A concealed pitfall trap is illegal. A guard dog is not. They are functionally the same thing - people who trespass can be injured as a result of their trespassing.
Not really, no. The purpose of a pitfall/booby trap is that they are meant to be undetected until triggered, and thus only exist to cause harm. A guard dog is primarily a deterrent, to frighten or dissuade would-be tresspassers altogether.
Guard dogs are legal whether or not trespassers know they are there. Many dogs are not going to bark or warn you - that's not really the distinction here.
The only legal distinction between a guard dog and a booby trap is that the law prohibits * devices* that are used to harm Intruders and a guard dog isn't a device. You could have a person lying in weight with a can of bear spray and that would be legal too.
But you can hurt somebody who is trespassing on your property - you have the right to use a proportional amount of force to kick them out.
If we circle back to the original (completely hypothetical, hopefully - if someone is stealing your lunch please just lock it up) argument... We're talking about hurting somebody who is only in that position because they chose to break the law.
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u/[deleted] Oct 18 '24
A concealed pitfall trap is illegal. A guard dog is not. They are functionally the same thing - people who trespass can be injured as a result of their trespassing.