HelpfulGardener.com

My dog has become a garden pest assassin. In the past week he has killed 2 groundhogs and a bunny. The groundhogs are fighters and make me so nervous when he goes after them, but the bunny was absolute heartbreak. He killed the young bunny during our BBQ and proceeded to prance around party to show off his prize to everyone's horror. The poor baby screamed his little head off. He almost killed a large rabbit a couple weeks ago but the rabbit was silent and played dead which made my dog completely lose interest so he escaped with a broken leg.

After I made the mistake of interfering when he caught his first squirrel, I've learned that by the time I get to them it's too late and I'd most likely have to put them out of misery myself, so the more humane option is to let him kill them more quickly. I'm an animal lover and it is horrifying to see/hear these animals being caught and killed, but a tiny part of me is happy that all my plants that have continually been nipped to the ground this season are finally starting to grow!

Who else has their own garden patrol?

While I don't have my very own garden patrol, I do have very irresponsible neighbors that allow their dogs to roam free. They poop on my garden. They dig up my garden's freshly planted crops. They also kill anything that is smaller than they are, including squirrels, chipmunks, deer, rabbits, and feral cats. What's bad, is that they just gut them and leave them in the driveway to die. Usually this happens when we are not home. The last time she got one of the feral cats, and my husband had to put it down. I LOVE cats, and I have a soft spot for most animals.... one of them dragged a deer carcass into our yard! Fully rotten, intact spine and pelvis and skull... so gross!!! I had bad dreams about that one for months...

It's always a touchy thing to report your neighbors to the police or sheriff. There are probably leash laws in your area, but then you gotta think about a feud starting with your neighbors. Hard to know what to do.

There are leash laws in the. city here, but not in the county where I live.

Lindsaylew82 that sounds absolutely horrible! Your neighbors dogs sound more like pests than control, how irresponsible of them. My yard is fenced and I still apologize to my neighbors in case they had to witness the carnage. However, they're happier about the situation than I am because they have numerous unprotected veggie beds... they also don't have to bury the bodies.

With the exception of one of the groundhogs, there's been no blood or guts. I'm guessing he breaks their necks. All I can hope is that they died quickly and with little pain. Honestly, if he wasn't my dog who I love to pieces, I'd be supremely upset. I have to get past it and understand that his pray instinct is strong, despite how cute and fluffy he may be. I do my best to give a warning knock on the door before I let him out, but while I'm out gardening with him, they sneak into the garden and he's always on patrol.