Hi all Im after advice for my sister. She lives in a house with a huge garden and 2 paddocks. Her neighbour as the same land but they share a drive.
The neighbour as 2 English Bull Terriers. 1 is a nice dog the other can be nasty. It as bitten a friend of theirs on the leg and also my husband. Both times it was only a small bite and didnt want to take any action.
My sister as chickens geese rabbits the usuals.
This dog is always trying  to get to her animals.Ripping and the fence and such. The fence also as netting and should be safe enough in normal circumstances. THe neighbours have always been aware and tolds my sisters family just to hit it with something.
Today my 10 year old neice came in screaming the dog had grabbed the gooses beak through the fence and wouldnt let go.
When my sister came out 2 friends of the nieghbours had got the dog off.
The poor geese was in such a state it had lost loads of blood its beak was in peices and was in shock so my brother in law put the geese out of misery.
Now its mate is in such a state they cant calm it down.
You see the dogs are left to roam between gardens. If the dogs were kept in their own garden which my sisters are none of these things would happen.
My sister needs to know what rights she as. The owner of these dogs is a police officer. Not that it should make a difference, but you never know.
Thanks for any advice also does anyone know anything to help the goose left behined.
Thank you

What a shocking experience.
Sorry I cannot be of any help but someone will be along soon.

would like to add what kind of plod would have such uncontrolled animals very difficult situation it would be 6ft solid fences all around for me I'm afraid.

Roni

Ann Harpwood who runs Justice for Dogs should be able to offer you legal advise in respect of your neighbours dog.
Regarding the poor goose, I would have thought that the RSPCa could offer advice or any organisation that campaigns for the welfare of farm animals. Try doing a search on the internet Justice for Dogs has a web site and there are many orgaisations that campaign for the welfare of farm animals too.

Quote - Iwould have thought that the RSPCa could offer advice or any organisation that campaigns for the welfare of farm animals

The rspca know diddly squat about geese (and most other things!!)  You need to get a new gander or goose or whichever has died asap. Single geese do not fare well. When the fox took our gander last year we went straight out & got another & in a couple of weeks harmony was resumed.

From the post its not clear whether the goose had put its head through into nextdoors land (mine always have their heads through the sheep fencing into the veg plot pinching carrot tops!!) If this were the case then it might be viewed differently in law. However if the dogs head was through into the gooses side of the fenc then definitely the goose owner would be the aggrieved party. I suggest keeping remaining fowl away from fence & putting up an inner sheep wire fence that is greater then length of gooses neck!
Regards the person who said "the majority of larger breed will attack something like a goose " well what a blanket statement!!!!! I have 9 very LARGE hounds who roam freely with geese. I have never had any hound or dog, all of whom have been large in the last 30 years, attack any of my fowl. I have had numerous clients large breeds here & they are very wary of my geese (quite sensibly so!!)  please do not tar LARGE BREEDS in this way. its the local cocker & his jack russel mate that killed all my goslings last year!!! :(

Perhaps it should have been worded "Any dog which is not accustomed to poultry is likely to attack them".

Call your council and ask for the telephone number of the dog warden.  Report this to the dog warden.

Also you should report it to the police.  You should also report the bite to your husband's leg.

It doesn't matter if your neighbour is Sherlock Holmes, he still needs to abide by the law.

His vicious dog should be destroyed - it is unacceptable to attack livestock or people in this way.

Since your goose was officially on your property when the attack happened, you had the right, as a farmer would, to shoot his dog in order to protect your livestock (goose).  Perhaps he is a bit hazy about this part of the law and might need reminding by a visit from your dog warden.

I'm sorry for what has happened to your goose - I hate to see an animal suffer like that.

I would get some electric tape and fence posts and put it for strands deep around my garden. Once the aforementioned dog gets a belt from that across its nose it will think twice.

Has anyone taken photos of the damage? Evidence like this is essential if they want to take it further.

I'm afraid I don't know the legalities of any of this. But I would think that even though the dog was on it's own side, it has still attacked your sister's goose and there should be something that can be done, this dog is known to be aggressive, why on earth is it allowed to wander around unsupervised and unleashed.  Your neighbour being a police office is all the more unbelievable!  What on earth is going on.

Legally it is difficult as the dog was on it's own land, under the circumstances the dog's owner should keep it in a secure enviroment and certainly not leave it unsupervised after what has happened.  As advised the RSPCA may be able to help at least they could talk to the owner of the dog if nothing else.

Geese as you will know form very close family units, and the one left will be horrified by what has happened, not only has it lost a friend/ family member it witnessed the attack and will be terribly upset.  Your sister needs to talk to her vet, RSPCA as to the best way to cope with the goose that is left.

Hopefully this dogs owner has a conscience and will do the right thing.

Your sister really needs to put a dubble fence up around the area that connects to the land belonging to the neighbour.Or a solid fence with maybe some mesh above it to stop the dogs jumpimg over.It's not right for the dog to be biteing people,but to be honest the majority of larger breed will attack something like a goose if it gets the chance.Not all dogs will so I don't need ye all saying yer dogs would never do such a thing.We ONLY KNOW ONCE THEY ARE CONFRONTED WITH THE PROBLEM WHEN YOUR NOT ABOUT.A dog may be very behave'd around the owner,but when out loose and with another dog things change and the dog may do things you would never expect.My dogs have come across geese,swans and fram animals as we have parks and some city farms nearby.They usually behave themselfs,but to be honest I would'nt like to see what they would behave like around them if I were'nt there.

Well I couldn't trust my dog with anything with feathers whether I was there or not and I admit it. However, our property is surrounded by a 6' fence, wall and 8' iron gate so she can't bother anyone else as this poor family were.  I can't understand this mentality of one law for one and another for everyone else.  If our garden hadn't already been secure before we decided to get our dog it would have been by the time we got her.  It seems ludicrous to me that the geese were secure but a vicious dog wasn't.  Not only has this caused harm to the geese but what about the post's niece, is she ever likely to forget what she saw? What would the other family have done if this had been the other way round and their animals had been attacked by an out of control dog?

Anyone else would have called the police, taken legal advice re damage to property, trespass and then demanded the council dump an ASBO on the arrogant so and so who thinks he is above the law.  Hit the dog with a stick? yeah right, what if the little girl had done that and the dog turned on her, who would be at fault in the neighbour's eyes?

I know we have to try and get on with neighbours and it's not nice falling out with them but it seems like this neighbour has taken advantage and needs to know he is very very wrong.  Sorry just isn't enough

To be honest whether the dog is on his property or not if it is a right of way or somewhere that delivery people and others ahve a right to be then the owner is obliged to keep his dog so that it cannot molest them, a bit like not allowing my lot in the front garden.

As you can probably tell, this made me very angry.  I think the reason it made me so angry is not only because of what happened but because on another thread we are talking about deliquents and their Staffs.  This policeman in my opinion is worse than they are because he knows what he should be doing regarding his dog and I sometimes think that people in authority use their position to abuse other people's rights.  I am not saying this is happening in this case but it does happen.

Under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 the owner and anyone else under whose control the dog is at the time will be guilty of an offence if it worries livestock on agricultural land. The dog must have been attacking or chasing livestock in such a way that it could reasonably be expected to cause injury or suffering or, in the case of females, abortion or the loss or diminution of their produce. An offence is not committed if at the time of the worrying the livestock were trespassing, the dog belonged to the owner of the land on which the trespassing livestock were and the person in charge of the dog did not cause the dog to attack the livestock. The definition of 'livestock' includes cattle, sheep, goats, swine, horses and poultry. Game birds are not included.

Therefore your neighbour could be prosecuted under the above law.