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It ain't about YOU.
It's what is REASONABLE to an even-tempered, rational, thoughtful person who finds himself in that same situation you did.
You over-reacting due to your own mental issues is NOT a defense. It's a mitigating factor that might get you less prison time, if you get convicted of something other than murder. (Murder carries an automatic life penalty, no term of years).
I believe in the state of GA they call this type of entry a forcible felony. Where the intruder has forced their way into a residence. This escalates the perpetrator into a new bracket of aggravated circumstances. I feel like the distance is key in the OP’s lay out. 25’ is a long ways to identify a immediate deadly threat to ones life. Now if you were within attack range of this forcible felony perp, and your dogs life is in jeopardy, intervening to stop damage to property wouldn’t be unreasonable. During this intervention the perp is displaying an immediate threat, and here comes the deadly force authorization. IMO that’s the way it should or could play out.As a hypothetical, if we stick STRICTLY to the scenario the O.P. laid out, you can't shoot the intruder under the general law of self defense in most locations if (as the OP clearly says) the man is not (at that moment) a threat to YOU, only your DOG.
Dogs are property, and you can't use deadly force to protect property.
However, a house is a HABITATION, and there are special laws for that.
Using deadly force to defend your habitation is OK if (and only if) you reasonably believe that it's necessary to prevent the burglar from committing a further felony (aside from the burglary itself) inside the home.
Like, for example, brandishing that knife at you in a way that would be aggravated assault, putting you in reasonable fear of getting cut. Or, in another example on the same facts, you believe the burglar has already used "force" to get into your home-- broke a window, pried-open a door lock, picked a lock, etc. This "habitation" law draws a distinction between a break-in and somebody just letting themselves in through an unlocked door.
So for burglars that you reasonably assume intend to threaten you with that knife that they're holding,
or for burglars that you reasonably assume (or know) are not part of your household or a guest and have actually broken into your place with force, you've got a green light to go to guns, EVEN IF, at that moment, your dog has them temporarily distracted.
"Hypothetical situation. You're woken in the middle of the night by your dog barking. You hear sounds of a break in and go downstairs. You find your dog has the intruder by the leg. You are 25' away. The intruder is brandishing a knife.
"Can you legitimately shoot them as you believe they are about to injure or kill your dog"?
"Can you legitimately shoot them if they have injured or killed your dog ?
"
Sadly 'No', in the State of Georgia, a dog is considered 'property', you may NOT use 'deadly force' if someone is going to steal or injure your property.
However, if you believe someone is going to harm or kill you or a member of your family, you may use deadly force. If someone comes into your hope (stealthily) to steal your property you cannot use deadly force - you can 'hurt them', but not use deadly force.
This might help:
https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2010/title-16/chapter-3/article-2/16-3-21/
^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^As I see it the real problem with society is we have those that even argue the legalities of being able to shoot an intruder who breaks in your house wielding a knife in the middle of the night
There are a lot of opinions on this thread and a lot of bold ODT'ers who sound like they wouldn't hesitate to kill. In this hypothetical, you better hesitate. According to the OP, there is time to hesitate. If you don't, you will have a wife who is cleaning the blood off the floor while you are in jail.
I think this is sound advice from @GAgunLAWbooklet:
Dogs are property and you cannot use deadly force to protect property. So, if fear for your dog's life is all that you are considering, you are going to jail.
"I think that this requirement, imposed on you by the law regardless of your feelings, also carries and IMPLIED duty to honestly evaluate the performance of your first-deployed line of self-defense (in this case, your dog) and only go to guns if a REASONABLE PERSON in your situation would also think the dog may not keep the intruder fully occupied or just incapacitate him."
Also from @GAgunLAWbooklet,
"Using deadly force to defend your habitation is OK if (and only if) you reasonably believe that it's necessary to prevent the burglar from committing a further felony (aside from the burglary itself) inside the home.
Like, for example, brandishing that knife at you in a way that would be aggravated assault, putting you in reasonable fear of getting cut. Or, in another example on the same facts, you believe the burglar has already used "force" to get into your home-- broke a window, pried-open a door lock, picked a lock, etc. This "habitation" law draws a distinction between a break-in and somebody just letting themselves in through an unlocked door."
My point here is the intruder is 25' away with a knife- not a gun- and is temporarily distracted by your property. Wisdom says that a reasonable man should hesitate with deadly force until things become more obvious, especially if he doesn't fully know the gun laws. An intruder with a knife in his hand- especially if he isn't threatening you with it at the moment- may not be enough of a reason to use deadly force.
As a rule in this hypothetical: Use deadly force only if your life or the lives of your family members are imminently in danger. In this scenario, with these strict facts in play, there seems to be not enough threat to warrant deadly force- even with an intruder in your home.
In today's world, you best be dang sure!