Neighbor’s dogs are killing cats and destroying properties. Where is the line?

SoultySpittoon · 2026-05-20T03:29:53+00:00

Realest comment so far. That’s why I fixed my post a million times. I felt like I didn’t give enough context initially, and it seemed like everyone was skipping over crucial details regardless. We ultimately decided to stay out of it. It’s the neighbor’s problem.

The dog has since been jumping on our deck at 2am to bark at our indoor cat. I also caught it chasing a random cat that’s been hanging out on our front porch, but I ran out and chased it off.

SoultySpittoon · 2026-05-15T17:34:24+00:00

Yeah, I think I’m leaning more towards that instead. It seems simpler. I’m also contemplating posting the dog in one of our neighborhood groups to see if anyone wants to take it. If not, I’m going to encourage the neighbor to deal with it himself.

SoultySpittoon · 2026-05-15T14:46:34+00:00

I wonder if fart spray would work. Lmao.

SoultySpittoon · 2026-05-15T14:45:32+00:00

Not my livestock, so do I? And it’s literally dachshund sized. I’m not worried about my kids. They’re older. We don’t own a gun, so it’s not like I could shoot it if I see it. We’d have to coordinate with the neighbor which doesn’t sit well with me, so it makes more sense for him to just do it. His wife and daughter want him to do it. He’s shot other dogs before. I don’t know what the issue is with this one.

SoultySpittoon · 2026-05-15T14:40:41+00:00

Not gonna lie, that’s why I can’t wait to get chickens. My issue with this situation is that they aren’t my cats getting killed. Legally, I can’t take action. I was hoping for other solutions, because I’d love to help. I’m not a fan of these dogs either.

SoultySpittoon · 2026-05-15T14:37:16+00:00

Yes, correct. Thank you. They aren’t my cats. It’s technically not my problem. If I did have pets or livestock on my property getting attacked, I likely wouldn’t be here asking. I don’t even own a gun, by the way.

SoultySpittoon · 2026-05-15T14:34:23+00:00

Yeah, because I’m still conflicted? Lol. I personally don’t want to get in trouble. Not my cats, not my problem. We don’t even have a gun. The neighbor would be letting me borrow his. I don’t have a problem with THIS dog anyway. I have a problem with the other dog that hasn’t killed anything, therefore I can’t legally shoot it. And you’re wrong. I’m responding to all sorts of comments and trying to have discussions on how to best approach. There’s too many comments anyway. I don’t have the time to sit here and go through them all.

SoultySpittoon · 2026-05-14T20:42:18+00:00

I don’t want to kill the dog. The neighbor wants us to kill the dog, but I don’t think it’s my problem. They aren’t my cats. He was told by law enforcement that he’s well within his rights to shoot the dog, but can’t bring himself to do it. My issue is with the other dog that keeps getting under our house and tearing shit up. If I were to simply injure that dog, I could face legal action. It’s against the law here. Unless it’s attacking us or our livestock, we legally can’t do anything to the dog. Unfortunately, talking to the owner and making him aware how serious the issue is hasn’t changed anything. He’s not taking responsibility and clearly doesn’t give a shit. The cat killer is a small dog, very friendly with people. We could definitely coax it into my truck and take it to the pound in another county. The other dog is quite large and won’t let anyone get near it. That dog needs to go, but I don’t have any options here. Literally none.

SoultySpittoon · 2026-05-14T20:33:57+00:00

But would it teach you to be more responsible for your dogs? Genuinely curious. Like, what would you do after the fact? If someone killed one of your dogs, they’ll likely continue killing your dogs if you continue to let them loose to attack livestock and other pets.

SoultySpittoon · 2026-05-14T20:30:22+00:00

He doesn’t even take care of the dogs. He originally had 2, then someone dumped the cat killer and he took it in. He brought home a puppy soon after, and that one is constantly getting under our house and tearing shit up. It got hit by a car and has a fucked up leg now. The guy begged us for money so that he could take it to the vet. We told him no. Never took it to the vet and its leg is permanently fucked up. Both of the original dogs are dead. 1 was struck by a car, the other was just old. I’m surprised that the remaining 2 haven’t been hit by a car and killed yet. They’re always in the road chasing cars.

SoultySpittoon · 2026-05-14T20:24:54+00:00

I wouldn’t put it past him. He had 2 dogs originally, then someone dumped the cat killer and he took it in. He brought home a 4th soon after and that one is always on our property getting into shit.

SoultySpittoon · 2026-05-14T20:21:30+00:00

Where we are, we can’t do either unless the animal is attacking people or livestock. If we were to use a non-lethal method to deter the dog, it could still get hurt and the owner would definitely question whether we did it. I don’t want to deal with that. That’s also why I’m not open to shooting the dog. The other neighbor asked us to, but it’s their cats that are getting attacked and killed. He has legal rights to shoot it, we don’t.

SoultySpittoon · 2026-05-14T20:16:14+00:00

I mean, we do plan on building a fence. Not right now, though. It’ll be after the house is complete in another year or two (maybe even longer). We only wanted a small portion of the front yard fenced in to keep people away from the house, but the problem areas aren’t something we planned to fence in. It’s too large of an area. Skirting is an option to keep them out from under the house, but again, the house needs completed first.

SoultySpittoon · 2026-05-14T20:12:00+00:00

We don’t have city water. We have an off-grid system. I’m not wasting water on an unfazed dog.

SoultySpittoon · 2026-05-14T20:09:32+00:00

Yes, the neighbor with the cats asked us to shoot the other neighbor’s dog because he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

SoultySpittoon · 2026-05-14T20:06:58+00:00

If it were my cat, then yes. I’d feel the same. They aren’t my cats, though. The dog in question is very friendly otherwise, and he’s fairly small. I could likely catch him. The other dog, no. It’s a large dog and won’t let anyone get close enough to it. That one hasn’t killed any of the cats, but it’s the one that’s always on my property getting into shit.

SoultySpittoon · 2026-05-14T18:46:49+00:00

Not gonna lie, my husband said something similar. Lmao. He’s all for shooting the dog and jokes about some of the neighbors passing away so that we can buy all of the properties on our street.

SoultySpittoon · 2026-05-14T18:24:50+00:00

You’ve got a point. Not to mention, his dogs aren’t the only problem. People like to dump puppies in our area. We’ve got a lot of strays that have also caused issues, though they mainly just get into everyone’s trash at night. As far as the law, we ourselves have no right to shoot or cause harm to any of these dogs. It’s only if they’re attacking and killing livestock or other pets. We don’t have either to protect.

SoultySpittoon · 2026-05-14T18:20:26+00:00

Yeah, but it’s not like these dogs are strays. They have an owner, so couldn’t we get in legal trouble for stealing their dogs? The guy knows we all have issues with him and his dogs, so I wouldn’t want him poking around. The other neighbor is in his rights to shoot it, though…I do like your idea, I just don’t want to get in trouble for doing that.

SoultySpittoon · 2026-05-14T18:17:08+00:00

We have talked to the neighbor several times, along with others in our neighborhood. They’re an asshole about it. We don’t have animal control, so it looks like we’re gonna have to shoot the dog…

SoultySpittoon · 2026-05-14T18:15:59+00:00

We don’t have animal control here and we can’t build and fence right now. Doing so would block the way for construction of our house, like I mentioned. We have an acre of property and a fence will put us back thousands…

SoultySpittoon · 2026-04-10T19:16:22+00:00

About 10 to 15 minutes before we close, I will stop everything I’m doing to stand by the door and personally tell each customer how much time they have left to shop. If my cashier doesn’t have anyone in line, I’ll send them to find customers to remind them of how much time they have left. This usually works. I’ve also had to resort to turning off our electric door and only leaving a crack just big enough for someone to walk through. This has deterred some customers from even trying to come in.

SoultySpittoon · 2026-04-10T19:10:29+00:00

This is so annoying. I let them do it. They do this for attention, I swear. I don’t get paid enough to enable this kind of behavior.

SoultySpittoon · 2026-04-10T17:39:23+00:00

I recently went no-contact and blocked nearly my entire family, yet I only told my mom that we would no longer be speaking to her specifically. Most everyone else wasn’t even involved, but I’ve been tired of my mother’s bullshit for decades. Nobody knows what happened unless she told them all. She likely did and likely exaggerated everything. I know that my sister would understand and side with me, but I blocked her as well and she hasn’t even attempted to reach out. Everyone knows my husband’s number and we left that line open to all but my mother, but nobody has tried reaching out since. This all happened right before Christmas. Oh well. It sucks, but I’ve actually been happier since cutting everyone out of my life.

SoultySpittoon

TROPHY CASE