Key Takeaways
- A man shot a dog that charged him after two loose dogs trapped his wife in their car in Fort Pierce, FL.
- The incident occurred as the woman returned home; she called her husband for help after the dogs blocked her exit.
- The husband retrieved a handgun and shot one dog that charged at him, while both dogs ran to their owner’s home afterward.
- Sheriff’s office is reviewing evidence, including surveillance footage, to determine the shooting’s justification.
- Florida law supports self-defense against aggressive dogs, but specific circumstances will dictate the ruling in this case.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
FORT PIERCE, FL — A St. Lucie County man shot a dog that charged him in his own driveway after two loose dogs trapped his wife in her car and would not let her out, according to the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office.
The shooting happened Sunday in the 5900 block of Palm Drive, in the Indian River Estates area, as reported by CBS12. The sheriff’s office says a woman had just arrived home and pulled into her driveway when two dogs approached her vehicle and prevented her from safely getting out. She called her husband for help.
That was the right move. A closed car door between you and two dogs you cannot read is worth more than any amount of confidence about how friendly they look.
Her husband came outside and saw the dogs. He went back in the house for a handgun. He came back out. One of the dogs charged him, deputies say. He fired before it could bite him. The round struck one of the dogs.
Both dogs ran to a nearby home on Myrtle Drive, where they live. The owner took the injured dog to an emergency animal hospital. Its condition has not been released.
The sheriff’s office describes a dog that charged “in an aggressive manner” and a man who fired “before he was bitten.” That is the agency describing what it believes happened, not a finding that the shooting was justified. Deputies say they are reviewing surveillance footage, interviewing independent witnesses, and gathering additional information, and that no conclusions will be drawn until all of the evidence has been reviewed. No one has been charged, and no charging decision has been announced.
More from USA Carry:
I get asked about this more than almost anything else: can you shoot a dog that is coming at you? The short answer is that it depends on where you live. Most states allow force, including deadly force, against an animal that is attacking a person or is about to, but the details are set by state law and often by county or city ordinance layered on top of it. Some places require that the animal actually be attacking. Others cover a threatened attack. Some jurisdictions treat the shot as a separate animal cruelty question from the self-defense question, and firing a gun inside city limits can be its own violation even when the shot itself was lawful. Know what your state and your local ordinances say before you are standing in your driveway trying to remember.
Florida is generally on the side of a person defending himself from a dog that is actually coming at him, and nothing in the sheriff’s account suggests deputies see this as anything other than that. Favorable law does not settle the facts, though. The footage will show how fast the dog was moving and how close it got before he fired. That is the question in this case, not whether a man is allowed to defend himself from a dog.
Read the full article here
