My dog, my fence, the law???

[chocolatepuppy]

Well it finally happened. My husband had Lacey out and the neighbor, who is a druggie, her daughter and her 3 year old grandson come out her backdoor with her 5 little dogs on leashes to go for a walk. The little boy races to our fence and Lacey starts barking and runs over there much faster than my husband can get to the fence.(her driveway is closer to our fence than our garage)Well of course he sticks his fingers in and thank god Lacey licked his fingers!My husband grabbed her and stuck her in the house. The boys mother, also stoned,grabbed him.
Lacey is not well socialized with children and she is a very fearful dog,not aggressive,fearful.We spent $2,000. on a fence and have to worry at least 1/2 the time she is out there because of this(she's never out by herself)The daughter and grandson, at least for now don't live there.
Our fence is 6 ft wood along the back and the rest is 4 ft. chain link.It is just our back yard that is fenced,it's about 90 ft. by 60 ft.The zoning says it must be two feet off of our property line and on her side it is four feet. We did that to line it up with our wood fence and with the house.
So my question is this: what if Lacey snaps at the little boys fingers through the fence? Not only is she fenced on her own property but the little boy is four feet in on our property!Will we have a legal leg to stand on? Does anyone know? Has anyone had a problem like this? Any opinion is welcome.But please don't suggest talking to the neighbor, like I said she's stoned or drunk most of the time.

[Sevens]

I can't answer your legal questions, but I have an idea that might help.

I've heard that some people get rolls of this plastic stuff and weave it through the holes in the chain link. Perhaps this would deter the kid from sticking his fingers through the fence and maybe if Lacey couldn't see him outside, she wouldn't run up to the fence. One lady on another board I check out did this on one side of her yard because she had kids sticking things through the fence and teasing her dog. She said it has worked like a charm and cost her around $120.

Good luck and hugs to your sweet Lacey!

[heinz57_79]

Personally, I think any child stupid enough to stick his fingers thru a fence deserves to get bitten.

I would think that it would be the fault of the parent for not watching the child, and for not making sure the child knows NOT to go sticking its hands thru fences with dogs on the other side. Of course, we are talking about the country where if I robbed your house, fell and hurt myself, I could sue YOU and WIN. To be on the safe side, I would try to put something up that would prevent him from sticking his fingers thru. If he managed to do it anyway, it would show that you would have at least tried to fix it so he couldn't. It should then go back to the parents.

Not much help, I know... sorry...

[Tonya]

My stupid neighbor put her foot into a hole in our fence and Roxy supposedly bit it. (I wasn't there to witness it.) I asked my neighbor why she put her foot in the hole and she said "To see if she would bite me." Anyways, I called and asked around. I was told that if your pet is on your property, is up to date on it's shots and licensing, and isn't known to be trained to be aggressive, you have a leg to stand on.

[lv4dogs]

You're best bet would be to call your county animal control, they can tell you.


You hit the nail right on the head w/ this one:

I would think that it would be the fault of the parent for not watching the child, and for not making sure the child knows NOT to go sticking its hands thru fences with dogs on the other side. Of course, we are talking about the country where if I robbed your house, fell and hurt myself, I could sue YOU and WIN. To be on the safe side, I would try to put something up that would prevent him from sticking his fingers thru. If he managed to do it anyway, it would show that you would have at least tried to fix it so he couldn't. It should then go back to the parents.

Personally I hate the way they run things around here (the USA). I mean its different if your dog is loose, but if your dog is on your property than you shouldn't be responsible even if your dog kills someone (not like they should have killer dogs but ya know what I'm saying?)

[Kfamr]

Wanna invest in an electric fence?


I'm not sure about your legal questions though, sorry I can't help!
It's too bad those kids are in a situation like that and their parents are such a way.

[ParNone]

I'm of the mentality that it takes a village to raise a child. As an adult, I feel like it's my responsbility too, to look out for the safety of lil' kids, even if they're not mine. Kids will be kids. They will make mistakes, as they grow up and learn through life experiences. If I felt that my dog was a danger to them, I'd be taking precautions to prevent it and wouldn't so much worry about the laws and what my dog could legally get away with.
I love my dogs dearly, but kids come before dogs, IMO.

Par...

[Logan]

Par, I'm in total agreement with you. Even if it isn't our "legal" responsibility, I feel it is our "moral" responsibility to protect children, especially when we know there are extinuating circumstances.

What a sad, horrible situation, chocolatepuppy. I'm glad that you and your husband are so careful.

[heinz57_79]

Wanna invest in an electric fence?

I think you should put up barbed wire..... on THEIR side! muahahahahaha!! With land mines!

[micki76]

Originally posted by heinz57_79
Personally, I think any child stupid enough to stick his fingers thru a fence deserves to get bitten.

Wow, that's really mean. The 3 year old child has only learned, or not learned in this case, what the adults in his life have taught him. Saying the child is stupid enough to be bit is a little much. Saying the adults deserve to be bit is more accurate and something with which I agree.

I don't think you'd be liable, except possibly for the fact that you know your dog may be fear aggressive. I really like the idea Sevens had of weaving something in the chain link to prevent the child from sticking his hands through.

[jazzcat]

I knew someone that had this problem and the animal control officer told her to post signs that said "Beware of Dog" on the fence in plain view. He told her that if anyone climbed her fence or stuck a finger in then she would have all her bases covered. Her dog wasn't aggressive but the neighbor's kids kept teasing him and would work him up enough that they were worried he might bite them when they stuck their fingers in. The AC officer also told her to call the police and have them warn the neighbors to leave the dog alone.

If your neighbor is a druggie and stoned when the police come to warn her then maybe that will end some of your trouble.

Good luck.

[chocolatepuppy]

OMG! Thanks for all the responses! I've been meaning to post this but last night got me motivated. Thanks for all suggestions.
Let me clear up one thing, I do not want this little boy to get bit as he is only three and it is not his fault he has no one to watch him.We are very careful about this situation but I do not feel that we should not be able to take our dog out because *we* should be the responsible ones!
I didn't mean to make it sound like this was just a legal issue. I DON'T want my dog taken away (they would have to use a hell of a lot of force to do that) and PTS because of some druggie that can't watch their kid! What about their responsibility as a parent?
I will take the advice of contacting someone to find out what our rights and my dogs rights are though.
And BTW, some of you were very naughty with your responses(but I loved it)

[Kfamr]

Maybe call some sort of authority....Child services? The police?

[chocolatepuppy]

ParNone, What do you think I should do to prevent anything from happening? Get rid of my dog? And I'm not trying to 'get away' with anything, just trying to protect myself and my dog!

[chocolatepuppy]

Kay we've tried the police. We live in a small town and believe me they love to come out and see the two 'girls" They are the kind that attract trouble but always come out with their nose clean. Her last husband(3rd) is in prision for felonious assault.As far as childrens services I have no proof other than seeing them make drug deals and watching them snort stuff.A few neighbors have complained about her but so far it does no good.And we don't live in a bad neighborhood either believe it or not, all it takes is one bad druggie!