Q&A for How to Report a Dangerous Dog

Absolutely! Everyone has a responsibility to report dangerous dogs to the authorities. If the dog attacks someone afterward and you didn't do anything about it, that attack will be on you.

You can call animal control. They can deal with both the dog and the owner.

Yes, you should report this incident to the police, who can contact the owner and animal control.

Call animal control or the police. It is better to get the authorities involved.

Report it anonymously, or evaluate what situation is most dangerous and act accordingly. If you do nothing and that dog ends up hurting a child, how will you feel about yourself?

Do not threaten a dog, but if he attacks you, shout for help. If help is slow to arrive, kick or aim at the dogs face in an attempt to make him leave you alone. If possible, bring bear spray with you when out on evening walks or any time one might attack you. Try to report the dog first if you knew about his behavior beforehand to try to prevent this from happening.

Instead of calling animal control try calling the local animal shelter or the police. If you call the animal shelter, they may be able to give you the number of an animal behaviorist you might recommend to the owners. If, however, the dog is also hostile to humans, consider simply calling the police. It would be terrible for a child (or adult) to suffer harm because neither the owners nor their neighbors acted on the warning signs.

Call animal control. If this dog is repeatedly causing trouble and the owner is doing nothing, then animal control will have to be employed.

The dog owner is responsible for all damages they cause. Their owner is also responsible for limiting their access. I.e., you don't have to pay for a fence, the dog owner must pay for a fence. Dogs are almost nowhere allowed to just roam free. If they are in your neighbor's yard and they find ways to enter yours, it's up to your neighbor to prevent this by any means necessary. You have the right to protect yourself and your belongings against aggression up to the level of the aggression.

If the dog is aggressive, then call the authorities (police, animal control, etc.). If it’s only because of the breed that you believe it’s dangerous, then let them be.

Ask the neighbor to secure their dog, and if they refuse, contact animal control or a no-kill shelter and inform them of the issue.

Report it to the local sheriff's department, they usually handle animal control. They will know how to deal with it in a professional manner.

You can secure your yard so the neighbors dog cannot get into it. If it does get into your yard, you can also film the aggressive dog. If all else fails, you can alert the authorities.

Call animal control, the police, or a no-kill shelter. If you see it happening again, try to get a safe distance away from the dog and loud noises (i.e. shaking a can of pennies) to scare the dog and give your neighbor an opportunity to get to safety.

It is unlikely. Courts generally find landowners don’t have a right to kill dogs just because they’re trespassing.

If you haven't already, talk to your neighbor about their dog. If that hasn't helped, call animal control. Keep your cats inside until this gets sorted out.

Try to find the dog's owner and tell them what happened. Hopefully, the owner can deal with their dog. The last option is calling animal control and reporting a ‘vicious dog’ in the area. Keep in mind that this option is a last resort.

Say: "I want to ask you a question: Do you think your dog is dangerous?". And then say: "Because I only tell you this because I think it's the right thing to do and I'd feel terrible if I said nothing and something happens, but I think your dog is a danger to people or animals. And you have a huge liability for anything your dog does in damages, not to mention any injury or worse could happen." And then maybe have a solution to offer him, like "I found this behaviorist or this rescue group that works with dogs like yours and I didnt report you or anything but they are willing to take him for you", or something like that.

Build a bigger fence, apologise and control your dog. In effect, it is you who has invaded your neighbour's space and made him fearful. It is possible your neighbour ran at the dog to shoo it away, maybe yelled at it, and the dog responded aggressively. He does not know your dog as you do and your dog will not respect him. Always realize that while your dog appears a saint to you as the owner, it may well behave less kindly around people it does not know, especially when you are not present.