are we obliged to pay for the two dead chickens?
By Cutie18f
@Cutie18f (9546)
Philippines
December 14, 2011 3:32am CST
I really need your honest feedback now regarding what happened to two of my three dogs. You see, my two local dogs are the wild and jealous type. They do not want anything or anyone to come inside our fence. My three dogs are free to run around our fenced area but they are never allowed to go out. However, one day, two chickens accidentally went inside our place. Naturally, my playful dogs must have thought they were seeing moving "fried chickens" so after chasing them around, they finally got hold of them, one each in their mouths and did not let go. They must have bitten the necks of the chickens because they were half-dead when I was able to finally make them let go of the poor animals. It was too late, however, because the two chickens died. I do not really know who owns those chickens, but do you think I could be asked to pay for those two which my dogs killed? I did my best to stop my dogs from doing what they did but wild as they are, they are very hard to stop. Should I be paying for those dead chickens? I did not ask them to come to our place and my dogs are just inside our fence. What does the law say about this?
4 people like this
8 responses
@SpikeTheLobster (6403)
•
14 Dec 11
I don't know about your local laws but most countries will back you up. The owner of the chickens is responsible for them. If s/he let them wander onto your property - knowing that you have two dogs - the consequences are not your fault, as such. This may be complicated by specific dog laws regarding control and so on, I don't know.
If the owner is asking for compensation, I'd suggest you ask a legal professional for advice (you can often get that for free, like from the Citizens' Advice Bureau in the UK).
If a professional says you have no responsibility, you might still consider offering to "go halves" and pay for one as a sign of being a good neighbour, for example, while making it clear it's not your responsibility. That would depend on how your relationship is with your neighbours.
Get professional advice.
4 people like this
@oscarbartoni (2581)
• United States
15 Dec 11
These chickens trespassed onto yor property so you should not be responsible for paying for them but that may vary depending on the laws where you live. I would make sure to spend more time in training your dogs because if a child got into your yard (instead of chickens) you could be in serious legal problems. If you find out who owns the chicken, it would be a good thing if you were to offer to pay for one of them in good jesture (not a confession of guilt) and ask if he/she coue be more responsible to keep his/her chickens from getting loose.
3 people like this
@JoyfulOne (6232)
• United States
14 Dec 11
Not sure what the actual law is on it, but on our farm, and neighboring farms, if one of our chickens (or cows or horses etc) got out and onto somebody elses property, it would our loss & responsibility, and we surely would NOT charge them for our trespassing animal. However, if our animal has trespassed onto somebody elses property, and damaged something, then WE are responsible for it. (Like if our horse runs through somebody's garden, or ruins their flower bed or something.) Your dogs were protecting their property, and in my opinion, it is their loss because you do have your dogs fenced in, and it was their chickens that trespassed. I do not think it is your responsibility to pay for their errant chickens, they should have had a fence of some sort to keep THEIR chickens penned in and free from roaming wherever they want. Even free range chickens get fenced in somewhat, especially if there are neighbors close by.
2 people like this
@triplejazzm51 (1373)
• Philippines
19 Dec 11
Well, i don't think you should be paying for the chickens. First dogs are dogs, they behaved like all dogs should, besides the chickens were the ones who entered your property and it happened inside your area. it is the responsibility of the owner to keep their pets inside their yard. They should have kept them in the chicken cage. It was not your fault, nobody meant it.
@portisray (503)
• Philippines
15 Dec 11
Haha... just fried the chicken! 
.... It is not your fault... Your two dogs were inside your property...
Anyway, no one knows beside you that your two dogs killed two chickens, eh?
.... It is not your fault... Your two dogs were inside your property...
Anyway, no one knows beside you that your two dogs killed two chickens, eh?2 people like this
@catchmeifyoucan (44)
• Philippines
16 Dec 11
You don't really have to pay for those chickens!
because they trespass you'r property? You know we
have the same story about our dogs? My dog a Labrador
also chased a rooster outside our fence! I didn't even
pay a single cent for this rooster!You know why because
it is not our fault it is an accident,they are only animals
they didn't know what they are doing without our knowing?
They accidentally escape!
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
18 Nov 12
hi cutie legally anmd evne morally the goof is n the part of the chickens owner's They should see that their chickens cannot get out of their yard and get into
trouble.Some chickens can get out and get hit and killed by cars,So no
you did not make them come into your yard so you are notlibalbe for
their deaths at all.
@hvedra (1619)
•
14 Dec 11
You would have to check your local laws to see whose legal responsiblity it is.
In the UK it would come under whether the dogs were "out of control" or not and whether it is reasonable or not for them to chase things that are on their property. It can be quite a grey area in a case like yours.
However, it sounds like you have some obedience issues with the dogs as it is so it might be worth spending some more time training them. Because they are pack animals they will often be more mischievous or disobedient when there are two or more dogs together - because they encourage each other to do things like hunting.
2 people like this
