I have a question

[zap]

What gun do you use to put a dog down with, and do you just shoot them in the head, I am not good at hitting the target specially if it moves. (My other half used to take care of things like that)

The reason I ask is this is the dumping ground for dogs, and usually I pick them up and they can live here, there was one on the dirt rd today, a little black pup maybe 1yr. old, some asshole dumped it in the cold and rain and its anus was hanging out. There are no SPCA's in this area (2 hours away), and animal control doesn't answer their phone , so I took it to the vet about 30 miles away and paid them $ 97.00 to euthanize it. Poor dog.

People are bastards and there are alot of useless ones out there.

[Glass]

a .22 rifle would do the trick. Single head shot up as close as you can get. And yes people are bastards and cowards.

[osoab]

12 or 20 guage would do the trick.

[ximmy]

a .22 rifle would do the trick. And yes people are bastards.


No, you can shoot him 22 times with a .22 and he will still cry out and writhe in pain... this isn't the movies...

I saw this happen once then the dope ran out of ammo... What an Asshole!!!

Large caliber or shot gun with plenty of shells.. BAM!

It's probably the same for humans...

[zap]

12 or 20 guage would do the trick.


A shotgun? I think it would be a mess? I just want to be able to do it quick, quite and painless, in the head?

[ximmy]

12 or 20 guage would do the trick.


A shotgun? I think it would be a mess? I just want to be able to do it quick, quite and painless, in the head?


A mess is better than seeing and hearing it scream it's little heart out... with it's eyeball sticking out of it's head... (this will take care of it... I'll shoot it in the head)

[zap]

12 or 20 guage would do the trick.


A shotgun? I think it would be a mess? I just want to be able to do it quick, quite and painless, in the head?


A mess is better than seeing and hearing it scream it's little heart out... with it's eyeball sticking out of it's head... (this will take care of it... I'll shoot it in the head)


Yes Ximy
I want it to be quick and painless too. But I don't want to blow its head down the road either.

[ximmy]

12 or 20 guage would do the trick.


A shotgun? I think it would be a mess? I just want to be able to do it quick, quite and painless, in the head?


A mess is better than seeing and hearing it scream it's little heart out... with it's eyeball sticking out of it's head... (this will take care of it... I'll shoot it in the head)


Yes Ximy
I want it to be quick and painless too. But I don't want to blow its head down the road either.


...all the screaming, yelps, cries, gurgles, legs flailing, dog performing the curly shuffle,... still haunt me

[Glass]

a .22 rifle would do the trick. And yes people are bastards.


No, you can shoot him 22 times with a .22 and he will still cry out and writhe in pain... this isn't the movies...

I saw this happen once then the dope ran out of ammo... What an Asshole!!!

Large caliber or shot gun with plenty of shells.. BAM!

It's probably the same for humans...


A .22 will be fine for head shot to anything up to a sheep. Been there done that.

[zap]

Where are all the guys with the answers? Jesus

Unless I hit it spot on with a shotgun, your going to have screaming and yelping and guts everywhere, and If a .22 isn't powerful enough I am going to have screaming and yelping that way too, and I can't spend $ 100.00 everytime I need to put one to sleep.

[sunnyandseventy]

I'd use 9MM. But that's what I carry. If not it'd be .22 since I often use that for pistol practice.

I think maybe a .22 revolver might be in order.

Maybe you just have to drive by them....
We can't help them all. And if it bothers you enough to spend $100, plus your time and energy getting them there, maybe shooting them isn't for you.

[zap]

I'd use 9MM. But that's what I carry. If not it'd be .22 since I often use that for pistol practice.

I think maybe a .22 revolver might be in order.

Maybe you just have to drive by them....
We can't help them all. And if it bothers you enough to spend $100, plus your time and energy getting them there, maybe shooting them isn't for you.


I would have kept him if his ass wasn't hanging out, Poor little guy it was raining and he looked so pathetic standing there shivering and he was hurt.

I have had to shoot a few sick goats and I can do it if I have to, but I just didn't know for sure what gun to use, the time I had to shoot the goats he wasn't home but I called him to ask what gun I should use.

[sunnyandseventy]

If it worked for goats it should work for dogs. Practice so you can do it quick and right. Like ximmy said..you don't wan't deal with it crying and yelping.

A mess is better than suffering in my opinion.

People who abandon their animals suck. At least have the decency to off it.

[willie pete]

a .22 between the eyes would be humane

[ximmy]

Don't forget the predator/prey suffering theory... A dog is a predator...

He will not go into shock (like a sheep or goat shot in the head with a .22) but go into fight/flight mode...

[Tumbleweed]

Zap I've put a lot of animals down over the years. The place to aim for or hold you gun barrel is important. If you could draw a line from each ear to the eye on the opposite side of the head aim for the place where the imaginary line crosses. A kel-tec or Ruger .380 would be a good choice if you can get a hold of them and hold it close to their skull. They cost about $300. A 30-30 works good when you can't get to close and if you hit them in the right spot it only takes one.

I shot a couple of hounds that were running loose one time. The first one I shot through the heart. He went down and died right there the other one took off running and I gut shot him with a 30-30. He died too. those two had killed my dog about a month earlier and belonged to a neighbor that wasn't keeping them chained up at night.

[hoarder]

Aiming between the eyes is not Ideal, IMO. Animals have small brains. I shot a wild boar that was in a trap with my .38 special and he just stood there looking at me with blood coming out his mouth. The bullet hit ever so little lower than I aimed and went below the brain. Next shot I aimed a little higher and he went down.

When I was sure he was dead I climbed in the trap and drug him out. When I got inside the trap I kept thinking "I hope he's really dead"...... :conf:

I shot a coyote in a leg trap a few years later and the same thing happened. First shot went an inch low and he let out a "GRR" and held his ground with blood coming out his mouth. Second shot a little higher and down he went.

There is nothing inhumane about killing a dog with a shotgun, IMO. He dies quick and doesn't know his brains are scattered from here to the next county.

[solid]

Zap, sorry to hear about this situation. If I had to put an animal down, as much as I hope I never need too....I'd use a 45-70. I can deal with mess, but the yelping and wriggling in pain, I don't want to. Big bullet, imo, is worth the extra cleanup.

[Kali]

.22 sounds too small unless you know right where to shoot em.

I had to put down a pitbull and used a 40SW to the head. He was out instantly.

[osoab]

12 or 20 guage would do the trick.


A shotgun? I think it would be a mess? I just want to be able to do it quick, quite and painless, in the head?


Well, you could break its neck with your hands or just have run over it with your truck. ;D

[Tumbleweed]

Aiming between the eyes is not Ideal, IMO. Animals have small brains. I shot a wild boar that was in a trap with my .38 special and he just stood there looking at me with blood coming out his mouth. The bullet hit ever so little lower than I aimed and went below the brain. Next shot I aimed a little higher and he went down.


Hoarder you are right about shooting an animal between the eyes. It's the wrong place. drawing an imaginary x between their eyes and ears will get you about as close to the right spot as you can get in my opinion. I used to trap and have shot alot of animals that I'd caught with a .22. Fox, coyote, coons,skunks, cats, mink and weasels. Now I mostly just put down an occasional cow, calf, deer and used to put a lot of sheep down. It's something that I don't enjoy and I try to do a good job of it with no suffering of the animal.

[hoarder]

drawing an imaginary x between their eyes and ears will get you about as close to the right spot as you can get in my opinion. Do you mean for example a line between the left ear and the left eye? On us humans that would be too low. Considering that we're taller than the poor critter we're putting down, the angle of the shot dictates that we probably should aim higher.

[Tumbleweed]

drawing an imaginary x between their eyes and ears will get you about as close to the right spot as you can get in my opinion. Do you mean for example a line between the left ear and the left eye? On us humans that would be too low. Considering that we're taller than the poor critter we're putting down, the angle of the shot dictates that we probably should aim higher.


The lines are between left ear right eye, Right ear left eye. Where the lines cross on the imaginary x is where you aim for. If your close and above with a dog that should put the bullet in the brain. When I was trapping fox thats where I aimed with a .22.

[hoarder]

The lines are between left ear right eye, Right ear left eye. Where the lines cross on the imaginary x is where you aim for. If your close and above with a dog that should put the bullet in the brain. When I was trapping fox thats where I aimed with a .22.
That makes perfect sense, thanks! Duh, should have re-read your instructions.

[Awoke]

You absolutely can not go wrong with a shotgun.

You shoot from 2 feet away, and there will be no head to clean up. I'm not saying that to be rude, just realistic.

I'm really sorry that you are faced with this task. I wouldn't wish it on anyone who has respect for life.

[Dogman]

There is really no way for everyone to agree with how to . Brain shots are the best but as stated above hitting the correct spot??.

Shot gun where the neck joins the head and sever the spine at the junction of spine and head. The nervous system
may go crazy but the brain will feel no pain , the connection has been cut, and major shock makes the rest painless
for the critter. Just take the critter out of your normal sight areas on your land. The other critters that live in your area will in time clean up. Using a rifle to make the shot, the critter needs to be looking at you dead center and then needs to hold its position while you aim!!!

The at least to me the best shot placement is at the center of the neck and head junction from the top and the critter is looking away from you. ,IMHO. Shoot and walk away and do not visit that patch of ground , for a while. Let the scavengers do their work!

(Make the shot, be shur of the hit and then turn away and walk away, and do not look back!)

Using a rifle is hard to use if the critter is lively, a shotgun is best because less chance to screw up. Tho it is more messy but some time it can not be helped. It sounds like the pup was hit by a car or truck by your saying its ass was hanging out, intestines ? no matter, major damage!

Sorry for your problems.

Killing for food cool, for life hard, for mercy hardest!

IMHO!

[zap]

Well Ximy, and gentlemen thankyou for all the advise , I guess it would be best to use the shotgun then if I ever have to... most of the dogs are just abandoned and they can come live here, but if I ever need to ... I will know which gun to use, and yes the buzzards clean up everything pretty quick around here.

[Tumbleweed]

Zap Dogman is right about using a shotgun if you're inexperianced and the dog is tame enough to be handled. If you don't use a shotgun then I wouldn't advise the back of the head. It's harder to hit the spinal cord with a bullet. I know from experiance.

[Awoke]

It's not complicated, people! Shoot the thing in the head with a shotgun.

Close range. It won't even matter what size of shot you use at 2 feet away.

All this talk of severing spines and whatever else is negligable.

BANG.
If that wasn't enough, BANG.

[hoarder]

It's not complicated, people! Shoot the thing in the head with a shotgun.That would mess up the pelt!

[Horn]

Aren't there any Chinese restaurants in your area?

[SLV^GLD]

This has been discussed to death already but I vote 12ga to the head at close range or 30cal to the heart if longer range is required. I've had too many brain shots with small caliber pistol bullets require 2nd and 3rd application to go down that road again.

30cal to the head at close range works quite well but is actually messier than 12ga at the same range. The pressures generated by the bullet cause the top of the head to come off like a volcano.

[Tumbleweed]

I've put down a lot of animals and they almost never take their eyes off of you. It's a rare thing in my experiance when an animal is looking away from me so that I could shoot them in the back of the head with a shotgun.

[osokusmc]

Tumbleweed's right, X marks the spot. The only thing I would add is I use .22LR solids as opposed to hollow points, and I make sure the barrel is perpendicular to the surface of the skull to minimize the chance of bullet deflection. I've had to grab the dogs snout and push his nose towards the ground to keep him from giving me puppy dog eyes and to get the perpendicular angle that's ideal. I use a handgun. Dog will drop, legs may kick a few times due to their electrical system being short circuited, but they are unaware as their brain is shut down.