Got a nickel in my pocket, thought I’d share it with you:
Guy ssounds like an insensitive jerk. Probably trying to put one over on you…if the dog ain’t dead, it’s unlikely it could have caused much damage to his car.
Doesn’t matter if you * tried * to keep your dog safe, fact is you * failed. *
“Tie out chain”? I’m tempted to rant at you about * that*, but since I don’t know all the details, I’ll refrain.
Hope he’s better soon.
stoid
Ok, I’ll bite.
stoid what in the world could you have to possible rant to me about a tie out chain? Is it the word chain?
My dogs have it better than 80% of the humans in this world. They are in-house dogs, with plenty of food, a water dispenser and nice individual sheepskin beds in the corner of our bedroom. All three have their licenses, ID tags and are up to date on their shots. They get regular vet visits and grooming. I take very good care of my dogs and I resent any implication otherwise. Do these guys look mistreated to you?
Jake is in no way being harmed by being on a 20 foot tie-out right beside the deck for up to an hour at most. In fact he loves to go out to just sit. He can see right in the family room and is quite happy and content. The area is shaded by trees and there is a sheltered area by the deck. They get plenty of exercise off leash too but during the day when I can not be right there with them, they are confined to a roughly 40 foot area.
I am doing everything right IMHO but sometimes things unforseen can happen. It’s called an accident.
This site and this one indicate that the average cost of a collision with a deer is about $2000. Makes your pup look pretty tough.
Ask around, a body shop might have an idea how much damage a dog would cause on average. Generally it’s very little. I ran over a dog about the size of yours with no harm to my car and little to the dog which simply ran off.
A friend of mine, on his way to my place, ran over a 50 pound dog. His car suffered only very minor damage, not worth repairing. In contrast to your situation he picked up the injured dog and took it to the vet. The vet located the owner eventually but the owner didn’t want to pay the vet bill, in fact he didn’t want the dog back. Chris paid the vet bill but couldn’t house the dog, so arranged for the vet to find it a good home. But all us Aussies are like that.
Ok. Like I said, I didn’t know the details.
Be aware, though, that tying a dog can be dangerous, even if there is no fense or anything. If that chain catches or gets tangled up…
fence
I just have to say those are two of the cutest dogs I’ve ever seen, and I hope the little one recovers completely.
I have to say I’m geting a little tired of trying to defend myself about my dog raising methods. Like I said, I believe I’m doing a pretty good job. I am aware of the danger of dogs getting hung up or even hung by their tie out. I also know that dogs need to go out to do their business and just to smell the breeze. I take all that into consideration when I position the tie-out-CABLE close to the house but away from any snagging hazard. I’ve said before that the entire property is fenced but 10 acres is a lot to check every day and there probably is a large enough hole for a 25 lb puppy to squeeze through. Hence he needs restrained until he can be taught otherwise, as my other two dogs have. Would you let a 1 1/2 year old child just have free reign or would you put up a gate or a playpen?
BTW Jake is better today, he is eating and wants to play for the first time since the accident. I still need to keep him quiet until his lungs heal better and he’s not coughing as much. Now where’s that tug-o-war thingie?
What laws apply to farm animals may not, and likely do not, apply to pets.
The fact that no citation was issued is pretty irrelevant as to whether someone is civilly liable. The lack of citation simply means that, in the opinion of the police officer at the scene, no criminal law was broken and no violation occurred. Different rules and standards apply to criminal and civil matters.
At most, a citation would have been evidence in a civil suit.
My point all along has not been whether I am liable for his damages; I have consulted my lawyer and my homeowner insurance provider regarding all this and am prepared to take responsibility for my part.
What galls me is his utter lack of caring about my critically injured pet. I know he isn’t supposed to love him as I do, but you can be sure if I hit a dog the first thing out of my mouth wouldn’t be “I don’t care about the dog, who’s gonna pay for my truck” That is just selfish and crude.
Could the truck driver have handled this situation better? Yes.
Although even if he was interested in your dog’s wellbeing, you still wouldn’t have paid his repair bill. So why should he care?
He should have just gone though his insurance company and/or taken you to small claims court. It’s easier on him and doesn’t get boggled down with emotions. The insurance companies and/or the courts can decide who was reckless in this regard and who should pay damages.
Fencing a dog?
Heh.
Heh heh heh, heh.
Psssssst… hey buddy…
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by SuaSponte *
**
Of course it should be objected to as hearsay.
Yes, the guy was an asshole. But, whether he is an asshole or a saint, you may well be liable for his damages.
And it sounds like you are doing a great job with your dogs. Brittanys certainly must appreciate your spread. Do you hunt them?
But despite your best efforts something unfortunate happened. And someone else suffered damages. I do not believe it is unreasonable to suspect that you would be primarily if not solely responsible for the financial consequences. The reasonableness of his claim, and issues such as contributory negligence or comparative fault are questions we cannot definitively answer. Hope your insurance covers it. And I hope Jake learns his limites soon.
*Originally posted by Dinsdale *
[/QUOTE]
Brittanys certainly must appreciate your spread.
[/QUOTE]
And vice-versa. 
**
Sometimes accidents happen and it doesn’t necessarily show negligence, lack of sense, or a lack of concern over the welfare of a pet. If you have an enclosed yard you can be reasonably sure the pet isn’t going to escape.
Well if my beloved pet was just killed I’d probably more sad about that then a little damage to a vehicle. But if the driver was following the rules of the road then he shouldn’t be responsible for the damage done to his vehicle or the dog in question.
marc
Maybe in fantasyland. In reality, you would be able to do jack shit.
First of all, I don’t see how a 25 lb dog would endager your sons life.
Second of all, a pedestrian legally has the right of way (definitely in MA and NY, probably everywhere). I’m not sure if dogs count as pedestrians, but as a driver, its pretty much your problem to make sure you don’t hit anything. (in other words, if you see kids or dogs alongside the road, slow it down moron).
Third, you should probably find a more worthwhile cause to go to “great lengths” over.
And finally, if a person showed up to my house demanding damages after hitting my dog (I don’t have a dog, but lets pretend that my imaginary dog is similar to the 100+ lb doberman my fraternity buffy ownes) I would let them and the dog discuss it out in the yard.
I realize that there are a lot of ignorant fucking people who think they own the road (most of them seem to live in Jersey) but lets try not to drive with our heads up our ass all the time.
Not so. My 90# dog ran out to greet my son coming off a school bus. Sure, he’d escaped from the yard. Sure, the Toyota driver overreacted, thinking it might have been a kid running down my driveway. Sure, instead of hitting the kid (dog), he drove himself into a ditch and totalled his car.
Who was responsible? Of course, he wasn’t! He was traveling at a normal speed limit down a normal road. I was responsible, as the dog owner.
Does anyone disagree? I thought not.
He was lucky he didn’t hurt himself. I was lucky that he forgave us, and allowed us to just pay for his health damages and property damages.
Sure, I love my dog.
But I am so sick of people who think that other folks should watch out for dogs! Or cats! Or…
OK, me shut up now.
Ooooh, I’m seething over this one…
msmith537 wrote
I’ll say it again: If you couldn’t control your 25 lb dog, and it ran in front of my car and caused me to swerve endangering or injuring my son, and then you slammed the door in my face, I would hurt you. I don’t know how right now. It would most likely involve the police and the judicial system, but if my son were seriously injured, maybe I wouldn’t be so kind.
You must be on crack to not understand the difference between a human pedestrian and a dog. But normal people can. And more importantly, the law can. Your damn dog is the equivalent of a piece of furniture under the law; IT IS NOT A HUMAN BEING. If your dog damages me or my family, you are criminally negligent. And if you mock my pain and shirk your responsibility, you are beneath contempt.
I think this advice would serve you well.
If you’re serious, you’re evil. There is no other word to describe your actions; evil. If your dog injured a member of my family, and then you encouraged said dog to attack me, the first thing I would do is defend myself and make certain your dog was dead. The second thing I would do is to injure you in whatever way possible, most likely through the courts.
Unfortunately, I guess you’ve never seen the Self Righteous brothers, but you do a very good impersonation of them
[ SRB mode ]
If he was to let 'is dog run across the road, causing me to swerve and injure my son, and then he slammed the door in my face, I’d be in there like a shot, I tell ya. Give ‘im a slap, an’ say, “OI, BILL H, NO”
[/SRB mode]
Erhm, so the guy who recently grabbed a womans dog out of her car and threw it oncoming traffic was only charged with destruction of property, was he?
Look, you have to admit that the guy would have been far better off getting his insurance company to deal with the bill. I don’t really care if he has a legal claim on Mermaid, turning up on her doorstep was a stupid thing to do.
Bill H., how would you feel if your son ran into the street and got hit by a car? It would be his fault (or yours, depending on how old he is), but let’s say neither the driver of the car nor any occupants were injured, and the driver showed concern only for the damage done to his car by your son. Wouldn’t you feel that he was being insensitive and cruel? Many people value their pets very highly, as highly as family members in some cases. It may be The Mermaid’s fault and she may even be liable but that does not change the fact that the driver was unnecessarily harsh. Not to mention the possibility that he may be trying to con her into paying damages not incurred by the accident.
My then girlfriend, now wife was in a similar situation. She was driving in the rain coming home from work. A dog walked out into the street. She hydroplaned trying to avoid hitting the animal and went off the road and hit a tension wire to a telephone pole (better that than the pole itself).
At any rate, it was in front of a house so she took the dog to the front door, the lady was grateful that she didn’t hurt the dog and offered her the use of her phone.
She called me on the phone and I and another person went out to help her get out of the ditch.
[Side Story]
While trying to get the car out of the ditch a police officer pulled up. The police officer asked what was going on and we explained. Once she realized there were no tickets to hand out, the police officer startedt to walk away. I asked if she’d hold traffic up a second while we pulled out into the street (it was mildly busy street) and she said “No.” and left. Guess if there are no tickets to hand out, she was leaving and she did. Stupid cop.
[/Side Story]
At any rate, we got the car out, it started and had a huge dent in the drivers side fender and door. We never did get that fixed being poor college kids at the time with minimum wage jobs. It never occured to any of us to ask for the lady to pay damages.
Still, in the end, it’s the dog owners responsibility to keep the dog off of the streets. I’m a dog owner now and I can’t say that my dog doesn’t ‘get away’ from me occasionally. But it would still be my responsibility. It doesn’t matter how hard it is to keep the dog tied up/fenced in whatever. As a dog owner I accept the responsibility to keep both my dog safe and others (drivers, pedestrians etc…) safe. You should own up to that mermaid.
However, the guy should have, as a point of courtesy, shown an interest in your pets well being. Just as my wife took the dog to the door of the lady and made sure everything was ok. I know that I’d feel terrible if I hit an animal and the last thing on my mind would be a dent or a paint job.