pmcdn wrote:I had a similar experience a few months ago. Around 4am I woke up startled when I heard what sounded like 5 dogs attacking something and it was so loud it sounded like it was in my living room. I got up, grabbed my .45 (which has a light on it), and went to the front to see 4 or 5 junkyard looking dogs outside. I have two indoor cats and a couple outdoor cats. When I stepped out the front door, the chow looking dog had my young cat dead and limp in it's mouth. I had the gun pointed at him shining the light and the dog dropped the dead cat and began snarling at me taking a couple steps towards me about 5 feet away. I shot him right in the face and down he went. The other dogs ran like heck.
I am a huge animal lover and I hated killing that dog, but when he turned on me, that was it. Dealing with the big, dead dog was also a pain in the ass, but that's another story. While I hated killing the dog, I also didn't feel the slightest bit of remorse. Dogs like that in a city neighborhood are accidents waiting to happen.
I now keep a fresh can of wasp and hornet spray right by my front door incase that happens again. In the future, my first course of action will be to spray the dog in the face with the W&H spray (but I'll have the gun handy incase that doesn't work).
I am a total dog man as you could gather from my moniker (and from my little friends in the room right now),,,,,,but if the cat had not been handy; it might have been a child. You may want to think about that one. I have seen pack dogs and they are NOTHING TO TAKE FOR GRANTED. Just like a pack of wolves, if the leader can and will attack, all the others will join in. The W&H spray may not be the best defense,,,,,,just sayin'.......
If you want to find out what are the "bad" breeds, check with your homeowner's insurance carrier. Even raising English pointers and setters, my first application was denied. These are getting to be expensive claims.