Our Floyd County Neighbors Violate Property Rights

In 1997, my husband and I were able to purchase 12 acres and a home here in Floyd County. Our dream was to run a small boarding kennel and a hobby farm. What we failed to realize when we bought our dream, was that our neighbors had other plans in mind. It appears to us that the purpose of buying acreage in Floyd County is not to live a peaceful and tranquil life with our family and our beloved pets, but to provide a playground and killing fields for all of the free roaming dogs owned by our neighbors. 

In the past 12 years we have lost 23 of our pets to attacks by roaming neighborhood dogs. While I was going to eventually get around to writing a blog post about owning dogs responsibly, I had hoped that I would only be writing to tell you that we’d lost 22 pets. Tragically, the slaughter total rose by one more yesterday morning, and I cannot find any other way to move forward without writing this down.

It all started about 10 years ago with ducks. When the ducks had grown enough to be taken down to our pond, Jeff was so pleased about it. The ducks enjoyed the pond for less than 36 hours before they were all killed and maimed beyond repair by a neighbor’s dog.

So then we tried goats. There were three separate attacks. The first two, only a few goats killed and injured. The last attack was much worse. We had nine goats, most were pregnant. By the time my stepdaughter saw the attack and called Jeff out to help, seven of the nine goats were dead or mortally wounded. That day we had to hire a back hoe to dig a hole big enough to bury them all.

So, we shored up the goat barn with wire to try to make it dog proof and decided we’d try chickens. Only a few at first.  Within a week, those few were killed.

That was about 5 years ago. After that, we decided we’d have nothing smaller at the farm than a pony. We still had our dogs and 4 house cats. 

Not long after the chickens were killed, I was at my arena teaching a dog training lesson to a client of mine. That morning, both of us watched as two neighborhood dogs ran down and killed a young deer in the woods behind my pasture. My client, a city dweller, was horrified. 

Now you are probably thinking that all these dogs must be Pit Bulls or Rottweillers or some other “mean” breed of dog. I will tell you that, while we had one Pit Bull and one Rottweiller attack our pets, the rest of the attacks have been perpetrated by Labrador Retrievers, Lab Mixes, Boxer Mixes, and Beagle Mixes. 

All of these dogs, however, have one thing in common. They are owned by people who have absolutely no respect for the property and the property rights of their neighbors. These people, who would throw a fit if I parked my car in their yard or threw my garbage on their steps, see absolutley nothing wrong with turing their dogs loose to roam the neighborhood and maim and kill other people’s property.  I spoke a few years ago to a neighbor down the street with a Black Lab. She showed me the scars on her dog’s head where another neighbor had shot the dog for chasing cattle on his property. This woman told me that dogs should be allowed to roam free because that is the way Mother Nature intended for them to live and that is what makes her dog happiest. I beg you to explain that logic to me.

Three years ago, after a neighbor of ours experienced an attack on his goats, Jeff contacted our Councilman and Animal Control. They agreed to make and post signs at both ends of Prater Road which stated the Ordinance regarding the prohibition against roaming animals along with the fine for the ordinance violation. They refused to send letters of notification out to residents of the area which was another request that we made.  The signs have done little to encourage adherence to the law. 

Last year our next door neighbor aquired three dogs. Two Boxer mixes and another Toy mix. The toy is an indoor dog, but the Boxer mixes have been left outdoors and unconfined. While these dogs stayed at home pretty well at first. The roaming began a few months ago. They have dug holes under our fence to get into our pasture to worry our horses. At any time of day you can drive down Prater Road and you will see them up and down the street and lounging in whatever yard they prefer for the moment. That is, when they are not in our pasture worrying our horses.  The toy dog comes in the pasture when it is let outdoors as well and stands two feet from my horse’s face and barks and lunges without stopping. While the dog could not do any kind of damage to the horse, the dog could be instantly killed by a paw or kick from one of my horses. These neighbors do not seem to care. We have a bit of history with them. They were the owners of the Rottweiller who, along with a Pit Bull, killed our herd of goats. My husband caught them in the act and shot them down inside the goat pen. When our neighbor came to get his dead dog, he said he didn’t have any money to pay us for the damages but he would check with his homeowner’s insurance. That is the last we have seen or heard from him. Now it is his dogs who have killed again.

These killings are not the fault of the dogs. Dogs, when left to their own devices, will follow their instincts. A dog with a natural prey drive who is allowed to roam freely, especially if the dog is with one or more other dogs, will quickly learn the sport of killing animals.  It is gratifying for them and it is fun for them. 

In my dog training classes, I spend time educating students about responsible dog ownership. I encourage them to visit Animal Control and pick up a copy of their local ordinances so that they can be familiar with them. I tell my students the story of my losses here at home and I stress to them the importance of safely confining their dogs so that their dogs do not become nuisances or killers. For the most part, I find that I am preaching to the choir when I do this. It is the people who do want to be responsible dog owners who pay tuition to attend my classes in the first place. The population of people who need to hear my message are those who would never consider stepping inside my facility or using my services. They are people with a different view of animals than what I and my clients share. 

I will never understand the reason for getting dogs so that they can be turned loose to roam. For the most part, these people blame their dogs when trouble happens. “He was a stupid dog.” “He was a mean dog.” “He was a stubborn dog.” I hear this blaming when people recount stories of dogs they’ve owned who have ended up shot, run over by cars, become pregnant, been attacked by other dogs, attacks animals or people, gets poisoned, and/or dies of pancreatitis or intestinal blockage from eating garbage and roadkill.  How is this possibly the dog’s fault?

A dog does what he is trained to do. Believe me, that if you’re not spending the time training your dog to do what you want him to do, he’s training himself to do the things he prefers to do.  Domestic dogs are bred to do work for humans. If you do not give your dog meaningful work and supervision, he will find his own work and it will doubtfully be productive or positive work.

Yesterday we lost a member of our family. Alan Jackson was a rare Chocolate Point Siamese Cat. We adopted him 14 years ago after he was found starving and eating dog food out of someone’s garage. My stepdaughter was 4 years old when we got him and she named him after her favorite country music singer. Jeff very quickly attached to Alan and they have been the very best of friends for the last 14 years. Jeff and I came up with a dozen nicknames for Alan over the years. He is known to most of our friends as “Titty Boy”. He was a loud and demanding Siamese, always willing to tell you exactly what he wanted and exactly what he thought about things. He loved food and his life revolved around the happiness of his belly. At mealtime, Alan always took his spot, *on the table* at the left of Jeff’s plate, politely waiting for a handout. Jeff’s time here at home was in nearly constant companionship with Alan. They ate together, slept together, and watched tv together. Alan enjoyed going outside and watching Jeff do chores or work on projects. If Jeff was outdoors, Alan was never very far away from him. Anytime we had company, Alan was the first of our pets that Jeff wanted our guests to meet.  Jeff could talk on and on about Alan’s adventures (both real and fabricated) and Alan’s personality and his likes and dislikes. Those two were like peas in a pod.  Jeff would chase me around the house with Alan in his arms holding out one of Alan’s back paws and saying “Kiss the Foot. Kiss the Foot. It will make you lucky.”  He loved to aggravate me about how Alan didn’t like the dogs and how Alan wanted a “D.F.E” (Dog Free Environment). After Jeff would shower, Alan would get in and lick the water, Jeff said ” Because it tastes like Daddy’s sugar.” 

The neighbor’s dogs killed Alan Jackson. I found him yesterday morning in the empty lot across the street from our home. He was lying in the leaves frozen.  The agony in his dead face haunts me.

We buried Alan yesterday afternoon, next to Jaymie, Carmen, and Logan. The graves here are becoming too numerous to count.

 

Cyndy Douan, MHDL CDT

Kingston Kennels, LLC
Georgia Dog Gym, LLC