I have mixed feelings here.

1st. The dog has a built instinct to hunt! This should not be held against a dog. The owners of the dogs should be held responsible. They own the pet, it is their possession, and they should take responsability for it. Upon getting a pet, you have taken it upon yourself to care for the pet, feed it, water it, bath it, and protect it. Protecting the dog means keeping it on your property, away from the woods, where it shouldn't be. Sure, things happen, a dog accidently escapes and runs away, but, dogs that are repeatadly seen running deer, that is a different story.

2nd, I have seen what can happen with dogs that run free. Several years ago, there was a pack of wild dogs that were breeding with coyote's and these dogs were vicious. One night, I was woken up by the sound of my outside dog (who is always on a chain and NEVER gets free) being harrassed by a pack of these dogs. They were circling my dog, so, guess what my dad and I did, we shot as many of them as we could. A few months later, my neighbors called my dad because there 6 year olds daughter's rabbits were being attacked by this group of dogs. The rabbits were in a rabbit box which was inside a mesh fence area. Imagine seeing a 6 year old girl watching her pet rabbits being mauled by wild dogs. So, I can see taking care of a problem dog before the problem escalades.

Like I mentioned above, I am a pet owner, I have two dogs, a 16 year old Collie/Shepard mix, a 5 year old Boxer/Rotweiller mix, a cat, and tons of pet fish. I love animals, especially dogs. The thought of killing of a dog just disgusts me, but, seeing a dog become a problem that can hurt other wild animals, peoples pets, and humans.

I say that if their is a dog, that is a serious problem, one that can and/or will hurt humans and other animals, then, GET RID OF THE PROBLEM. I do not think that it is right for someone to see a dog that escaped for the first time ever, is chasing tweety birds on someone elses property, and just shoot it.

Try standing back, don't take sides of the dogs or the animals. Just look at the whole picture, and you will see that this isn't a cut dry thing, there are certain circumstances that have to be looked at in order to solve the problem.