Re: Pitbull without fence
Posted by:
Dog Walker81
()
Date: December 09, 2014 01:45AM
ConcernedMom99 Wrote:
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> My neighbors have a pitbull that they let loose in
> their yard. They have an electronic fence but not
> a real fence. Is this legal? The dog will charge,
> bark, and scare me and my young kids to death. Is
> there anything we can do about it? I have talked
> to our HOA and they are concerned but don't know
> if there is precedent requiring fences. Are hidden
> fences legal?
As long as their dog stays on their property, the dog owners are probably are complying with the law. If it comes off their property, you should have a video recorder or cell phone video app going to document it. More on that later.
An initial step is to try, in a friendly way, to raise the issue with the neighbor. If a couple lives there, it’s probably better to talk with the wife (rather than the husband). Explain that your kids are scared to go in their own front yard and walk in the neighborhood.
Don’t put the neighbor(s) on the defensive about the breed of the dog. Remember it’s their fur-baby that you’re talking about.
If neighbors are dismissive, or otherwise provide an unsatisfactory response, you could call in a barking dog complaint to the FCPD/Animal Control (703-691-2131). (I’m assuming that you’re in Fairfax County, not Fairfax City, Vienna, Falls Church, etc.)
I don’t know how helpful they will be, but Animal Control & FCPD were not especially helpful in several contacts which I had with them in a two year ordeal over neighbors letting their big dogs off-leash and off their property to charge my small leashed dog and me 3 times as we walked by on public sidewalks and streets. (Maybe I’ll post a later reply with gory details of my Kafkaesque, unsuccessful struggle to get clear-cut lawbreakers brought into court.) Defensive self-help measures that I took were more successful, but were costly and required discipline & extreme focus on situational awareness.
I used pepper spray twice in 2 years to repel attacks from the neighbors’ two big dogs (about 65 lbs and 85 lbs). My elderly dog was 27 lbs, but she passed away last month. A bite or two by the big dogs and my crippled dog would have been killed or have had to be euthanized. Her life would have been 4 months or 2 years shorter, depending on which time the attacking dogs got to her.
Get the Mace brand pepper spray gel or similar gel. The gel is more expensive (about $30, if I remember correctly) than the regular spray, but has a longer range and stronger stream that is less likely to get blown back in your face (a common problem with the regular spray). Unfortunately, the gel is less convenient to carry as it's in a larger can than the regular spray.
Importantly, in order to repel a sudden attack, you must be able to quickly and instinctively grab and spray the pepper gel. It has a belt clip which should be attached to a pants pocket or belt on the side of your dominant hand. You should practice “quick drawing” it so you can do deploy the pepper gel instantly when you’re under attack and the adrenaline is flowing.
There is no real guarantee that pepper spray or pepper gel will stop an attacking dog, which is why Fairfax County Police will shoot, rather than pepper spray, a large or dangerous dog coming off-leash towards an officer. Still, pepper spray seemed to work the two times that it saved my leashed dog and me.
As a back-up to the pepper spray, you should have something that will work as a ballistic weapon, such as a baseball bat or a baton. If you stay in your front yard, a shovel would work.
A walking stick can be the ballistic weapon. It can be used to fend off loose dogs. You can use it like a shield to block the path of a dog coming at you, but a large or muscular dog can easily push through such a blocking attempt. In extreme situations, the stick could be used like a baseball bat to clobber an illegally-off-leash dog that is threatening your children or otherwise mounting a serious attack.
Record a video of the loose dog to show Animal Control. If you have better luck than I did at accessing the Fairfax County alleged justice system, you could show video to the court. Use your cell phone or get a mini-DVR such as the Sony Bloggie (about $130 online). It helps to turn on the device at any danger point such as when you anticipate trouble. If you get a walking stick that serves as a camera monopod, you can screw in your mini-DVR on top. Now it’s easy to record if the dog charges off-property and off-leash, you’ve got video proof.