A friend of mine posted this on FB:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4002678880377&set=o.322375064443821&type=1&theater

I commented that the guy shooting the dog should have lead it more so as to put the arrow in the right spot.
Which of course pissed them off haha.

Anyway, am I wrong? I have friends who live in the country that don't hesitate to talk about shooting any feral dogs that come onto their property because they tear up their chickens and goats and are generally dangerous as hell to humans. And if he's shooting it just because its a pitt, I've got a co-worker who has pitts and while she talks about what loveable dorky fuzzballs they are but she will also roll her eyes and laugh about all the stuff it kills and brings home.

So it seems like shooting a wild dog especially a pitt would the right idea.

But what say yall?

Shoot it in the guts so it doesn't die in your yard 

A good stock dog was gold, but of a different generation where I grew up.  In general they were used on the farm to keep varmints away, and to alert us of any real threat to the stock.

Here in the west where I am now, you still see the occasional healer or collie that is used to work stock.

I got to put down one of my collies as a old boy/young man of about 11 when it decided chasing the cows was good sport.  It was a growing experience that taught me a lot about the value of life and the meaning of death.

Sarge is right...To many people today are sheltered from these lessons.  It is bad for them that they don't know better, and worse for us when they refuse to learn the hard lessons of life.

When I grew up in Michigan it was common practice by hunters and farmers to shoot feral dog packs whenever they saw them, because of the damage they did to wildlife and farm animals and the fear of rabies.

I probably have it lucky to a degree, we really don't have much if any feral dogs around these parts, and I make a distinction between the wolves and coyotes around here. Basically my theory is the wolves and whatnot along with climate keep the numbers down, however I typically haven't had much animal fear over the years. I would shoot a dog if I felt it was threatening me and I couldn't handle it but it would take a fair bit to get me to that point. I've tangled with a fair number of critters over the years and I'm happy to say around here I typically don't have to shoot anything domestic, just normal wild animals like porkies and skunks, and once in a while a coon. Either way I'm at heart a dog lover, I've had to put down several of my dogs over the years and several of other people's who couldn't or didn't want to do it themselves. Maybe I'm soft hearted etc, but I still remember each time I've had to do it, and when I consider having to put down another dog I can't help but have those thoughts come into my mind but there would be allot less restriction if it was an issue of protecting Sarah or Eli vs. myself. I'd rather patch myself up from a fight(granted not a huge dog mind you), then have to shoot first, however if it gets to the point where I'm taking any sort of physical hurt there is very little chance that dog would not be done that day.

That said unless it was a big problem in my area I'd have a hard time adapting a shoot first attitude, but at the end of the day I also understand that circumstances effect opinion, so basically I'm not going to judge anything like that just because I don't have to deal with it here doesn't mean anyone else is wrong having to do it elsewhere.

Luke

22 LR is the common choice when I was growing up, but we always were able to get clear and close headshots.  I agree to use enough gun for a clean kill.

Any type can be mean, any type can be fine. Some breeds are more predisposed towards aggressive behaviour (don't pretend there aren't differences across breeds, anyone who trains dogs will laugh in your face), but all are capable of it, and upbringing still rules all.

That said, an aggressive feral dog is an aggressive feral dog. Kill it, quickly.

Mike

Booksmart probably heard of this one since it was relatively close, but last year or the year before there was an elderly couple in North Georgia in Rabun County (I think Rabun) that was killed by a pack of feral dogs that they had been feeding near their home.

I go out with a friend of mine who raises sheep in the mountain area above Lapahouhou (don't asK). There is several large packs of "feral" dogs that have been known to attack and kill sheep. One such pack took on a full grown "Comendador (sp?)". You know, the dog that looks like a rastafarian on 4 legs. They are smart, savey and deadly critters. We keep having to come at them from a different direction or blind, they learn.

Komondor.  Hungarian sheep dogs.  They and the Kuvasz  ( Kuvaszok = plural ) are the primary herding breeds in that part of the world and both breeds are bad to the bone.  No fear in them and if they go bad, a bullet is the only cure. 

Booksmart probably heard of this one since it was relatively close, but last year or the year before there was an elderly couple in North Georgia in Rabun County (I think Rabun) that was killed by a pack of feral dogs that they had been feeding near their home.

When I lived in north Alabama we used to go hunting, hiking and shooting in the Sylacauga Nat'l. Forest.  There were several packs of feral dogs in that area and more than one missing person was quietly attributed to their activity.  They would run deer, kill livestock and if you were dumb enough to be alone and unaware in the piney woods you too were on the menu.  The best guess was that they got started when some of the country got logged out back in the 1920's and the great depression forced many of the pulpwooders and subsistence farmers to seek work elsewhere in order to live. The few that were left went to war in WW2 for an army paycheck.  They left behind most everything including livestock and dogs - which is why there are a great many wild boar and feral dog packs today.  Rumor has it that moonshiners in those parts would kill a deer and leave the carcass just so the packs would stay close in the hope of scavenging a meal.  Cheap security.   

Pitbulls are a dangerous breed.  People who say otherwise are deluding themselves.  In fact all dogs can be dangerous.  Look at the size of their teeth.  Dogs are nothing more than genetically modified wolves.  Reading some of those FB comments makes me afraid for the future of our nation.

Pitts are not generally human aggressive, but they do tend strongly to being dog aggressive. This also seems to tranlate to aggression toward other animals and livestock, so a stray pitt can be very troublesome. They are slso strong willed so if they are not trained their natural aggression will usually surface, especially in a pack.  Quite often people bitten by pitts are trying to break up a fight or save their pet from an attack. In general, I like pitts and I currently have one. They can be great dogs, you just have to understand that a pitt is not a lab.  Even though I like them, I would not hesitate to put down a feral dog on my property no matter what breed it is.

Our second dog was a drop-off by someone. Showed up in a rainstorm, looked miserable. We took him in and, while he has some annoying behavioral habits (he's a chewer and a digger), he is a really sweet dog. When a guest comes into the house, he really gets defensive about "his" packmates (my kids), and will actively position himself between them and the strange human until we tell him to stand down.

Mike

Feral dogs? Put them in the dirt, or the river, they attract bears if you just leave them in the ditch.  People who won't keep their "pets" tied up, live trap them, spray paint them pink, and give them a shot of diluted ammonia in the face to send them home.  Otherwise the morons, owners, just go get a new dog and let them run like the last ones.