knowingly or recklessly kill, injure, poison or in any other manner, cause the death or injury of any dog, cat, other animal or any reptile is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be ordered to provide public service for not less than thirty nor more than ninety days or fined not less than three hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or both. However, this section does not apply to a dog who is killed while attacking a person, a companion animal or livestock. Any person whose dog, cat, other animal or reptile as specified herein is killed or injured wrongfully or unlawfully by any other person shall have a right of action against the person who shall so kill or injure any dog, cat, animal or reptile.
(b) Any person who shall intentionally and unlawfully steal a dog, cat, other animal or reptile as specified in subsection (a) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be ordered to provide public service for not less than thirty nor more than ninety days or fined not less than three hundred nor more than five hundred dollars, or both. Any person violating the provisions of this subsection shall, for second or subsequent offense, be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in the county or regional jail for a period of not less than ninety days nor more than six months, or shall be ordered to provide public service for not more than one year, and fined not less than one thousand dollars. In no case can any action or prosecution relating to a dog under the provisions of this section be maintained if the dog concerned shall not have been duly registered pursuant to the provisions of this article or owned and kept pursuant to the provisions of this section or owned and kept pursuant to the provisions of this section at the time the cause of action shall have arisen.
(c) The commissioner of agriculture is hereby authorized to designate a reasonable number of his present employees as may be necessary to investigate alleged incidents of the unlawful stealing of dogs, other domestic animals or reptiles, alleged incidents of cruelty to animals or reptiles and the alleged incidents of the unlawful stealing of animals or reptiles for the purpose of sale to medical or other research companies. The deputies shall make the results of their investigations known to any law-enforcement officers who have authority to enforce the provisions of this article.
(d) It shall be the duty of all members of the West Virginia state police, sheriffs and police officers to aid in the enforcement of the provisions of this article and, for services rendered in the enforcement thereof, such persons shall be entitled to fees in the amounts set forth in section eight. The fees shall be paid by the county commission from the dog and kennel fund.

I guess we know th WV law now...

In some states you would have been in the wrong, in others you would have been right to shoot the dogs in the road.

I'm glad our state has a menacing part written into the law. Here a dog can lagally be shot if not on your property if it in the act of menacing or chasing. For example a neighbors dog can be shot if in their yard if it is running a fence or trying to dig under it, or climb over it, if you have livestock on the other side. I could shoot onto my property all day and night long if I want to. No limit on how close I can be to a house either.

As for WV law, it does seem to contradict itself. Legal to kill the dogs unless they were within 500 feet of the house.

This was the only part that offended me.

.

That's not what it means.
It's legal to kiil the dogs WHEN they are attacking, etc..

It's NOT legal to discharge a firearm within 500 ft of a residence when there is NO LEGAL REASON to do so

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Maybe the dogs had never seen a chicken? Just a thought...

In MO where I live you can't kill a dog even on your property unless it is causing harm to your family or livestock...I like the idea of shooting a BB gun it's a deterrent and it doesn't harm the dog and keeps you out of trouble.

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I don't even chase my whiskey, what makes you think I'm going to chase you?

SSS (shoot shovel and Shut Up). This is the appropriate answer in many cases.

BUT it is extremely difficult to pull off if you are going around shooting at the ground. The neighbors tend to notice these things. Then if you throw down your gun and go to the middle of the road and call your neighbor out, well this also draws attention. The neighbor might not have seen you tossing your shotgun about, and may think that you were coming to shoot him (or at least kick his butt).

Then there is the shut-up part. some people just can't do that, no matter how little they have to say.

Forget the dogs, I think you are lucky you didn't get shot. you said this guy stumbled off so could he be drinking? He perceived you as a threat so count yourself lucky he didn't have quick access to a gun. Your wife could have been picking up the pieces and the cops would have found that you fired first so he would get off scott free. Yes, you must protect your livestock but where we come from there are some unwritten rules (or maybe they are written somewhere). If you don't keep your dog up, it gets shot (lost a $600 english mastiff to the neighbor once and she had every right to shoot it), if a dog ATTACKS your livestock, it gets shot. Timeing is everything in life. Next time, stay in your yard and shoot that dog with a chicken in its mouth. No one can complain and you won't get killed (lets hope) or get in trouble.

You violated pretty much every single rule of shoot, shovel, and shut up. By doing so, you still have the original problem of loose dogs (they will be back, will you always be there?). You've also placed yourself in the vicinity of a human, who witnessed your act. You rightfully or wrongfully scared the human. With a firearm... regardless of whether you were on your own property, his property, or public property... firing a shotgun is a violent act to do in front of others... He could have been armed at the time, and drew and fired back, thinking you were firing at him.

I'm sorry, but free range isn't for everyone. I live miles from neighbors. When I've had stray dog chicken killers, the problem ended very quickly. Only twice have I had to fire in anger. I knew there was zero chance of anyone being nearby... and zero chance of the dogs belonging to anyone nearby. Until you can be certain those dogs or other dogs aren't going to kill your critters, I'd keep em up.

There's lots of things you can do out in the country... but you can't do them if you have neighbors in buckshot range.... unless you're willing to go 'all the way', and before going 'all the way', consider what kind of luxury accomodations the state will provide for the next 20 to life.

Before I leave, another violation of the SSS rule is the last S, shut up. If you're going to do something, you don't do it and then go and tell the person that what you done. You certainly don't tell them you're going to do it in the future... cause if you have to put something down in the future, the owner will first suspect YOU. I'd recommend reading up on the rules of engagement, philosophies, and practicalities of SSS, shoot, shovel, and shut up.

good luck, my friend... count your blessings you didn't get fingerprinted.

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

My question is: You were outside,you had enough time for your wife to go get your gun (I'm assuming that it was not sitting right in the door, she had to walk thru the house and possibly find bullets for it), load it, and come bring it to you.

Why couldn't you and your wife just lock the chickens back up in that time? I'm not sure how many you have or how spread out they were, but that would of elimated the threat to your chickens THEN you could of investigted the dogs, who owns them, ect and maybe talk with the neighbors about locking them up.

I know that it's your land and you can do what you want on your land (ie free range) but I would think locking your chickens back up (since it sounds like you dont always free range, you just let them out for a bit while you were out doing chores) is better than shooting a dog. Espiclaly a dog that hadn't even stepped paw on your land yet.

Interesting philosophical question. At what point can one go on the offense against a perceived threat? Most on this thread have said the threat has to be on your land. I've tried to get this point across on a larger scale, but most don't want to hear it.

For example, we invaded Iraq, 6,000 miles away, because we thought they might possibly be a threat. Many are happy that we didn't wait until the threat reached us, and that it is good to fight the threat away from our property.

On the bright side, I bet the dogs owner does a better job of keeping them from your yard from now on!

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Popeye

Cease fire agreement violations were the reason for that.
Dogs cant be shot UNTIL they attack

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You were wrong, in many ways.

The deputy was pretty level headed and basically letting you know what to do when and if there was a next time.

If the dog is on your property with a chicken in it's mouth or attempting to get one, shoot the dog. Otherwise, leave the gunslinging to the cowboys on the movie screen.

Again the law depends upon the state in question as to whether you need to wait to shoot a predator on your land,and an unknown dog is a predator.

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Teach only Love...for that is what You are