You've got a few problems to overcome, but before I explain, let me put out a little back story.

I live in a colonia, on the border of Mexico/Texas. This is no-man's land, figuratively. The city of Brownsville police and animal control do not come out to this area, the county does, but is already strained for staff/logistics. So when we have a dog problem out here, you're on your own. Last year I was hounded by a small pack of dogs, which were more dangerous because of what they were, chihuahuas. I know that sounds funny, but because of their size, they were more of a danger of getting caught up in my bike than biting me.

After 2 months of just hammering beyond them, the worst possible outcome happened. I was riding my Karate Monkey, with platform pedals at about 18 mph coming around the bend where they lived. The lady owned 4 of them and they were unrestrained; one of them got into my wheel as I stood up to sprint away from them and the dog lived, but I took ended up going down very hard, getting a concussion and road rash as I slide some 15-20 feet down the road. By the time I snapped to my feet and went into rage mode, the dogs were already behind her "fence" again and her and the home healthcare worker that was in her front yard just stared at me. I made it very clear that we had a problem, and her response was

"No English." I asked the other lady and her response was simply "I don't want to get involved." I lost 2 days work and really wasn't comfortable until they moved a few months later.

The deputy told me there was nothing in their power to do for me, other than take someone to court for the damages; taking someone who has nothing to lose to court isn't beneficial and no amount of "feel good cause I won a court battle" mentality is going to fix that problem.

I carry mace for dogs, exclusively, and haven't had to use it; I pray I don't because at the end of the day, you and I both know that you're not worried about wind, how it will make the dog feel or any other "feel good" mindsets that want to dictate what the appropriate response is during a situation.

You're scared, a dog is chasing you (dogs), and you're both looking at your life (in the case of dangerous dogs) and possibly getting injured because of the road hazard - no amount of animal rights is going to change this fact.

I wouldn't shot the dog because I just don't do the gun thing, but I wouldn't begrudge you if you felt that was the only option you had in your case.