Dog Attack

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Looking to vent, looking for sympathy, looking for advice.

There is one dog on our block who is not well-restrained. She has escaped and come after my dog several times. And the weekend before last, she badly injured my dog.

There were three of us walking my dog, so when the other dog got loose, one person picked up my dog, and the other two of us tackled and restrained the attacking dog. But in those few seconds before we restrained our neighbor’s dog, she tore up my dog’s face. My dog had to be sedated and get sutures in four places. There was a cut clean through her eyelid that had to be stitched up, another on her cheek, and a third that went straight through her cheek into her gum (so that both her cheek and her gum needed stitches). The vet bill came out to well over a thousand dollars.

We spoke to animal services, and the animal services officer said that if the attending vet attested that the injuries were serious, we could pursue a dangerous dog order for the other dog. But the vet said the injuries weren’t serious enough.

The owners initially said they would pay the medical bills, but they’ve recently been backing off on that, protesting that they can’t afford the entire bill but offering to pay part of it. I asked them if they could pay part now and the rest later and they agreed to that, but after sending them my Venmo info five days ago and checking back in with them a few days later to ask when I would receive the payment, I haven’t heard a peep out of them, and I’m concerned both that they may not pay and that they may not be liable.

The animal services officer said I could go to court to say that they were violating a leash ordinance, in which they would get a $250 fine. I’m undecided if I want to pursue this, because if he was claiming that he couldn’t afford to cover my vet bills and then gets a fine from the court, well there’s another excuse for him not to cover my vet bills. But maybe he won’t do that anyhow.

My main concern is that the owner seemed to have the attitude of “these things happen sometimes.” After four previous times of his dog coming after my dog, he never saw it fit to pay more attention to how well his dog was restrained. Now that his dog caused over a thousand dollars in damages, he’s still trying to skirt responsibility, and it looks like he may be able to. And we live on the same block as this dog. I’m scared that he’s still not going to feel impelled to properly restrain his dog, and I just feel so – I don’t know. Like this owner still doesn’t properly understand the devastation that he and his dog have caused. And I’m not sure how to feel a sense of safety or peace about all this.

2

Talk to a lawyer, or even your insurance agent, before something like that.
In fact, my suggestion is to turn down the offer and sue them in small claims for the full amount of the bill. You might also consider checking the area to see if there’s any doorbell (or regular) cameras that may have picked it up.

3

Attempt to get them charged with whatever you can.

They’re not gonna pay your vet bill. Unless compelled by court order.

Press charges with the regular police.

Change vets. That’s not cool what he said. Any facial dog bite is serious.

Buy bear spray. Make sure you’re downwind. When the vicious dog comes near. Spray the eff outta him.

Your poor doggy. Treats and belly rubs! :heart:

4

We actually talked to two lawyers before suggesting it. I wanted to accept what he was willing to pay and see if we could get the rest in court, but my boyfriend cautioned that if I accept his offer via text message it could come across as a written contract. By instead suggesting that he pay some now and pay the rest in the next few months, it was indicating that I was not agreeing to his initial terms. What the lawyers were recommending is that for the amount of money they owed, it was hard for suing to be “worth it;” i.e., the legal fees were liable to be as much or more than the amount owed. They suggested to first see if I could get the amount from them without getting the courts involved. My one lawyer friend said you can go to small claims court as late as two years after the initial bill was received.

5

This wasn’t my normal vet; I had to go to an after-hours vet since this happened on a weekend. I did follow up at my regular vet’s office the next day, and I’m going back this week to get the sutures out. You think it’s worth mentioning to this vet? The animal services officer said that it was the opinion of the attending vet directly after the incident that counted.

6

I would. He can tell how the deep the cuts were. His opinion would/should carry some weight

7

My sympathies for the unprovoked attack on your dog. It feels terrible to not be able to protect your pet even though you did everything you reasonably could do.

The animal services officer you spoke with may be well intended (or may just be unwilling to do their job) but that doesn’t make them an authoritative source of information. An attack that resulted in “a cut clean through her eyelid that had to be stitched up, another on her cheek, and a third that went straight through her cheek into her gum (so that both her cheek and her gum needed stitches)” is definitely a significant mauling which indicates a danger to both other dogs and potentially people. This aggressive dog may or may not be redeemable with training but it is clear that the current owners either don’t know or care to put the effort into this, nor to adequately restrain the dog from escaping, so it is a menace to the public; I don’t see how it can be considered anything but a “dangerous dog”. Of course, such a dog will probably be destroyed if it is taken but it doesn’t sound as if it is well cared for or properly restrained, and not dealing with this could lead to an even worse incident in the future.

As for renumeration, you have a record of the attack and having tried to adjudicate payment with them and their (verbal?) confirmation of paying for your expenses, as well as your reasonable effort to follow up without response. This is a pretty clear cut case for small claims court and it is difficult to see how a judge would not rule in your favor. Leveraging a fine against the owner, even if they are unwilling or unable to pay may lead to them surrendering the dog to a shelter. Again, this may result in the dog being euthanized, but it might also find an owner that would take the time to train and condition the dog, or at least keep it properly restrained. Either way, it would no longer be your problem or a threat to your pet.

Stranger

8

A lawyer in ‘real’ court, sure, but not using a lawyer and going to small claims will probably cost you less than a hundred. When I sued someone for about a grand, IIRC, I paid the courts $60 and whatever small amount the sheriff charged me to serve him.

YES! They deal with exactly this kind of thing all the time and have probably heard lots of stories about how it plays out. At best, they may be able to put you in touch with someone or provide you with resources to help you with all this, at worst, they probably have stories from other patients that may be helpful.

But the big reason for my YES! is that if the vet agrees that this was serious ask them to note it in the dog’s chart, then ask for a copy of it. Or maybe just ask if they’ll write a letter giving with their professional/expert opinion of the seriousness of the injuries.
And if you haven’t already, don’t tell them the ER doctor said they weren’t that bad, just ask this vet for their opinion on how serious it is.

9

I’m showing up primarily for #2.

That pic … that avatar … (<-----) associated with my screen name. That’s Sam. He’s 13.

There’s an old saying that “a dog is a part of you’re life, but you’re a dog’s entire life.” Well … because I’m in ill health … Sam’s a disproportionately large share of my life, too.

And he’s had no end of close calls with aggressive dogs that only good fortune has prevented from turning into disasters. Sam’s a wide-eyed optimist and a sweet summer child. He doesn’t understand that not every single dog is friendly. Because Sam is.

Too many times, I’ve come home with Sam and had it run through my head … what if that had gone only slightly differently?

I’ve vividly, graphically, and frequently imagined what happened to you and your dog, and that has been more than enough for me, thank you very much.

Meaning: I’m so, so sorry.

Good dog owners are the ones who take the dimmest view of bad dog owners, because we know it’s just not that hard to be better than this guy is. We also know that a bad dog owner creates a lose-lose(-lose) situation. No winners.

Yeah. Small Claims Court. Yeah. Ask your vet if he/she will help you out.

I hope your fur baby heals quickly and fully, and with no lasting scars of any kind. I wish the same for you.

10

My daughter did this and won easily.

11

Take lots of photos.

12

Can your regular vet talk to the emergency vet and convince them that a “dangerous dog” confirmation is warranted?

You have all my sympathy! The behavior of the other dog owner is outrageous.

13

I would talk to your councilperson. That’s what they are there for.
The idea that the “injuries weren’t serious enough…” is bunk. It’s only because you intervened that they weren’t more serious.
Where I live, dogs are required to be on a leash at all times (when not at an official dog park). Any dog that is that aggressive needs to be carefully contained. I know, because I have a dog who is extremely aggressive (although he is a little dog, so not very dangerous, but he is always on a harness, or behind a locked gate).

And - sorry about your dog. Hope they make a full recovery.

14

Now that’s bullshit. You’ve got an easy case in small claims court. We had a guy’s dog get loose and it tore up one of our chickens. My gf rushed the hen to our vet. The guy offered to pay our vet bill, assuming it would be the cost of euthanizing it.

But my gf told the vet money was no object. We gave the guy the bill and his jaw dropped. However. I’d already bitched to the guy’s landlord about the situation (the landlord is a friend of ours). The dog owner had the option of paying the bill or being evicted. He paid.

In your shoes I’d contact Animal Control again. And again. Have your friends who witnessed the attack contact Animal Control. Become a total pain in the ass for Animal Control until they do something.

15

You need to make a pest of yourself to the police/animal control to protect yourself from any complicity in the next attack by that animal.

16

Thank you for all the suggestions to talk to the regular vet. I spoke with her this morning, and she said she would be happy to advocate for my dog and vouch for the severity of her injuries. She said it is evident from my dog’s injuries that the attacking dog is dangerous, and action should be taken to make sure that she is properly restrained in the future.

However, the vet did suggest that I try one thing first: talk to the emergency vet. She suggested that there may have been some sort of miscommunication between the animal services officer and the vet. The injuries were not life-threatening but they easily could have been, and the vet may have been focused on the fact that my dog’s eyeball was not knocked out, as opposed to the fact that the dog came within centimeters of destroying her eyeball, and was ultimately restrained not by the dog’s owner but my myself and my boyfriend to prevent further damage.

17

I would send him a demand for the payment and let him know that small claims court is your next step. Get your friends to write a letter documenting the incident. I’d follow up with animal control. I’d go to management if necessary regarding that. You and your dog remain in danger as long as that dog remains with that owner. That is not fair to you.

In the demand letter that you send to him, detail the past attempts to collect and his failure to live up to any of his prior agreements. I’ve done a lot of small claims cases. You may well win by default. Irresponsible people like your neighbor often don’t show up to court.

18

At my ranch, I’ve killed stray dogs that are aggressive and put them on the burn pile. My neighbors take care to keep their animals from transgressing onto my property. Not all dogs are deserving of that type of treatment, but some are.

19

So, I think the advice upthread has been both valid and balanced, so I’ll just add some additional sympathy, and a distant third+ of going to small claims court.

This person hasn’t paid, hasn’t shown any signs of actually paying, and has apparently written off multiple other attacks in the past.

Whether or not you succeed in getting it reported as a dangerous dog (hopefully!) or getting your money back, it’s a service to all the other dogs in your area (and possibly humans) to make the owner take responsibility.

It’s happened before, it’s happening now, it will surely happen again if nothing changes.

20

So happy your vet has your back.

And whoever said it, bother the animal control officer, loudly and often. Squeaky wheel, and all.

I’ve personally been bitten and attacked. I was hospitalized. Rabies shots, whole 9 yards.Many/varied other treatments.

We don’t have a full time Animal control officer, in this county. Usually they are retired police persons.

This dog that attacked me came on my property. He returned several times after the attack. It took sheriff’s deputies so long to get here, the dog would be gone.

We realized we could call the Game warden for our region.
They are LE and have many animal control abilities at their disposal.

He carried out an investigation on the dog owner. Actually removed animals from his property.
Alas, they couldn’t catch the aggressive dog in question.
After a few visits the dog was trapped and taken.
Some fluke and the man was able to get the dog back

Immediately, almost, he was on my deck one morning. The Warden was right near us.
He came when we called.

He asked me was I ok if the dog was dispatched on my property. It was clear the owner couldn’t restrain the animal.
He called his supervisor.
They called the dog owner.

To my surprise they did it. Right under my deck.

The dog owner got here. A sheriff’s deputy got here.
Dog owner went nuts about it all. Threatened every one here.
He was arrested, had two firearms on him.

I don’t really know what happened after that. I’ve heard rumors.
I did receive a paper when he was released from jail and an in-place restraining order and instructions what to do if he came to my house or met me in public.
Reading the restraining order. He had made several very very nasty threats on me, my family and animals, while in custody. That he would “finish me”.

All I did was see the dog on my deck and reached down to read his tag for his identity.

I say this to remind you people with vicious dogs they can’t/won’t control are often nasty individuals.
Not always(I’ve had a fear biter myself), but they can be.
So be careful in direct contact with them.