How do you deal with aggressive dogs when /out/?

In rural areas there are heaps of dogs in villages, many are stray; all are territorial.
They are really unpredictable, and many are unused to being handled.

If not stopped, they will follow you around in a pack where their behavior is more erratic and they are more aggressive.

Often this requires taking a different route or shooing them away
however they become genuinely dangerous at night, or when you are alone outside of town
Rabies is also a genuine issue here as well, so an attack doesn't need to be serious to be fatal.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that the locals just throw stones at the dogs when they misbehave or use a slingshot, but arn't pleased when YOU throw stones at their dogs.
Pepper spray is also illegal here, and combined with the attitudes of villagers could see me having to pay off some cop