This is a question pertaining to the protection of my pet in a dangerous situation and also about how to deal with another pet owner. Hopefully I'm not asking something outside the scope of this site.
I have had two large dogs nearly killed (ripped to shreds) by my neighbor's two aggressive pitbulls.
The first one wandered off of my property when attacked, being young he was probably trying to go make some friends. Since it was off of my property, it was my responsibility.
I had to eventually give that dog away to some great people because I refused to keep him tied/pinned up and he didn't respond quickly enough to my training attempts, and kept leaving the property.
Now I have adopted a puppy which responded very well to training. He and another dog in my care both stay on the property at all times.
The second attack, last week, was in front of my house. I came out to whimpering and had to chase the 2 pits away from the older dog in my care and it was badly injured. The neighbor paid for the bills.
I have called the police over and the officer suggested that I might need to shoot the dogs if they're posing a threat to my property. I do not want to do that though.
I live on a large fenced-in property outside of the city limits. The main entrance gate is the only open entrance to the property.
I do not wish to tie my pets up or keep them in a pen. We have large fenced in property with ponds that the dogs enjoy playing in freely, and they have been trained to stay away from the front gate.
Keeping the dogs inside is prohibited.
I've informed the neighbor on each occasion, and on the most recent attack he payed for the vet bills, but last night I had to run one of the bulldogs away from my house again.
The neighbor refuses to train or keep the dogs tied / pinned up.
Please give advice on how I might solve this problem peacefully.