So early this morning around 5:45AM I was walking with my dog and in the Park and there wasn't a person/dog in sight and she was running offleash(the park allows for dogs to be offleash before 9AM).

We run into a woman with her two dogs - one was a lab mix, the other looked like a beagle mix. While they are smelling each other investigating each other the beagle mix launches an attack on my dog causing a small puncture wound on her left side.

I obtained the lady's contact info: name, phone number, her vet etc. and after I got my dog home I decided to take her to the vet as it didn't look bad, but she was never bit before and I wanted to make sure she was ok.

Well, vets here in Manhattan are CRAZY expensive charging about $100 for the just he office visit(the privledge and honor of walking in their door) and b/c it was a puncture wound it required anesthesia as they had to further open it and place a drain in it in case an abscess forms, and put her antibiotics...vet bill=almost $600.

I called the lady and her dog is up to date on his shots, but she refuses to pay saying it is a risk I take when I bring my dog to an area where other dogs are offleash. In some ways I agree with her, but her dog attacked and hurt my dog and my dog wasn't being a jerk(being annoying trying to play, humping, etc) as the attack was totally unprovoked. I don't know if I have any legal recourse if she doesn't pay? Anyone have any experience with this? Dogs are considered "property" if I'm not mistaken.

Edited by Gloria Hong (04/22/2008 06:12 PM)
Edit reason: spelling

Gloria,
In my humble opinion.
That was the risk you assumed when you let the dog run free.


If my dog isn't learning, I'm doing something wrong.
Randy

it is not clear from your post whether the attacker dog was also off leash. if both dogs were off leash and hers attacked yours, you can file a claim against her in small claims court on the theory that her dog was 'vicious.' most state dog laws provide that 'every dog is entitled to one bite'-- meaning that there is no liability of the owner for a first bite. however once a dog has bitten another dog or a person, the owner is presumed by law to be on notice that the biting dog has 'vicious propensities', and therefore should have been under absolute control by leash or muzzle. if her freerunning unleashed dog approached yours, your case is stronger. your case will be less successful if she had her dogs on leash, and your dog approached the attacker, although you could argue that it was her obligation to notify you that her dog had vicious propensities. if you intend to sue her in small claims court, interview some of her neighbors to see if the attacker dog has ever gone after any one else's..

Yes, all dogs were offleash. They were just sniffing each other for what was probably not more than 5 seconds and BOOM - puncture wound on my dog.

I think I'll just eat the cost rather than "investigate". My poor pup:-( She has on cone now and looks miserable.

When you have your dog off leash you take the risk unless the other dog approaches yours after you told them to keep their dog away from yours. Dogs don't just "attack" another dog for no reason. There was some kind of pack order disagreement most likely or the other dog simply doesn't like to be sniffed there.

If your going to investigate anything I would get a second opinion on whether all that stuff you paid the vet for was needed. Sounds very excessive for a simple puncture wound IMO. I mean do you really need $600 dollars worth of vet work just because of a little hole in the skin, which is all a puncture really is?

I live in a very different area than most of you and everything here is very expensive. Like I said, office visit for every vet here in the city ranges from $90-120 just for walking in their door. The ASPCA and Humane society charges about $60 for the office visit, but that cost is quickly eaten up b/c I would have to take a Pet Taxi(no, I don't have a car and most people that live in the city don't) to get to the lower cost vets. For a mere ear infection it costs me over about $200.

Gee I don't know about that Cathy, emergency visit, high cost of Manhattan, operational protocal, etc. To pursue legel avenues just sounds like more vet bills to me.
The fact remains, she allowed her dog to freely interact with an unknown quantity. It may be a different matter if she had recalled her dog and had it under control when the strange dog attacked, but such was not the case.
I'm sorry for the dog. A hard lesson learned for all concerned I'm afraid.

If my dog isn't learning, I'm doing something wrong.
Randy

I agree with Randy. If you take your dog to an off leash area where other off leash dogs will/might be, it's just a big dog park. There's risks involved.

Gloria,

We live in the same city, and may even hang out in the same park. Unfortunately, I think you are stuck with the vet bill. It would be reasonable to ask the other owner to share it with you at lest, or pay some over time, but I doubt you can force it. I think that dogs biting people can be cited as vicious, but dogs biting dogs are just considered dogs, by and large, unless they make a habit of killing or really mauling other dogs. Please do not misunderstand, I certainly am sympathetic with your situation, I hate dog fights, but these things happen even in the large parks, and of course are common in the small DPs. As my dog matures, I watch him very carefully, and never let him approach an unknown dog, a dog he doesn't like, or a dog on lead. He does not start fights, but at his age and size, he may end one.

Last year a pit bull very seriously bit a beagle mix in a local DP, and when the owner of the victim intervened, he was badly bitten on the arm as well. Other citizens stood around the DP to prevent the pit and its owner from leaving until the police arrived. This was a long wait. The police took information, but let the pit and its owner go. We were disappointed that the dog was not quarantined or the owner cited. The police seemed to think that if a person is bitten while breaking up a dog fight, it is not a criminal or probably even a civil matter, because you take a risk when you try and break up a fight. I do not know what eventually happened in the case I just described, but the police seemed to think the bites were not their business. If they were unconcerned about the man, I am sure they cared not at all for the dog that was attacked.

My own dog may have bitten a terrier in the park one day last fall. I was not there, my husband was walking the dog. There were several dogs involved, and he was not sure what happened, although we know our dog was not the aggressor. While intervening, my husband was knocked over by another dog owner, and was badly injured by falling on a metal fence, for which he required 74 stitches to close the scalp. He still has some problems with his hand and leg, and of course a scar from his eyebrow to the scalp line (very high on him), and because a nerve was severed on his forehead, he can't really furrow his brow. He also lost a few days work, and although he is a lawyer, he did not seriously consider suing the women who pulled him down because he felt it was an accident that occured while he broke up the fight.

As far as the vet bill, I would suggest that if your dog has a single uncomplicated puncture wound, you can treat it yourself at home with antiseptic. I have done so several times over the years, even draining a wound when it became slightly infected. If things look a little ugly, you can always go in for antibiotics in a few days. They generally heal quickly. I am not sure why a drain was needed, that sounds a little extreme, but I am not a vet and didn't see the wound. Vets are very expensive here for sure, which is why I treat minor injuries at home. My mother did take her terrier in for vet care when he had about 6 puncture wounds after a fight, and I thought that was a good idea. No drains were placed, but the areas were shaved and the dog given antibiotics.

You could pursue it but IMO if it had happened to me I would assume it was a "stupid tax." Which if I'm lucky I pay once or twice a year for something silly that I should have thought through a little better.

Simple fact of the matter is that property outside of your control did damage to other property also outside of your control. If your dog was on a leash and you weren't allowing your dog to mingle with this other persons dog it would have been a different story but these are the risks taken when dogs are allowed to mingle. I personally would count myself lucky to only have to deal with a small puncture as opposed to real damage.

Sorry about your husband Polly. That's terrible and I hope everyone involved decided they'd do something different in the future.