farmer threatened to shoot my dog

As said above, if the farmer thinks that any dog is a problem for his livestock or land, the dog doesn't see another day.

IMO, there is a very good reason for the law being that way. The farmer doesn't need to worry about being wrong, and so can act quicker should they need to.

It may well be that the farmer got out of bed on the wrong side this morning, and chose to take his bad mood out on you. Sorry, but you were on his land, he's allowed to do that.

Having read this my thoughts are as follows. The farmer was wrong to threaten to shoot your dog once you had it on the lead. He has a right to shoot a dog if it is worrying livestock or has been seen to be doing it previously. What he doesn't have is the right to threaten to do it once it is in your control with a lead on. He is quite entitled to tell you to put it on a lead. As it is only one field then you should have kept it on a lead and kept to the designated footpath. Unfortunately you lost your temper and argued with him. It would have been better to put your dog on the lead and kept walking across the field, You could still have a word with the police about his behaviour, as there are no witnesses it is his his word against yours so they can't do much but it might make him be a bit more reasonable next time.

Daryl.

Originally Posted by BillyC

As a country boy I can tell you... the farmer is right. He has every right to shoot an animal that he feels is out of control or a threat to his land or livestock. It's his land, and your duty to keep your dog off it. That's the way it is.

Most farmers are more reasonable... but you'll be in court for any damage your animal does, and I can assure you that you'll have a hard time winning.

+1. I can understand that the way he confronted you upset you, but whilst your dog is on his land, keep it on a lead. A right of way is designed to allow you to get across someone else's large amount of land without having to go miles out of your way. It does not mean you can use his land in general to allow your dog to run free.

Originally Posted by timwilky

I have only had one real problem where somebody knocked on the door and asked if we had seen his dog,

Yes it is in the shed,

Well can I have it

Not until you pay for the geese it has killed

Eventually he coughed up and I gave him his dog back in a sack

You may have legally been within your rights to shoot the dog, but if that's actually how you did that you're a callous ****.

Suppose you felt nice and smug about making your point as you handed him the blood soaked bag.

[timwilky]

Why.

Many a time we suffered loss due to dogs, when ever we got one, we tried to establish the owner to pay for the damage their dog had done.

So my kids smash your windows. Would you not expect me to pay for them?

YC you have my sympathy that you have a dog deemed hostile alsations gets such a bad rep but they're just like any dog if you treat it with respect. (unless you poke yours with a stick in which case bad dog! lol).
Mines a Collie/Spaniel cross she can be seen in the pets thing on here or even in my profile albums.

Ah here is Baph the voice of reason I mean no offence mate its just normally and ironically you mirror my thoughts exsactly (and you write better too ). I say normally becuase I'm obviously looking at this one from a different angle to yourself.
Does it not seem compltely crazy that a person can posses a firearm and have no retorte for using it? There are so many laws and issues surround who can use what machines on a building site. Yet people as loopy as this joker are allowed to wonder about with a 12bore?

One thing which is coming across misleading however is that dogs do not HAVE to be on a lead the key term is close control. Fair enough this was not the case with my dog as I just chucked her ball, but a lot of the farmer/country types seem to assume my dog was chasing the cows or been a pest. She wasnt she was playing fetch, and he'd just witnessed how obidient the dog was when going from the common land to the field.

Timwinky would you honestly now just shoot a dog on site, even if the owner was in view?

Originally Posted by leedsmatt7

YC you have my sympathy that you have a dog deemed hostile alsations gets such a bad rep but they're just like any dog if you treat it with respect. (unless you poke yours with a stick in which case bad dog! lol).
Mines a Collie/Spaniel cross she can be seen in the pets thing on here or even in my profile albums.

One thing which is coming across misleading however is that dogs do not HAVE to be on a lead the key term is close control. Fair enough this was not the case with my dog as I just chucked her ball, but a lot of the farmer/country types seem to assume my dog was chasing the cows or been a pest. She wasnt she was playing fetch, and he'd just witnessed how obidient the dog was when going from the common land to the field.

I assume you mean Miss YC YC has a black lab, they have one of the softest reps going hehe.

Although Alsatians get a bad rep for me I prefer it this way as noone comes near me when we're out and about and I feel much safer that way. Unfortunately any breed has the potential to be a "sheep-worrier" and the farmer is bound to tar every hound with the same brush. If you think how much of his livelihood is invested in his livestock, you'd get damn protective too. This is why I do not let mine off the lead regardless. Only when I know he's out of sight of a farmer lol and even then he's not allowed to go too far (probably something to do with him being a rescue)

[timwilky]

I have never shot a dog for the sake of it.

I shot killers or those in the process of killing, I have had to shoot ewes with their throats ripped and lambs with their rear legs hanging off.

Apart from the occasional clay, I enjoyed shooting game. I have enjoyed killing for the sake of it. ie, not to eat

Originally Posted by timwilky

Why.

Many a time we suffered loss due to dogs, when ever we got one, we tried to establish the owner to pay for the damage their dog had done.

So my kids smash your windows. Would you not expect me to pay for them?

Yes. But you'd have to remove the shotgun I'd firmly shove so far up your ass you could smell it, if you even thought about threatening to shoot any kids of mine.

Having a shotgun license is a privilege; reliant on the fact you won't be a **** with it.

Originally Posted by timwilky

Why.

Many a time we suffered loss due to dogs, when ever we got one, we tried to establish the owner to pay for the damage their dog had done.

So my kids smash your windows. Would you not expect me to pay for them?

I'm not suggesting that you shot the dog for no reason, although if the dog could have been caught alive and the losses still paid for by its owner you would have been no worse off, I should add.

But did it not occur to you that perhaps the owner didn't set his dog on your geese? That perhaps presenting him with a sack containing his dead dog when you've led him to believe it's alive in your shed is just unnecessary and wrong?

Yes I would expect them to pay for the windows. Not with their lives mind.