Any advice on law about dog that attacked my dog?

Question

MY son and i were out walking with my miniature schnauzer and new puppy a 12 week old cavalier king charles spaniel.When on the way back from the park as we walked past a house a dog jumped over the garden wall and attacked my schnauzer.Which thank god i was holding on a lead .It was attacking my dog for about 20to 30 seconds before the owners anserwed our screams.After about 30 seconds we got the dog off .The owners didnt seemed to be bothered just said it was an accident.But my schnauzer was bleeding and i rushed him home.I had to take him to the vet,he had a lot puncture holes had to be sedated so he could be stiched up to a 2 in cut to his back,had a lot of bruises a a bloodshot eye ,on 2 sets of pills.The bill came to £180.I called the police but was told it was not an offence for a dog to attack another dog.I took the bill to the owners of the dog but didnt get anywhere.Surely it can not be right for a dog to attack another dog and just get away with it.The puppy is fine.

Answer 1

I had a similar problem, my friend has a Mix breed terrier possibly part staffie and he is a nasty piece of work. I used to take my dog to work with me and she popped in to see me one day knowing full well I always have my dog with me. She didn't ring the bell or knock she just walked straight in and with that my Jrt went to greet her at the door and was automatically pounced on and attacked by this dog. He was ripped to shreds and in total shock. I rushed him straight to the vet and it cost me over £200 to get my poor little guy fixed. She phoned me up later on in the evening and basically blamed the whole thing on my dog and refused to help me with the bill (some friend aye). Obviously we aren't very close friends any more!
Anyway as with most things Karma caught up with her in the end because she was attacked by a dog the other day outside my house whilst walking her little monster and now she is demanding the woman who owns the dog pays her vet bill! I saw the whole thing and she asked me for a witness statement! And.................. No she didn't get one call that pay back!!!

Good luck I just hope your pup wasn't scarred by witnessing it!

Answer 2

File a letter of complaint and see if you can start a petition to enforce leash use and cleaning up after your dogs. Because your neighbor lets their dog loose, you could be accused of his messes that don't get cleaned up. Copy this post that you put up and show it to your management if its hard for you to say what you need to when in a stressful situation. It does happen. The fact that the dog interferes with you being able to enter or leave the building is a big frustration and should be stopped. One of the other posters said something about aggressive dog laws and they are correct. You will want to look into that. If there is contact between the dogs and yours is on a leash then the other tenant will be a fault, not you. That does not mean your dog wouldn't be punished though. It depends on the aggressive dog rules in your building. Your dog could pay the price even if he is on a leash if something bad were to happen. Sorry about that bad news. Just keep being extra careful until your management get things straight with the other tenant. Use a muzzle when you bring your dog out, then if anything does happen the damage will be minimal and yes you should socialize your dog to other dogs if its possible. Don't worry about becoming that annoying neighbor. Situations like this are the ones that need to be reported. It's not like you complain about every little thing, this is big so complain, complain, complain or something bad might happen and then you'll wish you had said something but it will be to late. Good luck.

Answer 3

As you were on the footpath and the dog jumped the wall it was dangerously out of control in a public place. I would go back to the police and push that point. It could have been your child it attacked. In fact the next time it could be a child. It is an offence to have a dog dangerously out of control in a public place and the owners should be made to take responsibility for it. Unfortunately it would probably cost you more to take them to court for the vets fees than you would get from them so I'd drop that idea. For your own safety I would avoid that area in the future.
Hope your schnauzer is ok now.

Answer 4

Unfortunately the laws to protect animals are so inadequate that many times nothing is done.

In most states it is the owners responsibility to keep the dog on a leash, or contained in an area out of harm to other animals, and children. You can bet your butt that if that dog had jumped out and bitten a child or an adult, that the police would have shown more interest!!!

Perhaps you could enlist the aid of your local Human Society, or ASPCA ?? Get their advice and see if there is anything you could do.

Thankfully, your schnauzer and puppy are ok. You could also enllist the advice of a lawyer and see if there is anything you can do in small claims court. Best of luck to you and hope your doggy has a speedy recovery.

Answer 5

I'm assuming you're in the UK as you mentioned the vet's bill of £180. Surely this incident comes under Section 3 of the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act, ie., 'Section 3 applies to all dogs, making it a criminal offence to allow a dog to be dangerously out of control in a public place. This includes instances where there is fear that an injury might occur. Owners found guilty under either section of the Act could have their dog destroyed, face the possibility of six months in prison and/or a fine not exceeding level 5 (at present up to £5,000).' If a dog leaps a fence and attacks another dog, whilst that dog is on a lead and in its owner's control, surely that's being dangerously out of control and not acceptable under law. It could be claimed that the dog could just have easily attacked you or your son had you tried to intervene. You should be able to walk down that street again with your dogs on leads without fear of attack. I would seek legal advice on this; many solicitors do offer a free half-hour consultation, or you could try CAB.

Answer 6

I've heard that if your dog is attacked on more then 1 occasion by the same offending dog,then you can put a complaint in to the dog warden who then obviously takes it further.Irresponsible ownership is so sad for the dogs,people buy a breed they have no idea on.This is a very unfortunate and horrible accident for your poor dog and this could have really affected your pup who is constantly learning.I would phone around the local dog wardens and see what your rights are and make a complaint to your local council etc.I'm sorry i can't be no more help but not sure what the rights/law are for a dog that attacks yours from it's home.Good luck.

Answer 7

Are you from the UK?
If you are then you are entitled under civil law to sue the owner of the dog. The police will not help because they cannot. It is not a criminal offence for one dog to attack another in the uk. However under civil law it would be down to you to show the court that the attacking dog was not secure and therefore able to attack any passing dog in the street. You should then be able to claim back any expenses incured at the vets.

Answer 8

The owner is liable - he is under a duty to keep his dog under proper control at all times and should be insured for this. So you need to contact the owner and make your claim - suing if necessary.

As for the police I thought that sort of attack was against the law - well any sort of attack actually - and they would get involved, so I would try again or contact the RSPCA.

Answer 9

you can take this to small claims court and chances are you would win the vet bills, as long as your dog was on a leash. collect all vet bills, know your dates, and keep record of all the times you talked to the owners of the attack dog.talk asking for reimbursement of the vet bills. don't get nasty with these people. record phone calls. if you can, check to see if the dog has gotten out of the yard and attacked another dog. all of this should help you win your case although i don;t think you will have a problem getting reimbursement for your bills.

also take pictures of your dogs injuries

Answer 10

its all been said already but i will back it up go and see your local CAB or a solicitor because (as somebody else stated) it may not have been just your dog that got attacked it may have been your child too if the conflict continued without the owners coming out. personally i am overly protective of my dogs (they're to soft for there own good lol) an after i got back from the vets i would av gone round to the house an knocked the owner flat on their back. but thats just me