Idk about California but I know in Texas where I live because we are what's called a livestock state it's legal to shoot dogs that are chasing/harassing livestock but I'm the type of person that will not shoot the dog without giving the owner at least one verbal warning such as "Hey not trying to be rude or make threats but your dog was chasing and trying to hurt my horses. Either keep him/her put up or I will have to shoot it for the protection of my horses" but I'm not the kind of person who will just walk out and shoot someone's dog unless the dog has a hold of my horse and is hurting it and is refusing to let go. It sounds like your neighbor is just a hateful person. I would do my best to keep my dog put up and away from them because it seems like they'll try and shoot your dog over any little thing and I would tell your neighbor they owe you compensation for the ER visit. I would also report them to the police someone who sounds to be that irresponsible with guns seeing as they shot without looking to make sure you or anyone else wasn't in range probably shouldn't be allowed access to guns.

sounds like you don't have a good handle on your dog, I once was walking my dog(trained and all) he got super excited at a squirrel while I was picking up a phone call in mid winter. as i was talking in the phone I let him pull on the leash, just as a lady was calling out to me from across the street (probably to tell me to train my dog) I lost my patience with him cuz now I'm having trouble talking on my phone, I sternly voiced HALT, DOWN, he stopped midjump and dropped his body down. I looked over to the lady to see what she wanted. all she did was blankly stare, turn around and keep walking. seriously train your dogs, they lose control yes but you should always be able to call your dog down. by the way assuming you live on a farm or rural areas I can see why you didn't, most ppl don't realize how bad their dog is because of all the space they have. with that much space they house train themselves but doesn't mean they respect you

I run a farm and in most places if any dog (or other animal) is around livestock when it shouldn't be the law is it can be shot, with no warning to the animals owner or any repercussion. I've had the police back me up on this, so he's within his rights there. Horses as a rule don't like dogs, especially if it's a dog it didn't grow up with so I doubt they were "playing". As for the ricochet, if he didn't see the OP not his fault, the OP HAS TO contact the landowner before looking for the dog so the farmer probably didn't expect to have anyone there

what I don't get is how over 500 people think anyone deserved that!

hello er??? how about hello cops ive been shot.