Early this evening my brother-in-law was home with his family. His roommate's brother (the owner of the home) came over apparently drunk and somehow a fight broke out between them. (The roommate was note home at the time.)

The brother hit my brother-in-law over the head with a cast-iron pan and knocked him out. He then let the roommate's two dobermans out to attack my brother-in-law which they did - while my sister-in-law and nephew looked on.

These dogs are nothing more than junk-yard dogs and are kept for the sole purpose of "protecting" the property. They have been known to attack the owner and have little to no human contact whatsoever. They should have been destroyed long ago. They are extremely unstable -- they were made to be that way deliberately.

In any event, my sister-in-law came out of shock long enough to call the police, who came and arrested the brother and an ambulance took my brother-in-law to the hospital. At this point, we don't know the extent of the damage. We do know that his legs were severely mauled and he may have a concusion. He is still in the hospital.

The roommate came home and was very upset that my sister-in-law called the police. Needless to say, we will be moving all of their possessions from the home tomorrow under police supervision.

I have contacted the dog bite law center. I don't know what else to do. I am presuming that this man (the brother-in-law) can be charged with attempted manslaughter. He is well aware of the dogs' potential to kill. And ... he did this on purpose.

Any of you police officers out their, or anyone that has practical, factual advice at this time -- it would be greatly appreciated.

No professional advice here, just my condolences and a wish for a speedy recovery. My only advice, and novice advice it is, would be to speak to 3 attorneys, tell them what happened and ask them what they can do for you, how long will it take and how much will it cost. Good luck and God Bless.

Thx - have contacted five so far. I guess the guy hit my brother-in-law from behind with a cast iron skillet and knocked him out. It was a one-way fight. He then proceeded to knock the crap out of him while he was out and drug him into the back yard to let the dogs out. I thought it was odd that dogs attacked an unconsious person. But they did. At this point, we know he has a severe concusion and several lacerations that are currently being stitched up in his legs.

They let this guy out of jail and ... the dogs are still at the house.

Seriously, these are the kind of dogs that give dogs a bad rap. Even the owner doesn't interact w/ them. Very, very upsetting.

Again, any advice is greatly appreciated.

Contact your local animal control for the "dangerous dog" laws in your area. Check with the state agencies too. Most states now have some form of dangerous dog hearings. An attack that causes severe injury while NOT in the process of protecting the home, etc usually warrants a hearing.

And, verify rabies vaccinations. Not vaccinated? Automatic dangerous dog. You should be able to convince local Animal control to do an in shelter quarantine once they hear the story.

And, I'd still give it to an attorney.

Anna

I don't understand ... when the police and medic's arived to patch this poor dude up, wasn't animal control called right away, I'm sure everyone knew the dogs had ripped him a new one...did they all shrug their shoulders and say "Oh well just a dog mauling, I'm sure they won't do it again"

I'm sure I am missing something, this sounds to crazy to be true.

If it was my family, I'd do the dogs myself, on the creep.

I think that my in-laws assumed that since the police were called, animal control was notified. My in-laws left w/ my brother-in-law to the hospital; however up till that point, no animal control officer was present. My husband (and others) are at the residence as I type - moving my in-laws things into storage (w/ the protection of the police). The dogs are still there. Further, the brother is out of jail.

The owner cannot produce any shot and/or vet records whatsoever and my sister-in-law says the dogs have never left the backyard in the 3 years she's been there. You would think that the question of, at least, rabies shots would have come up at the hospital. It didn't - they didn't ask. You would also assume that the dogs would - at the very least - be quarantined until proof of no rabies was realized. Currently, this is not the case either.

We are in touch with an attorney and ... I am going to personally contact animal control. My in-laws are pursuing restraining orders against both the brother and landlord/owner.

Interestingly, we find more details as the family calms down. Apparently, my brother-in-law was hit from behind, knocked out, continuously beaten while knocked out and then had the dogs turned on him while out. Even more interesting, the guy who loosed the dogs has spent previous hospital time being stitched up from an attack by the same dogs. He was well aware of their temperament.

I am as amazed as you Lonny. I am amazed that the guy has been released from jail. I am amazed that the dogs are still there and not in quarantine (at the least). I am amazed at the very cavalier attitude of all officals involved.

The attorney may contact the media - not sure. While I hate to see this happen for the bad dog media sake - it would most certainly be an attention grabber.

Incidentally, my brother-in-law has a moderate to severe concussion, possibly cracked ribs, broken lip and face lacerations (from the guy) and around 20 stitches throughout his legs. The majority of damage from the dogs are puncture wounds that were not stitched. He has definately seen better days.

Crazy! Just Crazy.. I feel for your situation..good luck. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

This is bizzare. After all that happened for this guy to be out of jail and these dogs to not at the very least be quarrantined.....shit these dogs should be destroyed for God's sake. I would not worry about damaging the reputation of the breed at this point. You should do whatever it takes to obtain justice for this. Have you attorneys go to the media...the officials described here are bafoons. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

I am not a legal person, but I don't think a dog is considered deadly force. I'm not sure if it can be considered as an attempt to kill. Not dobermans anyway. Best regards for a speedy recovery and family resolve.

I am aware of at least one case were an intentional dog attack was treated as assault with a deadly weapon. You might also want to contact local news (or have your lawyer do it) to put some heat on the cops to handle the situation.

I hope justice is served.