neighbor dispute involving canine chicken consumption

[Swedishchef]

You admit that you could have gone over earlier, then tell him that.

I also think you did a few things right.

I don't care how made people get, no matter what, nobody has the right to enter someone else's residence. Simple. At most it is a criminal code offence in Canada and at least it could be considered tresspassing. And perhaps some bylaw for your dog going onto their property. Common law dictates what happens if your dog attacks something such as chickens (it is a civil matter).

Maybe it is time to consider getting a goldfish

 

[charly]

Something I never forgot.. When I took my pistol permit course the one cop said to us to remember this... If your in your home and you legally shoot someone, remember, when you go to court the jurors are the ones that have to find you not guilty...something to think about....

 

[lukem]

My $.02...

1. Apologize for the dog's actions so he/she know that you feel bad about it (sounds like you do)
2. Reimburse them for the chickens
3. Get a plan on how to keep the dog away from the chickens in the future
4. Tell them your plan on how to keep the dog away from the chickens
5. Tell them, in no uncertain terms, that it is not OK for them to come in to your house uninvited, swearing, and in an aggressive and confrontational manner. The next time that happens you will alert local law enforcement.

I don't care what happened, but if someone did that to me they'd have the fuzz knocking on their door in short order.

 

[basod]

Rusty I think this is a case of who's the bigger man. Things are often said, then regretted, in the heat of the moment - as you stated he appologized for calling you stupid.
Time walk over there and tell him your sorry for threatening him without "justifying your actions". Along with some chicken restitution and a mutual promise to resolve any future issues with calmer heads.

My nieghbor has guinea hens that he lets roam the national forest and surrounding property they were up in my garden one morning and had Billy Bob along with the chihuahuas all riled up.
Called him and asked if they'd gotten out - no they just roam around, are they causing trouble? I'll come get them.
I said no figured foxes/coyotes/dogs would thin them out. Swung the door open waiting for the feathers to fly! - but man if my dogs weren't confused as all heck with them

 

[seige101]

My opinion.

You and everyone who just lets their dog wander the neighborhood is in the wrong. Leash laws exist for reasons such as this. I am a dog lover but don't want other dogs chit in my yard and i have a problem with any especially aggressive looking dogs running towards me if i do not know them. You should have not let the dog wander after the first incident. You should of immediately went over instead of thinking about doing it soon.

Your neighbor is in the wrong for entering the house without you inviting him in.

In a heated situation such as it was, saying i could shoot you for entering the house is not the right thing to say at that particular moment. Things could have escalated much worse.

Depending on the local laws, your neighbor could be well within the law to shoot the dog on site if he ever wanders onto their property again. This has been a huge issue in my area and new england in general.

 

[Scols]

Replace the chickens, and get rid of the dog. You should have gone over immeadiately and nipped the thing in the bud. It sounds like you dont like conflict or you would have gone over right away, so you just have to put your tail between your legs and deal with the fact that someone owned you in your own home. If you had dealt with it after the first incident and the guy still wanted to be an a$$hole then I think giving him an ass beating would be justified,but you waited to long so you just have to deal with the bruised ego.

 

[tbuff]

1.) If the dog gets loose and kills a neighbors "pets" why is the dog not tied up somewhere or crated? That alone seems neglectful on your part, so you really do need to apologize and realize that maybe these people did have a bond with their chickens and simply saying "i'll buy you new ones" may not be as enticing as you think.

2.) If I were your neighbor, quite honestly, I probably would have called you the same names as he did. Your neglect led to his chickens death.

3.) He had absolutely, no right barging into your house uninvited in a fit of rage. I believe you did respond quite well at that point, because if it were me, he'd be laying flat on his a$$ with his little head lamp shining on the ceiling....

You need to apologize in a very sincere manner, offer to help cleanup the mess you created and learn to keep the dog where he belongs.

Being someone who adopted a pitt bull, this hits close to home... more often than not, it is neglectful dog ownership behavior like this that gives some breeds a bad name.

Bottom line: Make it right.

 

[stee6043]

As I said, I brought up the shooting to show that that's a measure of how "off the reservation" the guy's actions were. Stee6043, I did NOT "open the door". He opened it, and I'd barely realized it was him by that time. I still don't see how you can say you don't have much sympathy. Aren't we talking about a crime against property versus a crime against a person ?

A crime is a crime, right? Malicious destruction of property is a felony in MI if your neighbor can prove the value of those chickens exceeds $1,000.00. I have no idea if any kind of negligence or some other law would apply here but the point is that one criminal activity wouldn't "cancel out" another. Assault may be no more or no less significant than the potential charge against you.

I didn't say it was okay that he entered your home uninvited.

Did you ever ask him to leave? Did he ever refuse to leave after you asked him?

I'm just trying to say that I don't think you have much of a leg to stand on regarding him coming into your house based on the way you told the story. You can't say he was trespassing if you carried on an unpleasant conversation with him inside your home and never asked him to leave. Had he come in, you immediately asked him to leave, he refused, you called the police this would have been a different story.

 

[Jags]

I don't believe this horse has any breath left in it.

I think the wise thing to do, is to close this before any raw nerves are hit that will require surgery.

OP - in the mix of all these posts I hope you have found your answer.