I NEED to Vent - Private Property is an Illusion and I am Ticked Off!!!

Earlier today, my dog bolts out of the house into my backyard (surrounded by privacy fence)
and starts raising holy hell.
I run to the window and see a man in the far back corner with a shovel and she has him cornered.
After grabbing my .38 and cell phone, I walk outside and call her off and order her into the house.
Then I realize the young man is wearing a hat and safety vest, so I don't call the police.
He explains he is surveying for the house next door which has been sold.
I ask him why he didn't attempt to ask permission before jumping my fence and he stated they do it all the time. I tell him he could have been attacked by the rottie and he said he would have used the shovel while trying to get back over the fence (my gates are locked).
At that point he's lucky I just didn't shoot the little pr**k. He would have used a shovel on my dog while on my property without my permission......unbelievable.
I called the company and the owner said that the State of Florida gives surveyors permission to go anywhere they need to. I told him I would have gladly unlocked the gate and secured the dog if someone had just asked.
He stated that it was too time consuming and not cost effective.
I still have smoke coming out of my ears......

So, am I over reacting???

Side Note: He also stated that the surveyors all love dogs and carry treats to make friends with whatever animals they encounter. Lets hope that whatever they are giving your pets doesn't kill them or make them sick.

hell no you're not over-reacting! Surveyors in an urban setting should take the time to ask permission to be in your backyard. The dumbasses ought to realize also that with crime these days it aint too smart to be jumping into folks backyards. Easy way to get kilt.

Especially from a single woman living alone who was taught how to handle a weapon.
I live in a nice, quiet neighborhood and most of the dogs are small.
I imagine he never expected to see a 90lb. Rott come charging out of the back door
and then a ticked off 53 year old woman with a .38 aimed at his center mass.
Man, I was so irritated....especially after I talked to the owner of the business.

I would have shot him and claimed that he came at me with the shovel and I felt threatened.

I am normally a peace loving, calm and quiet individual.
If I had really thought I was in danger, I would have held him at gunpoint until the police arrived.
Going to jail to prove a point is not my idea of a good time.

But...I'm a woman and I can't speak for the male perspective.

He is right, but could be dead right. He should have informed you he was coming onto the property, but does have a legal right to access it to survey. It's too bad the rottie didn't take a bite out of his righteous ass!

I once beat someone up for jumping in front of me in line. But I have always had a quick temper.

My Wolf would have ate him, bones and all...

Eric,
I just don't understand why they can't ring the doorbell of the adjacent properties to let someone know they are there.....
When I called the business, I was expecting an apology, not someone telling me it wasn't cost effective.
I'm getting worked up again....NOW I want to shoot something.

Pop a cap in his ass. Your gun has too many bullets in it anyway. Lighten the ammo load a bit.

RottiesRule wrote:Eric,
I just don't understand why they can't ring the doorbell of the adjacent properties to let someone know they are there.....
When I called the business, I was expecting an apology, not someone telling me it wasn't cost effective.
I'm getting worked up again....NOW I want to shoot something.

RottiesRule wrote:Eric,
I just don't understand why they can't ring the doorbell of the adjacent properties to let someone know they are there.....
When I called the business, I was expecting an apology, not someone telling me it wasn't cost effective.
I'm getting worked up again....NOW I want to shoot something.

The company owner is an asshole.

Agreed.

BTW, I like the long board in your avatar.

wait, that sounded dirty.....I'm talking about the Surf Board.

Ha ha ha !! Nice Rottie !!

I found this Florida Statute:

472.029 Authorization to enter lands of third parties; conditions.--
(1) IN GENERAL.--Surveyors and mappers or their subordinates may go on, over, and upon the lands of others when necessary to make surveys and maps or locate or set monuments, and, in so doing, may carry with them their agents and employees necessary for that purpose. Entry under the right granted by this subsection does not constitute trespass, and surveyors and mappers and their duly authorized agents or employees so entering are not liable to arrest or to a civil action by reason of such entry; however, this subsection does not give authority to registrants, subordinates, agents, or employees to destroy, injure, damage, or move any physical improvements on lands of another without the written permission of the landowner.

RottiesRule wrote:Agreed.

BTW, I like the long board in your avatar.

wait, that sounded dirty.....I'm talking about the Surf Board.

I still have that long board. It was made in 1963 and is 10' 4". It was the first board I ever tried to ride... In 1964.

Thanks for the info Eric.

Have I mentioned how much I hate the government sometimes???

About the long Board:

True Story: Late 70's, P'cola Beach, 1st and last attempt at surfing.
I got up (it's pretty easy since the board is so large).
I surfed for 5 or so feet (all the while thinking this is so cool and so am I).
I fell off.
I got hit in the back of the head with the surfboard of the idiot surfing beside/behind me.
Woke up on the beach.
Called it a day (you have no idea how heavy those damn things are until you get hit with one).

He should have rang your doorbell and let you know what he was doing. I don't like people messing around in my back yard, either.

Well Neko, if you or anyone else has a house next door that sells be prepared for an intruder, because they obviously think they can do what ever they like.
My dog kept going to the corner where he was, so I finally got curious and checked it out.
He left a cigarette butt on the fence.
The guys were right...I should have shot him.

RottiesRule wrote:Thanks for the info Eric.

Have I mentioned how much I hate the government sometimes???

About the long Board:

True Story: Late 70's, P'cola Beach, 1st and last attempt at surfing.
I got up (it's pretty easy since the board is so large).
I surfed for 5 or so feet (all the while thinking this is so cool and so am I).
I fell off.
I got hit in the back of the head with the surfboard of the idiot surfing beside/behind me.
Woke up on the beach.
Called it a day (you have no idea how heavy those damn things are until you get hit with one).

I got lots of "war wounds" from surfing, but I was up in the parking lot at Perdido Key, watching two guys surfing the same wave, coming at one another. One guy "kicked out" to give the other the wave, but the guy that kicked out did it too late and the nose of his board hit the other guy right in the eye. I could hear the "bonk" up in the parking lot!

Hit eyelid was almost completely ripped off and it knocked him out temporarily. The guy that kicked out got the injured guy out of the water or he would have drowned. I offered to drive the injured guy to the hospital, and was told "Hell no, I ain't riding with you." (I guess he knew I had a lead foot.) I drove an old junker that would go WAY past 120 mph...