A sheepdog, so to speak, saved the day as usual this past week when two kids, walking to a bus stop in Racine, Wisconsin, were attacked by an aggressive dog. A resident of the neighborhood heard the kids screaming, came outside, and scared the dog away from the kids. Then, as Madison.com reports, the dog lunged at the man, which prompted him to draw his concealed handgun, which he had a permit for. He fired one shot, which grazed the dog and caused it to run off. The canine was later caught by the police. Both children were hospitalized following the attack, but they are expected to recover.

Not all threats walk on two legs: a dog can definitely present a threat of serious injury or death, and this was almost definitely a completely justified defensive gun use. If you have kids, even though they can’t carry guns, you might be able to give them a leg up in a similar situation with pepper spray, which they can legally carry in most states.

Have you ever been forced to defend yourself or someone else against a four-legged threat?

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

37 COMMENTS

  1. I hope the kids are alright and I hope their parents are liberal and reconsider their stance on guns and anti gun politicians after a good guy with a gun saved their kids.

  2. I had a donkey packed down with explosives (DBIED) blown up in my convoy once. Does that count?

    • LOL, it only counts if you shot the donkey before it exploded. Bonus points if you used semen samples still present in said donkey to ID the jihadis who loaded it up with explosives.

      • Sadly, no, but I did get a really good look at it before during and after the explosion. Whoever the person was that packed the donkey didn’t do it very well and it was really poorly balanced. Most of the explosives must have been on the opposite side of the Donkey. It really just served to paint the whole area in Donkey. Also, it rained very large chunks of donkey for some time.

        • Sounds like some inept city-slicker jihadis. You’d think rurals would know how to load up a donkey properly. Seems like a waste of a perfectly good donkey… I wonder if they compensated the farmer from whom they stole the donkey.

        • ” It really just served to paint the whole area in Donkey. Also, it rained very large chunks of donkey for some time.”

          A few years back, someone tried to assassinate a Saudi prince, with PETN rammed up his backside where ‘The sun don’t shine’ and detonated it while the ‘gut-bomber’ was standing a few feet from the prince.

          The end result was much as you described, the flesh of the bomber attenuated much of the blast, while providing a dramatic visual effect. The prince injured his hand, but that’s about it.

          Google “The concealment of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in rectal cavities”

          It’s the first PDF link, and it isn’t pleasant…

    • Reminds me a CIA officer (possibly a station chief), I like his name was Milton- he discussed how they had stopped being able to support the Muj if they kept using car bombs against the Soviets. So after another bombing one day he calls them to find out what the hell they’re doing and they say “don’t worry, not car bomb, is donkey bomb!”

  3. Have I ever been forced to defend myself against a four-legged threat? Yes — and I have it on video.

    I have mentioned it on this site before. The short version, I discovered that the new neighbor’s two LARGE German shepherds were psychotic/unstable. They got loose one day and I headed over to look-out for a neighbor whose door into their home was wide open to air-out their home. The dogs’ owner and I converged at the driveway of the home with the open door at the same time. The owner called for his dogs and was half-way up the driveway when I finally saw one of them running toward me (past the owner) in complete silence with ears upright and tail low. I drew my handgun and stepped in to shoot the dog which suddenly stopped about 15 feet and began barking furiously. Because the dog never got any closer, I did not shoot it. As the owner herded that dog into his car, the other one circled around me for a sneak attack and a similar stand-off occurred. Again, the dog stayed about 15 feet away so I did not shoot it.

    I can tell you one thing for certain: I will not ever try to take on two 80+ pound psychotic German shepherds with my bare hands.

    • Lucky the owner didn’t go get his own heat and start waving it around. Pointing a gun at anyones dog for any reason is asking for a Darwin award.

      • So who kicked your puppy?

        I’d honestly rather shoot the owner of a dog then shoot a dog. But if a dog attacks me, my will to live comes first, before the dog.

      • Two large German shepherds on the loose (not on their property) running past their owner and toward me at high speed in silent attack mode is extremely dangerous and warrants drawing a handgun — especially when those two very same dogs previously tried to attack me (unprovoked) through a storm door and a kennel door.

        If the owner of such dogs takes exception to my actions and comes out pointing a firearm at me in retaliation, it won’t end well for one of us, hopefully the dog owner.

        Friendly reminder: dogs are not people — they are property. Even if I killed someone’s dog (with or without a firearm, it doesn’t matter) without legal justification, that only entitles the owner to sue me for the property damage. That does NOT legally justify the dog owner committing felony assault with a deadly weapon against me.

        • And if the owner of the dogs wins the gunfight and kills you what’s his defense in court going to be?

          “That man would not let my dogs maul him so I shot him.” If the dogs live thru it they’ll be put down by the state and the owner will be doing a long stretch in the prison system.

  5. I did, many moons ago.
    It was my departments first successful use of a bean bag gun.
    It was about a hundred + pounds of charging Rottweiler.

  7. Ruger 10/22 several times on feral dogs that were killing our calves when I was teenager. Twice had them decide to attack me for interrupting their fun.

    I was on foot looking for them in fairly dense brush on edge of paddock. One ended up with me fending it off with rifle barrel and it biting the barrel. When it let go to get a better grip I managed to get on target.

  8. Never. Though I have had my fair share of tooth marks and bruises from rough housing with my larger dogs over the years. Sometimes when they go for the toy they miss.

  9. My CCW instructor specifically told me never to shoot a dog, because it would lead to an even bigger legal and political nightmare than shooting a two-legged threat.

    I’ve never been in that situation, though.

    • Particularly with a dog, shoot the mofo and walk away. No reason to even consider it. Human? Shoot the mofo, then consider whether to walk away.

    • Your CCW instructor actually taught you something worthwhile. Its not the legal or even the political fallout, but the owner of the dog whos probably not going to give a squirt of piss about what the law says.

      I wouldn’t bet on the defense working, but they may be able to argue crime of passion.

    • Then shoot it. The little girl down the street won’t thank you, because she will never know.

  11. I have to defend myself from lick attacks by my two 80lb. dogs. Does that count?

    Other than that, when camping at the Havasupai Indian Reservation (absolutely beautiful scenery, but basically a third-world country) I had to protect our food from a couple of dogs (the reservation is crawling with packs of dogs). Guns are illegal there, so I kept mine inside a vest pocket ready to draw if one got too close at home like a loyal subject, and fended them off with rocks.

  12. I shot a dog. Didn’t like it. But I’m pretty sure I would have liked being on the menu less.

    I’ve had a rule my whole life. If it’s me or you, its going to be you.

  13. Had a Doberman Pincer attack my 6 month old Son and Wife on my front porch in Texas, had an Aluminum bat on the porch so put his head in left field, cut dogs head off and took it too the Vet for a Rabie’s check was not Infected Just a Mean Dog! Owner got pissed so told him to trespass on my property and his Head would be next! (It was legal to shoot too kill if your gate was closed), I was in the Service and had just come off a SE Asia tour! So was a little touchy.

    • Yo, Kap, good story! I had a tour in SEA, also came back without sense of humor for a few years. Fortunately, nobody fucked with me, ya know?

  14. Two sides to all stories, the dog may have been provoked. I’ve seen it happen before, the tease the dog till it finally snaps. The Police caught the dog, oh great, poor dog, adios pooch.

  15. “Have you ever been forced to defend yourself or someone else against a four-legged threat?”

    Oh hell yeah. I used to train dogs, including serious bite work. I have scars, although most of them have faded by now. My best self-defense weapon was a length of telephone cable. One whack from that bludgeon convinced dogs that I was not as tasty as I seemed at first. And because the cable was flexible, I caused no lasting damage.

    One of my fellow trainers was Pearl Harbored by a big German Shepherd Dog aptly named “Moose.” It took about 120 stitches to stop the guy from leaking. If you train dogs, you’re gonna get bit.

  16. big difference between Training and a mean loose dog, as a trainer you expect too get bit, its in the job description also difference between one that is healthy and one with Rabies, or chases cars , Motorcycles, or nips at kids getting off school buses.
    a a trainer you evaluate each Animal you train and make a decision as to the temperament of said animal and whether to continue said training!

    Larry in TXS welcome home

Comments are closed.