A neighbor’s adult daughter has moved back home 2 to 3 weeks ago. She brought a dog with her that, yesterday, got into my yard and mauled my cat.
My question is: Do the parents (the homeowners) have any legal responsibility for the dog’s action? Or does it rest solely with the daughter?
I live in Washington state, and there is a lease law for this area.
I’m leaving out a lot of the story, as those details are mostly incidental, and telling them would only encourage me to rant, and boy, do I want to rant.
Yes, typically homeowner’s insurance can be invoked to cover the medical costs for the cat. I am not a lawyer or insurance adjuster, but I’d hazard a guess that collecting for “pain and suffering” would have to be done in court, but actual medical costs for which you can show an invoice should be collectible from the insurance of whoever owns the property.
The details may not be important to this thread, but they will be quite important to any settlement (or court case, for that matter): whether your cat was mauled in what’s technically your yard, whether your cat was at any time in their yard, how the dog got onto your property, the presence and status of fencing and gates, and so on.
Talk to the principals first; it may be in their interest to settle up without invoking insurance.
Generally, you can’t collect for “pain and suffering” of an animal. Even if they are beloved pets, to the law they are merely “property”. You can collect for damage to this property, and for vet bills, etc. to repair or restore this property to working condition. But not for the “pain and suffering” of the animal.
You might try suing for the mental “pain and suffering” caused to you by the injury to your animal, but courts mostly won’t allow this.
My homeowner’s insurance has a specific cap of $20 on anything involving liability related to a dog and that is ONLY if the dog doesn’t remotely look like one of the breeds on their list. If the dog looks like it is crossed with one of the breeds on the list and a complaint arises, they cancel the entire policy and tell me to pound salt.
Did you mean “there is a *leash *law” for your area? Because I can’t imagine what lease/rental laws would have to do with anything, but if you meant leash law, then, well… carry on.
Talk to the daughter – who sounds like she’s a legal adult. Ask about the dog wandering around unattended. Is their yard not fenced? Then the dog has to be leashed, preferably with a human on the other end of the leash.
I love dogs, (obviously, see user name), but I also lost a cat to being mauled by one once. Hell hath no fury like a cat owner scorned. I’d be hard-pressed to not throw down some ugliness on my neighbors.
Pointless anecdote: My neighbor has three cats, all of whom really love my front yard and like to hang out on my front porch. I love the kitties, so I am fine with that, as well as with their paw prints on my car. I think it’s adorable. One day my neighbor came to my door, crying. She couldn’t find Bob – the tiger kitty without a tail. I told her I’d help her look for him, but if you haven’t seen your cat in 24 hours, it ain’t lookin’ good, knowwhatimean? The next day, my dog found Bob – dead in a storm drain across the street from her house. We were sad that Bob had lost a fight with a dog but I thought my dog sort of redeemed the situation for dogs everywhere when she helpfully sniffed out Bob in the storm drain.
Kee-rist on a cracker, can’t anyone just settle their differences like neighbors? Go and talk to the daughter, and work out a solution. She ought to pay for at least half the vet bills. There is lot to what determines “fairness” though. Are the yards fenced? If so leash laws don’t usually apply. Was your cat out unattended? If so, then you are partly responsible too. Cats get into all sorts of places they aren’t supposed to and these things can happen even if the mauling occurred on your property. GO BE NEIGHBORLY.
Also, in some areas, leash laws apply to cats as well.
I once lived in an apartment that required pets such as turtles and hamsters to be leashed if not actually inside the apartment. My cat used to hang out on my balcony. The apartment manager put a notice on my door saying if I didn’t leash my cat, while she was sitting on my balcony, I would be evicted (eventually – I think I had three strikes). I threw down a temper tantrum in the rental office, “Are you telling me that if I had a pet turtle and let it walk around my balcony, you would evict me because the turtle isn’t on a leash?” With a straight face, she said, “Yes.” My lease was almost up so I moved right out.
So just go talk to the neighbors. Sometimes shit like this has a way of slapping you in the ass.
I think half the cost of the bills would be fair.
Was your cat free? Is it possible that your cat went into their yard, got into the fight, and then wandered back home injured?
There are too many unknowns here to get any sort of idea of fault.
Did you see the fight occur?
Yes. This sort of discrimination is widespread these days, and just as immoral as “no black tenants” used to be. One day it will be legislated out of existence just like that one was, justice willing.
Ooops…thought I got all of the misspellings. Yes, I meant leash.
Ok, I heard some rustling in the brush by the side of my house. Going to investigate, I find the neighbor’s (they live two houses away) dog with my cat, Virgil (yes, after the poet) in his mouth. The cat is trying to get away, The dog sees me, drops the cat, and jumps over my fence, into the road and heads home.
This being a Sunday, my only recourse is an emergency pet clinic. That bill came to $1200. My wife and I visit the neighbors. The mother is outside, erecting a fence.
[Why now?]
She tells us the dog isn’t theirs, it belongs to their daughter and she has recently moved back home. She goes to get the daughter. This takes quite awhile, maybe 10 minutes
[Getting their story straight?]
We talk to the daughter, who tells us her tragic life story, and how she has no job or money. We just let her talk. Among the details she provides: The dog is half Boxer, half Pit; and the dog has killed cats before. She was napping, and one of her teenage sisters was responsible for the dog while she slept. We show her the cat, and she shows us the dog, who is all scratched up, (including the dogs genitals, go Virg!). She asks me “You sure it was this dog?”.
Through out the night and morning, I’m researching. Which for me includes posting on the Dope.
This leads me to the leash law, which only pertains to dogs in my state.
I take the cat to our regular vet, and she gives us 3 options: Restoration, Amputation or Euthanasia. He’s 7 years old and could live along time yet so we are opting for amputation. That and his belly, (the skin is ripped open, is going to be around $2000.
Armed with more legal resources, and a more definitive bill, we return to the neighbors. They are much more antagonistic this time, and keep repeating that they are not the owners of the dog. Finally, the mother says we will have to take them to court to get them to pay. We take our leave. By the way, we recorded this exchange.
Well, I’m glad I wrote this up, I see where their story has failed them.
At the time of the attack, the teenage daughter was watching the dog.
Wouldn’t that make the parents aka homeowners responsible?
As always, thanks for all of the replies. I love this place.
Okay, then, my vote is now for “take 'em to court.” At least try to get your money back. If you see the dog out of his yard again (cat or no cat), then you could call animal control.
Now, if I were that dog owner, I’d say, “Oh, shit, I’m so sorry. Give me a copy of the vet bill and I’ll take care of everything, spare no expense.” Because if I tried to file a homeowner’s insurance claim, the State of Florida would be putting my dog down (She’s an American Bulldog mix – looks like an enormous pit.) after a ten-day quarantine and State Farm would be dropping my ass like a hot rock. So these people are stupid to not take responsibility. And they’re even stupider for not paying attention to where the dog is and who is supposed to be keeping an eye on the dog. I’m not sure it matters who actually owns the dog – unless your state requires dog licensing, but the claim could be filed against the homeowner’s insurance. And I’m thinking in general, it’s the homeowner who is responsible for any people and/or critters on the property. So go after the homeowner. Doesn’t matter if they claim the dog or not; the dog lives there and falls, IMO, under “personal property” that the insurance would cover.
Document everything and lawyer up. You might already be far past the small claims ceiling and might have to file suit in county court. Include attorney’s fees in the suit.
Talk to your neighbors. They owe you for the vet bills. They may be responsible people. Good chance the parents say it’s not their cat, and the daughter pleads poverty. If they don’t pay, you have to sue in small claims or eat the bill. Your choice.
Hoping you have done this already, but if not, call Animal Control and get them in involved. Your cat on your property, their dog off their property. They should back you up.
According to this the upper limitation on small claims in Washington is $5000.
I once filed a claim for around $2500 against an apartment management company. I could have filed in small claims, but I didn’t have to. I went to county court because the fines and penalties had more bite to them. The case was settled out of court and I got my money.
So I am suggesting to not even bother with small claims. Go right to county court.
This might actually be your BEST bet. If you go on the show and Judge Judy awards you the full amount of vet bills, the show will actually pay the award. This way, you wouldn’t have to worry about getting a judgment but not being able to collect it.
Since they said I would have to take them to court, I’ve begun organizing everything.
I made a complaint with the county animal control, who will be out today. When I spoke with the officer, she said if the injuries are severe enough, they will skip the preliminary label of “Potential Dangerous Animal” and go directly to “Dangerous Animal” which I believe will allow the officers to seize the dog today.
This is most definitely not how I want this to go down. It isn’t the dog’s fault. But having the dog declared as such will only help me in court.
I have photos I’ve debated posting, but they are grisly, particularly the belly shot. I took those as this was happening, just in case. Also I have one of their fence-less yard.
Of course, they will have to become “enemies for life”, and I will become more vigilant for vindictive things that they may do to my animals and property in the future.
It’s just really sad.
This what I was trying to avoid, but it seems like they may force your hand. Likely the dog will be destroyed, and you will win your case. However, collecting might be a difficult problem, and of course you’ll have to bear the onus of being directly responsible for killing their pet, negligence aside. I would try one more time, calmly and politely as possible. " Look, I know this is difficult for everyone but if I have to go forward, animal control will most likely seize and euthanize the dog. I really DON’T want the to happen and realize this is just a horrible accident, but it’s only fair that you help pay for the vet bills. Can’t we reach some arrangement?"
If they tell you fuck off, then do what you have to.
I told her I’d help her look for him, but if you haven’t seen your cat in 24 hours, it ain’t lookin’ good, knowwhatimean? The next day, my dog found Bob – dead in a storm drain across the street from her house. We were sad that Bob had lost a fight with a dog but I thought my dog sort of redeemed the situation for dogs everywhere when she helpfully sniffed out Bob in the storm drain.