what are my rights against this trespasser?

A key concept that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle is that there are two court systems - criminal and civil. The government gets to decide what is criminal and if it will be prosecuted and what the outcome of that will be. It is not left to individuals, to prevent abuses of the system and many other problems. The civil court system handles disputes where one person charges another with some sort of loss.

In this case, the determination was made that the case would not be pursued on a criminal level, and there was no actual loss of property or life. Legal remedies are therefore exhausted.

Repeated offenses could be documented to force the issue, but "creative" solutions might have more impact. I can just imagine what would happen if you showed up at the preacher's church and sat in the first row glaring at him throughout his sermon, and then disrupted his conclusion with an outburst of "I can't listen to someone who says they are a preacher, but sicks their dog on livestock for the fun of it. I can't believe any of you here put up with that." Then walk out. In other words, sick the dog on the turkey in his own yard and see how he likes it.

The only thing I can say is, Thank the good lord I don't have a neighbor like lunagardens. PLEASE, if you leave that area, PLEASE don't come in this direction. From Ohio to NC is still too close. Go the other way.

My neighbor's dog is here 3 or 4 nights a week for supper. My other neighbor's chickens keep my compost pile well stirred. Dogs from every where dig through the scraps in it. I feed 3 cats that aren't mine.

My gosh, haven't you ever heard of getting alone with others?

I was thinking the same thing.

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www.salmonslayer-simplelife.blogspot.com

Yeah. I agree with your concept. If you lay down and let people walk all over you, they may consider that you are trying to get along. Or not. They may think you are too fat or lumpy to walk on with relative ease. They may object to the noise you make when whimpering in pain as they stomp your arthritic joints. You have a very strange concept of getting along.

How about if you stand up for yourself, and draw a line with these neighbors and say "this is the property line. How about this. You stay on your side, and we will stay on our side, and then we can get along."

Luna, you might write a letter to the neighbors explaining what the brother did, and include a copy of the law that I provided.

That is why there is a saying. "Good fences make good neighbors." The neighbor's brother knowingly crossed property lines with the intent to let his dog terrorize the OP's turkeys. I posted the Ohio law which allows her to shoot the dog.

Lets address the godliness of terrorizing helpless prey animals by encouraging a predator to lunge at them. A minister did this? He is supposed to be the shepherd of his flock, his church! Certainly he has spent enough time preaching on this concept to understand it! What he did was animal abuse!

Lets look at the scriptures. God commands us to care for animals. A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel (Proverbs 12:10).

How about the story of Balaam and his donkey. Numbers 22:22 And God's anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him. 23 And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way. 24 But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. 25 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and he smote her again. 26 And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. 27 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff. 28 And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times? 29 And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee. 30 And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay.

31 Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face. 32 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me: 33 And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive.

That minister, if that is what he really is, KNEW he was wrong! And he threw the minister thing at the cop in hopes of getting off without consequence! It worked!

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I yam what I yam and that's all what I yam.

Popeye

Do you have daughter? If you found a 10 year old boy gropping her when she was 3 or 4, isn't there a possibility, that you would be a little sensitive to intrusions by neighbors? I get this feeling that maybe you subscribe to the John Lennon "why can't we all just get along" thing. It sounds wonderful...but it isn't realistic...it never has been. People shouldn't be wondering around ones property unless they have a good reason, and even then they should have a reasonable excuse, and an answer for why they didn't ask permission first. At minimum, an apology would have been in order.

Sometimes you have to work on your reputation. The laws in WV are similar to Ohio. If a dog is after your livestock, the law allows you to kill it. If the man had been on my property with his dog chasing my animals, I'd have used his dog for target practice. And I'd have used the .308 with the 20 round magazine.

From my previous experiences, your preacher would have first dropped to the ground and at the first moment the gun fire stopped, he would have been running for his life. Around here, when the sheriff hears it's trespassing, they have no sympathy for for the trespasser. A state trooper told us to put up a wire neck high to catch folks on ATVs.

Our neighbors have told folks that inquired about the property, it really wasn't a good idea to trespass. The clerk at the local country store asked me what I was shooting at at 2:00 am. She used to let her dogs run loose.

Get a gun and do some occasional varmint shooting as allowed by law of course. Here we can shoot coyotes until 10:00 pm. Your neighbors will get the point.

A preacher of WHAT?

I would be tempted to attend his "church" one Sunday just to glare at him from the front pew. And have some cozy chats with the people, telling them how you met the bozo, er...reverend.

But that might stir things up worse.

I do hope your new home will have better neighbors.

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God bless,
Bonnie
Opportunity Farm
Northeast Washington

"While we have the opportunity, let us do good to all." Galatians 6:10

Found some info for you Lunagardens, what the "preacher" was doing was legally considered dogfighting. The dog should have been impounded.

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/959.16

You moving anywhere near the Columbus area? There is a nice house beside me with a fenced yard and I don't mind a couple wandering turkeys, unless they corner and attack my ducks.

salmonslayer and Idee, are you saying Lunagardens is a bad neighbor for protecting her animals? That I just don't understand. The person who came on her property with the intent to haras her animals with his dog is a poor representation of a human being.

Not what I am saying at least. I am a very direct person and would not tolerate that but I sure wouldnt walk out guns blazing as you advocate.

She already admitted numerous calls to the police previously about a number of issues, complained about unfairly being ticketed twice, admitted to painting Pagan symbols facing the "preachermans" house and the street (because of zoning visits), her favorite quote to the police is "you will rue the day", she seems to blame her community for her "money pit" house and "sucky" schools, and this quote "Their attitude towards the tresspassing just brought back all the fury of their previous way" , and this quote "If I'm leaving this township it will be known why- the sign which will be zip tied to the front rail for all to see". She also seems to have anger and violence issues at least reflected in her posts with such quotes as "How I held it together for that long without harming anyone i can only say was due to fear of not seeing my children because of jail", or "Shotgun was luckily on the other end of the house otherwise they would have charged me with who knows what.". She bemoans getting two tickets in 8 years, one for wrecking her vehicle and one for admittedly going the wrong way in a posted area and then claims the Township just gives out tickets to make money (2 tickets in 8 years), and finally she started off yelling and cussing instead of really finding out why the guy was there and what he was doing. The trespasser was apparently an elderly preacher and I doubt he was urging his dog to attack her turkeys ....maybe if she had just talked to him it would have avoided wasting police time and prevented bad feelings between neighbors. Or maybe this quote is neighborly "Go back to the city...blah blah insert lots of colorful language" in your neighborhood?

No issue with protecting your livestock, no issue with kicking someone off your land, and I certainly have sympathy over the daughter but I sure dont want someone like that living next to me. Oh and for all you quick to pull a gun types, you might want to be careful who you pull a gun on. Its not only illegal (even the castle doctrine doesnt allow you to just shoot someone indiscriminately) its a good way to get shot yourself.

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www.salmonslayer-simplelife.blogspot.com

What would you have done with that shotgun?

Ayup.

She can shoot the dog, according to Ohio law that I posted above, if it is attacking harassing or threatening her livestock or poultry.

I personally wouldn't shoot that close to another human, but she would have been within her rights. More likely, if he didn't leave immediately upon demand, I would have probably turned my hose on the dog. That would get his attention, and if the idiot on the other end of the leash gets wet...Oh well.

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I yam what I yam and that's all what I yam.

Popeye

Hooligan a shotgun is a universal attention getter. You wouldn't believe how big folks' eyes get when they're looking at the business end of a twelve gauge. If it's someone like a tree trimming crew that's somewhere without permission, you don't have to point it at them. If it's someone who's around your house at 3:00 am you need to point out the error of their ways. In any case you need to know the law and be prepared for what happens.

Obviously I wouldn't have fired directly at him unless he was harming me or my animals, but he wouldn't have been laughing at me I assure you of that! And his apology would have been immediate. I suspect he might have left a small puddle on my property though.

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Christine
Front Porch Indiana Blog
Come on up to the porch and sit a spell. We'll talk about the day's events and maybe even tell a story or two.

From your post I'm guessing you don't raise animals of your own. After numerous killings of chickens & ducks, we finally shot our neighbor's dogs - killed one, wounded the other.

We have another neighbor who has boundary problems (he's mentally ill) & I get very upset & worried anytime he comes onto our property. He knows where the line is, just ignores it.

Because of where we live, I get worried anytime someone comes onto the property who hasn't been invited. In the past 10 years there have been 3 murders within a 10 mile radius, numerous poachers, & some strange incidents (1 involved a naked man waking up a neighbor from her nap.)

You are free to invite all the neighborhood animals to your house - just don't insist that the rest of us have to follow your example.

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God bless,
Bonnie
Opportunity Farm
Northeast Washington

"While we have the opportunity, let us do good to all." Galatians 6:10

A few people don't respect personal property, but just about everyone respects a shotgun.

Geesh, fight nice people. Luna you have every right to protect your home animals and definitely your child. Especially your child. I am in agreement with you to take it to a higher authority. Check and see if you can can get legal representation for your daughter free or at a reduced rate. The laws protect everyone not just the rapeistor the preacher.
Linda

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mommagoose_99
Live from
Beautiful Upstate NY

I wonder if some of the members of this preacher's church would like to know what he does for fun while on vacation. Being me I would find out where he is preacher and might even show up at his church and make his church members know what he does. Just my .01 worth. Sam

Yes she can but thats not what she said. "How I held it together for that long without harming anyone i can only say was due to fear of not seeing my children because of jail", or "Shotgun was luckily on the other end of the house otherwise they would have charged me with who knows what.". Doesnt sound like she was talking about the dog and sometimes because you can do something doesnt mean its the right thing to do.

Until someone who has this attitude threatens someone with a shot gun from a distance and then someone who carries a pistol kills them out of fear for their life.
No one is saying that and you can do what you want. I own a farm, I have owned a farm off and on since the late 70s in 3 different states, and I am very protective of my animals and property boundaries. I just dont go cussing everyone out or threatening them with a shotgun if a neighbor or someone else comes onto my property. I go out to talk to them and if needed I kick them off the property and in this case, if I had found out he was a neighbors brother I would go and talk to the neighbor about what had happened.

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www.salmonslayer-simplelife.blogspot.com