Here is one for you, Do people really need to jog with guns to protect themselves from dogs?

Um, yeah, that's more than a bit over the top I'd say.  I don't carry anything when I walk my dog.  There have been times when loose dogs have approached us on not-so-friendly terms and I've been terrified stiff, but I know myself well enough to know that I don't have the right reaction time or accuracy to make carrying a weapon worthwhile.  I don't carry mace either since I don't see how I could mace one dog without macing my own dog.

A few years back, the police here did shoot a pack of pit bulls that were running rampant.  They had gone out to investigate a complaint and while trying to catch one of the dogs, they all attacked.  These dogs were in my husband's neighborhood and one morning he had to skip school b/c one was in their driveway and growled, bared his teeth anytime they tried to get out their door to leave the house.

But shooting at dogs while jogging?  If he's so afraid of dogs, jog somewhere else. 

Umm I live in Texas...where DON'T people carry guns? They allow them into the STATE FAIR for heaven's sake...lol.

Sounds like there are a lot of irresponsible owners who allow their dogs access to joggers....and a lot of lazy AC people who do not pick up said strays....sad.

This happened where I used to live in rural NY.  It was a police officer also, and he was afraid of / disliked dogs - even my tail-wagging little beagle.  He jogged every morning.  I don't know where he carried his service revolver because he was hardly wearing any clothes.  He shot the neighbor's 2 dobermans one morning, said they came out into the street at him.  They both died.

I don't know.  There are 2 sides to every story, but no one else was there.  DId the dogs really go after him?  Because he was afraid?  Or did he blatantly shoot the dogs just because he could?   Whose sig says "If you always use a hammer...."?   He was in the road, and 2 dogs came out.

There it was legal for me to shoot any dog on my property.

stuff like this is saddening...but seldom comes about in areas where people obey the laws present regarding containment and restraint...and AC's enforce the laws on said same. It's always when it gets really bad...when people start doing crazy stuff...that people then worry about if it's too much...never understood that. So much easier just to prevent...

Knee jerk input,  this is beyond horrible.     Thinking on it for a few minutes... WHY isn't someone complaining to the authorities?  Well written letters to the police, mayor, chamber of commerce and NEWSPAPERS work wonders.  If necessary offer them the option of your, and your neighbors taking this National , AOL,  News, etc... generating enough cyber chatter will get the attention of who ever it is who will realize this is bad for your town, bad for the police and really bad for tourism and attracting industry. Who wants to live in a town where cops shoot dogs without repercussions ??  Who wants to reward that type of town by vacationing there and spending highly desirable tourist dollars?

There is no excuse to use deadly force when jogging. There are more than enough alternatives, a big stick, a golf club etc can't possibly weigh more when jogging than a pistol. IF you know there are aggresive dogs on your jogging, walking whatever route CALL animal control and /or police/sheriff.  You have the ability to stop this ...that is scary I know, but get as many folks involved as you can, make sure you DOCUMENT everythingand keep the list posted. I would sign any petition you begin. Give us the urls for your Chamber of Comerce I would think most of us would email them with the concern that this needs to stop.

BoBo143

Wow, this is just CRAZY. I found several web pages about the best gun to carry while jogging! 

For some people, in some situations, in some neighborhoods...carrying a gun while jogging might have nothing whatsoever to do with dogs. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

I live in PA and you can carry a concealed weapon (which I do), but...I wouldn't think it is legal for an officer of the law to just go around shooting dogs while he's out jogging.  If he wanted he could have just carried Mace, or something, and like you said, if there is a problem with dogs, he should, as an officer of the law, take it to the animal control and have them look into it.  Otherwise, job somewhere else.  That's just a little over board on my opinion.  Heck, a man went to jail here just a couple of days ago on a $100,000 straight bond no exceptions for yelling at a police dog.  Kid had just come off his shift (of his 2nd job) never been in trouble before, came out of work, dog barked at him, I guess scared him and yelled "shut the ___ up!", but they didn't give him any leeway on this.  Yet, we've had a guy kidnap a girl hold her in his house for years, that was out on bond and living at home while awaiting trial.  Now, isn't that ridiculous! 

Janet808

I live in PA and you can carry a concealed weapon (which I do), but...I wouldn't think it is legal for an officer of the law to just go around shooting dogs while he's out jogging.  If he wanted he could have just carried Mace, or something, and like you said, if there is a problem with dogs, he should, as an officer of the law, take it to the animal control and have them look into it.  Otherwise, job somewhere else.  That's just a little over board on my opinion.  Heck, a man went to jail here just a couple of days ago on a $100,000 straight bond no exceptions for yelling at a police dog.  Kid had just come off his shift (of his 2nd job) never been in trouble before, came out of work, dog barked at him, I guess scared him and yelled "shut the ___ up!", but they didn't give him any leeway on this.  Yet, we've had a guy kidnap a girl hold her in his house for years, that was out on bond and living at home while awaiting trial.  Now, isn't that ridiculous! 

Definitely! To paraphrase..'The Law works in mysterious ways...." LOL.

rwbeagles

BoBo143

Wow, this is just CRAZY. I found several web pages about the best gun to carry while jogging! 

For some people, in some situations, in some neighborhoods...carrying a gun while jogging might have nothing whatsoever to do with dogs. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

I suppose if you're licensed to carry a gun it's OK to  have it with you but I would certainly hope people would use a little discretion about when and/or where they use it.  Personally, I'd  be afraid I'd accidently shoot off an important body part with it.

Joyce

In the neighborhood my parents live in, loose dogs have always been a problem. Some of them could be fairly aggressive, as well. When walking/jogging I always carried a big (surprisingly hard) foam rubber baseball bat for protection. It doesn't sound like much, but I had to use it several times and it was effective even against very large dogs.

I agree that something needs to be done about people who let their dogs roam, but shooting them on sight seems more than a little excessive to me. In my experience, even  very aggressive dogs would always back down after one good whack with my foam bat. Most of the dogs I came into contact with that were problematic didn't stick around once they knew whatever they were attempting to attack was going to put up much of a fight. As soon as they saw that it wasn't going to be "easy," they left.

I just don't see the point in killing a dog when something like a stick, pepper spray, or something along the lines of the foam bat I used would be just as effective.

I'm pretty sure in most places the penalty for letting dogs run loose is a fine to the owner, not execution of the dog.  Can't you get some animal rights fanatics or the media in on this crazed cop? He's a serial killer.

mudpuppy

He's a serial killer

In the past 6 months 2 letter carriers here have been viciously attacked (horribly) by dogs that got out.  So:

I have no weapon and think I may be attacked, I run.

I have no weapon and am attacked, I fight back in defense.

I have a weapon and think I may be attacked, I shoot before it happens.

What does that make me?  I don't know.

• serial killer
• careful
• well-trained
• insightful
• stupid
• uneducated
• realistic
• defensive
• offensive 

(now, nobody get carried away and think I'm saying I run around with a gun)

I'm not sure what your scenario has to do with reality?  shooting TO KILL just because a dog is rushing at you seems wrong under any circumstance.

This guy sounds like he's deliberately going out looking for dogs to kill. That's a serial killer in my book.