My mother lives in a suburban neighborhood and owns a 75lb dog which is very docile, well trained, and almost never barks. There is a neighbor two houses up, who has deliberately caused problems in the past, including a confrontation with my mother's boyfriend in which he (the neighbor) became irate and was threatening in his body language, though he issued no verbal threat.
A few weeks ago my mother's boyfriend was doing work on the house in the front yard. My mother's dog (Jake) and his dog (Emma) (which is also peaceful, but occasionally barks and is less well trained) walked across the street and Emma barked a few times. Her boyfriend recalled the dogs and they returned to the lawn. Seconds later the neighbor walked down, stopping a few feet short of the driveway, standing in the street. He issues a threat, saying something to the effect of, "I'm so sick of those g-ddamn dogs. If I hear them running around barking one more time I'm likely to kill them!" This man had never said a word about the dogs to my mother or her boyfriend in the past. He is clearly an aggressive man with irrational tendencies and a grudge which seems to be baseless. Though I told her off for it afterward, my mother, nor her boyfriend, reported the neighbors actions to the police.
My fear is that, aside from possibly taking action against my mother or her boyfriend, this man may be likely to attempt to kill one of the dogs. I'm frequently at the house and will be beginning to CC sometime in the next two months (pending the outcome of my LTC-ALP application in January, which I had planned on long before this neighbor first caused a problem). What I want to know is this: If I were to witness the neighbor attempting to take violent action against one of the dogs (assuming that they are not trying to take any action against him), what am I legally allowed to do to defend them?
A few weeks ago my mother's boyfriend was doing work on the house in the front yard. My mother's dog (Jake) and his dog (Emma) (which is also peaceful, but occasionally barks and is less well trained) walked across the street and Emma barked a few times. Her boyfriend recalled the dogs and they returned to the lawn. Seconds later the neighbor walked down, stopping a few feet short of the driveway, standing in the street. He issues a threat, saying something to the effect of, "I'm so sick of those g-ddamn dogs. If I hear them running around barking one more time I'm likely to kill them!" This man had never said a word about the dogs to my mother or her boyfriend in the past. He is clearly an aggressive man with irrational tendencies and a grudge which seems to be baseless. Though I told her off for it afterward, my mother, nor her boyfriend, reported the neighbors actions to the police.
My fear is that, aside from possibly taking action against my mother or her boyfriend, this man may be likely to attempt to kill one of the dogs. I'm frequently at the house and will be beginning to CC sometime in the next two months (pending the outcome of my LTC-ALP application in January, which I had planned on long before this neighbor first caused a problem). What I want to know is this: If I were to witness the neighbor attempting to take violent action against one of the dogs (assuming that they are not trying to take any action against him), what am I legally allowed to do to defend them?
![[rolleyes]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/042.gif "Roll Eyes [rolleyes]")
![[angry]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/008.gif "Angry [angry]")
![[thinking]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/010.gif "Thinking [thinking]")
