I didn't state he should have killed the dog...I said he should have taken care of it...there's more than one way to skin a cat & to handle an aggressive, vicious dog, ignoring the situation is not one of those ways. The Kallmans are not at fault in this scenario & they are attempting to rectify this wrong in a civil manner.

How anyone could blame this family for letting their dog out in their own yard amazes me. Especially after they were lead to believe that the neighbor fixed his fence. Oh wait he was sick and the neighborhood's safety wasn't a priority. What if this had been a child, would it be the parent's fault because they let their child play in the backyard. Just a warning if your dog enters my yard and acts aggressive, its dead. End of Story.

to Biggrob I know that this animal situation in this town is bad about six years ago my son was riding his bike down the sidewalk in front of smith school when the people that lived across the street let their dog loose on purpose (the child admited they let it loose because it was funny) the dog bit my child in the leg tearing through his jeans and breaking the skin. Animal control did nothing I finally went to the house to ask if their dog had its shots the lady yelled yes and slammed the door in my face. The Victoria police saw me about two weeks later defending my self and my son from that dog on the way home from school and they had the dog taken care of. I am a hugh HUGH supporter of the Victoria Police department they ROCK! but the SOs office needs a serious overhaul. The Deputy that came to my sisters had no sympanthy at all.

to aprilp: WOW! That's exactly what happened to me. The cop said I shouldn't have let out my cat or I should have a fence. My cat was asleep in my front yard when attacked. Then he went and talked to the neighbor for a while, dogs barking the whole time, came back and said what proof do I have other then seeing it with my own eyes and watching the dogs jump back over the fence. That's when I was told to leave the neighbor alone and don't bother him about the $1300 vet bill.

Victorianbybirth, are you suggesting that the neighbor should have killed the supposed killer dog? If so, please disassociate yourself from "Victoria." Whatever criticism I may have against Kallman, at the very least is trying to go through legal channels. You? Wow.

Actually it's not the dogs fault....shame you can't have an ordinance against rude, obnoxious neighbors who don't have any consideration for anyone but themselves.

Exactly juror...YOUR dog, YOUR fence....keep your damn dogs in your fence & out of OTHERS yards! I would think after the 1st attack the offending dogs owners would have done SOMETHING....they do have a billion other dogs that could've been hurt by THEIR dog as well! Once dogs attack, they don't stop. There is more than one way to get rid of annoying dangerous dogs....the legal route wouldn't be my first choice.

You do have the right to protect yourself. So did Kallman. He didn't. Pretty much end of story. I wonder if he will, in fact, do DNA testing. Interesting to see if he will follow through with that or is just yapping to the media. What do you think?

Good Lord! For those of you who think this was the Kallman's fault, you must be a owners of questionable dogs.
I live in the country in Jackson County and when we call the law on neighbors dogs, it is documented. As the owner of the property, I have the right to protect what is mine on my property and if neighbors dogs come onto my property and hurt something on my property, I guarantee that dog is going to get shot or it will just disappear.
I have the right to protect myself. I have the right to build a case against the neighbors. I have video camera's, and many other means to gather evidence and I will sue for damages that I can prove.
By the way, vets can now do DNA tests on animals to prove exactly which dog did the killing.

Oh, I don't know, MY dog, MY fence, MY responsibility, ringing any bells, or let's just find somebody to SUE because sumthin' bad happened. I would be interested to know whether the pet owner had the state of mind after attack number one to think, "Gee, this might happen again." Would love to know that.

It had been 10 days between the attacks & Tisdale claimed to have fixed the fence problem....why shouldn't they be able to put their dog in THEIR backyard? For crying out loud it is THEIR property, not the Tisdales!

First attack, I buy your argument. After first attack . . . not so much.

She feels guilty for leaving the dog in what she thought was her safe, spacious backyard, only to come home later to find her dog cold & struggling for breath...after it was attacked. She didn't leave the dog dying in her yard or leave her dog out in the freezing weather, she left her dog someplace it should have been safe...IN HER ENCLOSED BACK YARD.

There is essentially no animal control unit in Victoria.

However, having said that, the deceased pet's owner made two telling statements. One, a previous attack had occurred. Two, sticking to the facts here, guys, and not speculation, "Kallman is now struggling with the guilt of leaving the dog in the family's spacious backyard on Jan. 28, the day she found him cold and struggling for breaths in her backyard." Previous attack. Left him cold and struggling for breaths. Is that responsible? For example, if my kid gets abused at XYZ Daycare, he ain't going back. Not trying to blame the victim, I'm just saying they knowingly subjected their beloved pet to a known dangerous environment. When it's cold, I put my dog in the garage.

Finally, there does not appear to be any link between attack number one and the death of the dog later. I'm just reading between the lines but something is unsavory here. Dead dog, grieving family / child, I get the sympathy but cold hard facts should come into play somewhere.

Animal Contol? In Victoria? Oh thanks I needed that laugh! and Robb I think I know that cop he blamed my sister when the neighbors dog came in her yard and tore up my five year old neices cat in front of her and then went and visited with the dog owner for awhile.

This is very sad...a family has lost a pet & a relationship with their neighbors, through no fault of their own. A City ordinance is words on paper, nothing more if not enforced. I would think this would fall under Animal Controls jurisdiction since this dog has killed another, it should be considered a dangerous animal. Hell, my cat was hauled off for 20 days at my expense for superficially scratching my grown child inside my house (she went to Dr. for a medical issue & also had them look at the scratch while she was there, they made her fill out a "bite report" & a week later animal control showed up with their orders even though the scratch was gone by then)! If your Animal Control takes no responsibility then a City Ordinance will not help, especially since you are no longer required to register your animals...how can they prove it's yours?

Siberian Husky is delicious smoked over pecan wood for about 10 hrs or so. Just sayin.....

I've mentioned this before. I live in the country. I have seen my cat ripped apart by my neighbors dogs. I went and told the neighbor what happen. I called law enforcement and I was threaten by 'law enforcement' not talk to the neighbor again or I would be arrested for trespassing. There is not a leash law in the country, at least there should be a fence law. The neighbor I am speaking of had about 7 dogs of all mixes with a fence that any person could step over. I don't care if he had 1 dog, if he cannot control his animals then he shouldn't have the right to own any. Other neighbors that I have talked to have called the law to complain about the barking that goes on all night, about suspecting their cat being mauled, about being scared to walk in their own yard, yet nothing can be done until the laws are changed, or SOMEONE gets hurt. My heart goes out to Red and his family.

The more I meet people, the more I realize my Dog is superior to them.

Please don't penalize everyone for one person's irresponsibility. There are breeders and others within the city limits who have 6 or more dogs and handle them responsibly. Size of the dogs and size of the yard are also a consideration.

Regarding fencing, it should be adequate to prevent escape of your dogs. We have 3 to 4 dogs on our property and our fence is welded metal tubing with a continuous concrete curb at the bottom. Three of the dogs are terriers who dig by nature, but they don't get out of our fencing. If you are going to own pets, you should have the financial means to care for them with proper veteranary care and adequate facilities to manage and control them and their behavior. Obedience training is very beneficial as well. I don't know that we need more restructive ordinances, just a means to perhaps ticket people who's dogs trespass on others property to give them an incentive to maintain adequate fencing. We should perhaps document violations using the camera on our cell phones to assist with enforcement of already existing laws.

I own a four year old lab. I leave my dog in the back yard he does not leave the back yard,he does not dig,if we are out front and he starts after someone we call him back and he immediately comes. Why? Its called training. If you are going to have a pet you have to spend time with that pet. The time you spend with a pet or a child or a friend renforces the behavior that that dog,child,friend returns to you. I do not belive it is possible to hold a job have a family and be able to give six dogs the training and care thats needed. Limit the number of pets you have please it does no one including the dogs any good to have more that you can handle. My main concern is that now that these dogs are attacking will they quit at the smaller dog or will the child be next. Mr. Tisdale seems to think its the mother dog who attacked does anyone realize that brings the total number of dogs to 13.

I'm sorry for the Kallman's loss.

Our pets depend on us to keep them from harm...so if there had been problems with my neighbors dogs getting through our adjoining fence to attack my dog, I'm sure I would have taken matters into my own hands and not relied on someone else to protect my beloved pet.

i have a beagle emma is her name i have a loaded rifle in my living room by the patio door where she goes out to the backyard it's fenced in but if i see any dog i dont care who the dogs owner is i am going to kill that dog it's my right to protect my emma at any cost i shot at a wild dog once and they never came back so owners out there get you a rifle and protect your animals please

In the old days, if someone's pets or kids caused harm, a monetary loss or decreased the quality of life for someone else the parent and victim got together and worked it out with any kids envolved learning a life lesson......those were the old days.

In today's world we need civil governance over the ownership of animals and the bearing of children. . . if you can't prove that you have the means to raise pets or children in an environment that will keep them safe and happy as well as the rest of society, then you don't get to have them.

Why shouldn't people who are physically able to drop out as many children as they want be scrutinized just as strongly as those who want to adopt? (No response necessary. Just a personal observation and comment. Sorry for digressing.)

i agree there should be a limit on how many pets one should own, at least in town. space is limited and if you own an animal it should have freedom to run and not be chained up or put in a cage. and if you have a yard ( which should be in the laws) it (the yard) should be dog proof so they can't get out to get hurt or to hurt others. and people should be responsible for their pets, get them fixed. there are so many pets in this world that are homeless and get tossed out like trash ( shame on those who do). i live in the country and always find animals coming to my house or on the road roaming around, once i catch them they are the sweetiest things and don't understand why they were TRASHED. i know this sounds awlful but if you cant take care of your pet and cant find them a home at least have them put to sleep. this is better than them starving to death or getting hurt and dying in pain. god help them

sorry to hear about the dog....Funny though if these were Pitbulls there were would be more public out cry.

To the Kallmans, I'm so sorry for the loss of your beloved pet. I know firsthand just how special these little guys are, and to Piper especially, I am so sorry to hear about your loss. I know you and Red were very close buddies, but he's looking down on you from doggy heaven with lots of love. God only loans us his little four-legged angels for a short time before he calls them back home. I hope you all find comfort in knowing you all made the last part of his life a very good one. You will be in my prayers.