Just got a summons, I am being sued over a...

dog. My free pup is costing me a lot of money I suppose.

As I posted in this rather emotional pit post last fall, my six month old 25 pound pup got off his lead and went to the road and got run over by a truck.

The guy who hit him was beligerant and rude. He said I don’t care if he is alive or dead as long as I get my money for the deductable. Basically his truck was trashed way beyond what I felt my pup could have done. The fender was dented, head lights broken and valance panel cracked wide open. I took one look and said “I am not going to pay for all that”

Police were called, we were not cited and guy came to my house wanting to give me the estimate. Never at any time did he ever inquire about my dog. He told me "I don’t care if it is alive or dead; all I want is a check for $500. I refused.

Now we are being sued for $650. Can you believe how petty that is? It’s the principle of the thing, he nearly kills my pup and has no remorse. He is a cold hearted money grubbing scumbag in my opinion. I refuse to be bullied. If he wins I will pay him back in the slowest and most annoying manner possible. Maybe mail him a bag of change every week or so with a running receipt attached.

How can I find out what the local laws are regarding dogs in my area? The guy hit him in our driveway, does that change anything? How do I defend myself? My attorney’s paralegal said I should just show up with my vet bills and a pic of Jake and make the guy prove that my dog alone caused that damage.

Anyone want to offer any free legal opinions? I just need to know where to look for the info.

Did anyone take photos of the truck, after he hit your dog? The person with the most evidance to support them usually wins in cases like this.

If it happened on your premises, it smells like negligence to me. You haven’t quite explained how it happened: was the truck backing out of the driveway when it hit your dog? If so, chances are the driver had a duty to watch out for it.

Chances are, your state doesn’t have any statutes dealing with injuries to dogs. Rather, this would fall under common-law negligence or, if the guy intended to hit the dog (or didn’t care that he was going to), common-law trespass to chattels or conversion. This basically comes down to: line up as many witnesses as you can, your photo evidence, your vet’s bills, and make the best case you can before the judge.

Animal Control or the Humane Society would be my first guess.

If they don’t know, a call to the County Clerk’s office is helpful. If they don’t know, they can tell you who does.

Whoa, let’s not forget about the damages issue you raised, in case you are found liable. Be sure at the very least to run his VIN somewhere and see if he has ever been in a reported accident involving the front fender, grille, or headlights. Maybe also have a mechanic (or anyone, really) check the front for another car’s paint, which would indicate that most of the damage occurred in another accident?

What I would do is call or go to the court and see if you can countersue him for the cost of the vet bills for your dog.

Even if there is some question as to whether you are liable, the idea that he may be facing a judgment against him could encourage him to settle the case. Further, if it turns out he is liable, you can get a judgment against him.

(Disclaimer: I don’t know what the laws and court procedures are in your jurisdiction. YMMV, take with a grain of salt, etc.)

Good luck.

Glad your dog is okay. Here’s some free advice: Don’t report it to your insurance company. Insurance companies are getting very testy about dogs these days. If Jake costs them a cent, or even if they THINK he might cost them a cent (e.g. if he’s a pit bull or a rotweiller), they can demand you get rid of him or they’ll drop your homeowner’s insurance. Or, if they do pay, they can double your rates.

I’d pay the $650, begrudgingly, and be done with it. IMO you are legally liable for the damage because your dog was off his leash. It doesn’t matter why or how, he was off his leash. That’s how the law looks at it.

Be glad the driver didn’t swerve to avoid your dog and hit a tree. Because, knowing this driver, he’d have some sort of neck brace on by now and then you’d be looking at thousands instead of hundreds.

I had an incident a year ago where a kid came into my yard, uninvited, and started chasing my kids and making “monster” noises as he swung a jumprope over his head. My dog, who was on my front porch on his leash, didn’t get the joke and nipped him in the ankle as he passed. After we told his mom about the incident, she not only called the police on us, but she hired an attorney to recover money for her son’s “injuries” and “pain and suffering.”

I called my insurance agent and he said that it didn’t matter if the kid was trespassing. It didn’t matter that the dog was on his leash in my yard. I am responsible for controlling my dog and making sure he doesn’t harm anyone. Period. I didn’t end up paying anything but that’s another story. Technically I was still liable.

It sucks, I know, and this guy might be lying about how much damage Jake caused. However, unless you have the means to hire an attorney and try to prove him wrong, I’d say pay it and try to put the whole thing behind you. Because I don’t think the law is going to back you on this one.

P.S. One of the most important things you can do as dog owner is train your dog to “come” when he is called – especially when he is off his leash. Fences and leashes are not failproof. If you haven’t already, I’d highly recommend going to a field nightly and working with Jake on this. Good luck to both of you.

awh Mer :frowning: I’m sorry. Stupid man. thwacks him with a newspaper

It was actually on your property? How the heck did he do that, swerve at the dog off the road?

Awww shit, that sucks.

Are there photos of the truck? Get some. Look for things like rust on the damage, large areas of dented metal, broken trim and so forth that are not near where your dog contacted the car but which this fuckwad is claiming are caused by your dog.

If there is damage of that sort and other evidence of old damage that this guy is passing off as caused by your dog, you’ve put a hole in his case and can also possibly hang his ass for insurance fraud.

Good luck and good hunting!

You have said all along that you’re willing to pay what you owe, if you owe (i.e. if the puppy caused the damage), but you really ought to fight this. It seems the guy is trying to con you - I second the suggestions everybody else has already provided about running the VIN number, etc. I just don’t see how a 25lb dog could cause that much damage to a pick-up truck and it seems to me that it shouldn’t be too hard to show that if you just do the research and be prepared. Talk to some vets in the area - surely they could provide some input - and the suggestion about contacting body-repair shops was a good suggestion too.

Is this small claims court? What state or country? I would countersue for the cost of the pup, if it was a
fancy expensive one & concentrate on the fact a 25lb pooch couldn’t do that much to a vehicle (how fast was it going?)

I am really sorry to hear that your dog was hurt, but I think you should pay and be done with it.

I know you are upset because the man was a jerk, etc, but try to not let that cloud any reasoning.

a) your dog was loose. Whether this was intentional or not, he was still running around unrestrained.

b) it is only 500. Do you really want to take it to court and chance for it to be a bigger sum? Do you want to chance him ‘finding more damage’? plus, Think of all the time involved.

c)if your homeowners insurance gets involved, you may face losing your policy or having it increase? It is true that Homeowners insurance is being veru cautious in regards to dogs. My friend recently had a VERY difficult time finding a company that would insure her: she has a chow.

I realize you are angry and hurt, but if it makes you feel better, at least you didn’t lose your dog.

and that is what is most important.

my dogs send their best wishes to your baby!

This is the reason I am the “grumpy Old Lady” in my neighborhood and don’t allow any neighbor children to play anywhere in my yard. I’m sorry, and I wouldn’t have a problem with it, but if anything happens, my dogs will be held at fault. Yes, I actually go outdoors and tell the children to get out of my yard, and I feel bad doing it - after all, they are only kids. But better safe than sorry. We also put a 6’ solid wood fence up so the yard is less accessable. I also hover around outside if anyone (cable, phone repairpersons) needs to work around the house. It isn’t that my dogs are mean, nasty biters, it’s just that I don’t trust people to tell the truth (and not sue) if anything did happen. I am super- vigilant about watching my dogs whenever they are in the yard, or out on a leash.

I don’t have any advice Mermaid, but I’m glad your dog is OK. I have one of those million dollar "free’ dogs too, poor little guy.

How the hell was this guy going fast enough in your driveway to do any damage at all to his truck?

d’oh!

I was so busy reading the link, I forgot that he has summoned you.

sorry

I’m confused - was it in the road or in your driveway? If it was your driveway, what was the truck doing there? How fast was the truck going?

I don’t see how a 25 pound dog did any damage to a pickup truck, particularly at low speed. ???
Get pictures together if possible, and check with accident reports as suggested above.
The burden of proof is going to be on the plaintiff in this case, I believe (IANAL).
Personally, I would rather hire an attorney and fight this one than pay this dipshit a single dime! :mad:

I’d hire a lawyer, defend yourself and get back court costs and lost wages.

If he hit the dog hard enough to cause that much damage they should be able to find traces of dog hair in the damaged sections of the car.

And if they find car paint on those damaged sections…

I’m not sure how the court stuff would go…

But if he’s the only one who saw the damage the dog did and has no other evidence to back that up, can he do anything?

The pictures of the damage don’t prove ANYTHING other than the vehicle is damaged. They don’t show what caused it.

Why should you have to pay for something he can’t prove was your fault?

CRorex, I’d agree with you, but if she hired a lawyer to fight it it would undoubtedly cost her more than the $650 he’s asking for.

Yes, she could fight it based on principle, but she might not want to depending on her financial situation.

I just wanted to say that I admire how you’re handling this situation. If I were in your place, I wouldn’t be able to deal with it non violently. If someone ever hit my dog and then sued me I would probably find them and do about 650 dollars damage to their FACE, making the situation worse…

I agree with some of the other posters, COUNTERSUE. If he hit your dog while in YOUR driveway, I think he is the one who should be getting sued (if this is the case). Good luck to you.

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