Ok, so here’s what happened. I took my dog Odin to the dog park Saturday around 6:30 in the morning. Around 6:50 enters a dog and his owner. The dogs were running around, everything was going well. Then I noticed that the other dog, Jefferey, growled at Odin. So I called Odin to come to me. Jeffery’s owner, Andy, said nothing to Jeffery and told me don’t worry, he just does that to warn dogs to back off but he doesn’t bite and something along the line that this is how dogs learn to stop bothering other dogs. A couple of minutes later Jeffery growled at Odin again, so again I became worried and called Odin over to me and he came. Again Jeffery’s owner did nothing about the growling. A couple of minutes go by and nothing bad happens both dogs are having fun. I threw a tennis ball for Odin, but both dogs chased after it. I heard Jeffery growling when they were a couple of meters from Andy and I. When Odin came running back to me I noticed blood all over his neck. I freaked out. I gave Andy my cell number b/c I didn’t have my cell to take down his. He said he will call me later in the day so I can tell him how Odin was feeling.
I tried as quickly as possible to get Odin out of the park and when we finally got to my car. I can see the extent of his injury. I provided a link below hopefully it works. Also if you get easily sickened by the sight of blood don’t click on it.
http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/caviles48/library/Odin?sort=3&page=1
About an inch of his ear is completely ripped off. What made matters worse is that I didn’t have my wallet on me (I know, I know; that means I didn’t have my license). I had to drive home first get my wallet, pick up my sister, then drive to the emergency vet clinic. It took a little less than an hour to do that, during that time Odin kept bleeding like crazy.
The emergency vet clinic bill was $191.70. My sister kept telling me that Andy was never going to call back but he did and he left a voice mail with his cell number asking me to call him back. I called him back immediately and brought up the vet bill. I told him that I felt he should be responsible for it, which was sooo freaking awkward to say to a grown adult. He felt the same way. We met up later that day I gave him a copy of the bill and he gave me a check for $191.70. He was soo nice he felt really bad and he actually called me back. I think a lot of people in that situation wouldn’t have done the same. On top of that he bought two dog toys for Odin. But the situation doesn’t end there, I wish it did.
On the discharge letter from the emergency vet clinic it states that Odin must be taken to his reg. vet to have bandages changed, and wound checked out. I did not realize it stated this until after I came home from meeting Andy for the check.
So I took Odin to the vet this morning (Tuesday). The good news is that the bite is not infected. He got his bandaged changed. He was also given medication to prevent infection and medication for the pain. This vet visit cost me $135.00. In addition to this cost, I have to come back in 4 days to get bandaged change. Also the doc. said that ear wounds take a long time to heal, it could be up to two months so I"m pretty sure I"ll be having at the very least 3 more visits to the vet. With a minimum cost of $50 for each visit.
Idk what to do. On some level I feel bad for calling Andy and asking him for pay up b/c on some level I feel responsible. I saw how his dog reacted to Odin being near him. And instead of listening to my instincts I trusted what Andy said. But at the same time his dog bit off a chunk of Odin’s ear. Odin is in pain and he has to have is activity limited and wear that annoying Elizabeth collar until his ear heals. In addition to that, the dog park we were at states in its rules that: “Dog owners are liable for any injuries or damage caused by their dogs”
So should I pay for any of this? How should I go about talking to Andy what should I say to him? What do you think is the right thing to do?