Goddammit Lady, if you watched your kid, she wouldn't get bitten.

The BBQ Pit
1

I have two dogs. Neither are aggressive, however, my Border Collie- Bandit- has a history of ear infections, so he’s a bit touchy about his ears

I have an eight foot privacy fence which I just spent $4000.00 to replace because the old one was getting a bit unsafe for the dogs. There is a hole about 3 inches wide, and 10 inches long, so they can look out. It’s twelve feet on my property on the driveway. The gate has a lock on it.

Well there is little girl -I’m guessing about 7yo-, with Downs Syndrome who lives across the alley from us. I know she likes the dogs, but I don’t like her around them, because she’s really rough. So I’ve repeatedly told both her and her mother to be careful around them. She’s a good kid, but typical of Downs, she’s a bit too sweet. This has made me nervous more than once. In fact, I came in my house once to find her snooping around. Apparently she came in through the garage. I told her to go home to her mother, and she had a fit. My husband had to literally carry her out of the house.

Yesterday, my husband and I went to the baseball game. We have a dog door, so the dogs go in and out as they like. We enjoy the game (Tigers lose, but oh well) and come home. All is completely uneventful until this morning, when I’m on my way to work, and the woman across the alley starts screaming at me. I’m wondering what the fuck she’s doing screaming at 7:00am, but she comes running across the alley yelling that my dog bit her kid. I was stunned. “Did they get out?” I asked. She said “no”. So I asked if her daughter was playing with the dogs through the fence. “Well she’s just a little girl” was the response.

From the a description of location of the bite (inside of forearm just below the elbow) I can come to only once conclusion: She was getting too rough bit her. The dog has his shots and is licensed, and except for being scared, the girl is fine. Her mother threatened to call the police. I told her to go right ahead.

So I tell you that, so I can say this:

Look asshole, watch your kid. Keep her off my property. More importantly, keep her out of the street. God damn woman, this time she was bitten by my dog, next time she might be mauled by a stray, or hit by a car.

I feel bad about your daugheter, I really do, but now I have to worry about you fucking suing me, or worse than that, having seeming done to my dog. Why the fuck should I have child-proof my home and garden when I don’t have a kids. And now it appears the entire thing may be mde up.

Fuck.

2

She’s clearly in the wrong allowing her kid to wander free and onto others’ property. However, just for your peace of mind, is there a way to put your dogs’ “peephole” on the side of your property where no one can touch them? Or possibly put some sort of little cage like enclosure around the peephole? So they can poke their snouts through and look, but no one can reach in or touch them?

And no, you shouldn’t have to go through this hassle to protect your OWN property. But the sort of idiot this woman is, it’s the only way for you to get peace of mind.

3

We’re going to put chicken wire over it. But it sucks. One of the reasons we had it made so narrow is so that the dogs couldn’t get their heads out, or even open their mouths very wide in it. We never thought someone would go up their elbows in it.

4

I’ve had something similar happen. Kid walked into my friend’s yard (my friend was dog sitting), and after repeatedly being told to leave my dog alone, he managed to corner her when my friend was distracted, and he got bitten.

Despite being told by my friend who I was, what my address and phone number were, and that the dog had all of her shots, the stupid mother had my poor dog jailed without even contacting me.

I went down with her papers and bailed her out, (she still had to be on “house arrest” for 10 days) and then I went and told the stupid woman off. To her “well I didn’t know whose dog it was, or how to get ahold of you”, I called BIGTIME bullshit on her.

At least I got the satisfaction of taking some of my frustration out on her (1980s $75 bucks was a big owie out of my budget), and she didn’t help, but at least I got an apology. Not much comfort since once I lit into her, I realized she was a braindead drunk and/or druggie. Likely the information my friend gave her went right out of her head the second she was told.

Anyway, this sort of thing drives me nuts. Too damn many parents these days have no personal accountability, and all seem to be afflicted with the “my little angel can do no wrong” disease.

5

I am no big fan of dogs, but this girl has Down’s syndrome–aren’t most Down’s sort of simple minded? She is 7, but is that her mental age? She most likely needs to be watched at all times, like a 4 year old, IMO. When my kids were 4, they were taught to never approach any dog unless they got permission from the owner–it’s just common sense. IMO.

Sorry bout all this–you can choose your neighbors, but that seems like a great deal of effort, moving and all…

6

A few years back we had a neighbor sue us for a dog bite. An 8 year old kid, who basically roamed the neighborhood at will (his mother was either too lazy or too stoned to watch him and his father was in jail for whacking the mother around) came into my yard and starting chasing my girls around while swinging a plastic jump rope over his head. He was getting dangerously close to hitting one of my girls, so I went to grab the jump rope. My dog, who was on a leash (we were getting ready to go to the park), decided to take matters into his own hands and lunged and nipped the kid in the ankle. I was stunned because my dog liked kids. The bite didn’t break skin (looked like a blood blister), so I put neosporin on it and told him to have his mother call me if she wanted to see the dog’s rabies papers.

Later, I had my husband walk up with the papers to talk to the mother and apologize for the dog. We had never met the mother because she never stepped foot outside the house except to drive off. And, get this, I was a bit concerned sh was going to sue us. Ha! Surprise, she had no idea that her son had been bitten and thanked us for letting her know.

The next day, we got a call from the police, who told us that the bitch had called in an incident report. We had to quarantine our dog, which meant that he had to be on a leash, even in our fenced yard. He also said if there was another incident, they’d have to destroy my dog. I had to bite my tongue from asking the officer if the neighbor’s son would be similarly quarantined.

A few months later, we got a summons. Yes, our neighbor was suing us. Despite the fact that her kid walked into MY yard, uninvited and menaced my kids, despite the fact that the wound was superficial, and despite the fact that she wouldn’t have even known about it had we not told her. At the hearing, she had her son make up stories about how he was so traumatized he began wetting the bed. He claimed to have nightmares about dogs. Honest to God, when we left our house, he was still in the front of our yard jumping rope, happy as a damn clam. In fact, he asked to go to the park with us. Suddenly he was traumatized. They even presented photos that were of another person’s bite. It was clearly an adult male in the picture. Even the kid testified that it wasn’t his leg in the picture.

The mother testified that her son was playing basketball in his yard and that our dog was running loose through the neighborhood. She said that she saw the whole incident out her bedroom window (“because I always supervise my son”) and she saw my dog run after her son. He ran screaming to his door and she ushered him into the house where he was in hysterics for hours over being bitten. Total 100% bullshit.

In the end, it didn’t matter that she was clearly lying. (“Ma’am, you testified that you were watching your son out of your bedroom window. Do you have a chair in front of the window? No? So you just basically stand there for the two or three hours that your son is outside, supervising him?”) It didn’t matter that she was a crappy parent. WE were at fault because it was our dog and in our state (Ohio), we have strict liability laws. Your dog bites someone, you pay. The woman was awarded $1200. (Paid out of our homeowners’ insurance)

In short, I’m sorry about the mess. Put that chicken wire up and pray that your neighbor doesn’t decide to sue you. The legal system is awesome.

7

You’re kidding, right?

Your dog was “jailed?” You had to “bail her out?” Did this involve a doggie bondsman? Did a judge set her bail? Was there an arraignment?

House arrest? How does that work? Did they strap an ankle bracelet on her?

What a bizarre story.

8

splatterpunk She meant: The animal control officer took her dog to the city pound, then she was made to keep her animal under strict quarentine. It made sense to me. Where do you live? Do you have pets? Why aren’t you familiar with these concepts?

9

PunditLisa: You are a much nicer person then I am. As soon as I got a summons I would have walked over to the Mom and let her know that she better watch her kid like a real Mom for now on because if he stepped on my property I would call the Police and Give me any excuse to call child welfare and I will.
I would then encourage her to drop the false charges.
I tend to get very indignant about such things.

Jim

10

I’m not kidding. I was using sarcastic language to describe the event, but no. That’s what happens in Alaska when your dog bites someone. Off to doggie jail they go. And yes of COURSE I didn’t mean real jail.

Most dogs are held at our local animal shelter for 10 days of confinement. And back in the 80s, when this happened, there was a “three strikes” rule. And yes, the third strike and the dog would get put to sleep. The only reason I was allowed “house arrest” for my dog (similar to Pundit Lisa’s situation, where you have to keep them in the house, or on a leash even in your own yard) was that she was a tiny little maltese/poodle benji mutt mix. 8 pounds of deadly fury :rolleyes:

When I went down to the doggie pokey to find out what was going on, and provided all of her papers, the dog cops allowed me to take her home after I posted another $100 bucks for “bail”. Actually it was what they considered insurance that I would keep her confined. So, the original $75 bucks for her ride “downtown” and then the $100 bucks for house arrest. Not too funny then.

The capper? She actually had another strike against her, where she’d bitten my supervisor at work. HE didn’t turn her in though, he thought it was hilarious since she was such a little terror, and mentioned it to someone else by way of a “get this” story. And THEY turned me in.

Luckily she made it to the grand old age of 17 without repeating any jail time.

:smiley:

11

PunditLisa, that’s fucked up. My other neighbors have already said they will attest to the fact that our dogs are never out unsupervised. This neighbor is really freakin’ weird. They have a pair of of Shitzus which bark constantly, I’m not kidding, these dogs never stop. I hate the way they treat their own dog, in that I’ve never seen them walked and the bitch has about five litters a year. It’s very sad. So there’s a certain amount of irony.

However, I’m starting to doubt the veracity of the story because we have yet to be contact by animal control. And as CanvasShoes says they generally come right away, and quarentine the dog. When my husband was bitten by a stray earlier this year, they were at our house within an hour of getiing home from the hospital. Perhaps this is just wishful thinking. But the whole thing pisses me off.

Shit. I hope the kid is OK. I hope this doesn’t ruin her love of dogs. She just has to be more careful! Dammit to hell.

12

I wonder if you could get this woman in trouble for neglect-allowing a Downs child of only seven roam like that?

13

Which concepts?

The concepts described by you, or those described by CanvasShoes?

I must confess that I am woefully ignorant in matters of “bailing” animals out of “jail.”

14

Both, since they were the same concepts worded differently. Are you saying where you live doesn’t have specific laws regarding pets, and some kind of “dog catcher” and “city dog pound”? (The dog catcher actually catches all kinds of animals, and the city dog pound holds all kinds of stray pets.)

15

This thread proves my theory that dogs are great and kids are crap. Four legs good, two legs bad.

16

I have a feeling that maybe be why the mother might be reluctant to call the cops on the OP - she’d have to explain what her child was doing unsupervised, sticking her arm through someone else’s fence.

17

Sorry, but if your property isn’t child-proof, it’s your responsability to make it dog-proof. You can’t control the behavior of kids, nor the behavior of dogs. So, it’s your duty to make sure that both can’t confront each other. Kids explore and dogs bite explorers. There shouldn’t have been a hole in your fence. The confort of your dogs is a way lower priority than the safety of kids.

Not that I condemn everybody who ever put his dog in a situation where it could possibly bite someone, but ultimately it’s the dog’s owner responsbility if something bad happens.

18

My sister is retarded (Not Downs, but often confused with it and very similar) My little sister fortunately never wanders outside the yard. My parents do not supervise her all waking hours of the day, which according to this thread, she requires. Having to look after a retarded child is like having to watch a small child for the rest of your life. I imagine after 7 years, you’d become a bit lax in it.

19

I’m not sure I understand your point. Are you saying that in any situation, regardless of the facts, the owner is automatically responsible, and has no defence? Or are you saying there is a “legal presumption” of responsibility, but with a right to defend?

20

light strand- I’m a little confused, is it the child’s parents who own the Shih Tzus? If it is, is it possible that the child was bitten by one of them?

Still, I would think that letting the mother know that if she intends to go further with this, you will go to child services about the time her daughter got into your house uninvited would be a powerful incentive to supervise her kid better.

The folks who live next door to my parents have a son with Downs, I think he is about 6. They have locks on all their exterior doors which are higher than he can reach (they always apologise for how long it takes to open their front door to visitors), plus they keep their back gate padlocked and there is a padlocked gate between the front and back yard so he can’t get near the road- he has never left their property without supervision.

If you can fence your yard for your dogs, surely that woman can do the same for her daughter.