Scottish dog law - Vet bill liability help!!

princessolipops

Hello,

I am looking for a bit of help with a situation I am in.

The middle of October my father took my dog a walk for me, on his way back my dog attacked the neighbour’s dog (my dog was off the lead) A bit of background, my dog is not a “dangerous dog” and this was out of character. However, this dog has went for my dog before (once being when she was only weeks old) ever since when they see one another they bark and basically want to fight. So there is history between these two dogs. My dog should have definitely been on the lead when on the street, this is where my dad was complacent. Now I am not for a second saying this condones my dogs behaviour as she should have not been off the lead and not attacked this dog – This is merely the situation.
The dog got taken to the vet as it had a bite and it turned out to be a hernia and required an operation. I went to see the neighbour that night and next afternoon and obviously advised I would pay fee’s as its the moral thing to do. The neighbour said dog was operated on and everything looked to be ok. The following day I seen neighbour still ok, then 2 hours later the neighbour came to door to say the dog took a seizure and had to be put down – might add not in such a nice way. However, fair enough as I can totally appreciate how devastating this situation must be for them...they then reminded me I was to pick up the bill.

I called my dog insurance who advised that this would not cover another dog, they would have to claim their own insurance. I then called my home insurance who said it would be covered if the owners sent them a letter holding me liable for this.. so i opened a claim and typed up a letter on their behalf. I then took this letter to the neighbour fora signature and explained in order to get the bill paid I would have to claim insurance as i didn’t have £800! And i was assuming they did not have pet insurance (Now my insurance did state that legally i was not responsible for the bill) However, i felt morally this was the right thing to do. The neighbour responded to me with “well things have now changed, my partner has reported the dog” so i replied with “well this situation hasn’t changed but if she felt that way then there was no need to sign the letter”.. her response was “guess not” so I left. I reported it myself to the police and they reported it anonymously to the SSPCA..who I spoke with and they advised they seen dog and were not concerned and it looked to be an unfortunate circumstance. The police called but i missed this and im waiting on them getting back to me.

I then moved 8 days after speaking with them (2 weeks after dog fight) due to relocation (although not far) I have been back to flat and have seen them, they have ignored me. However yesterday my father received a letter containing vet bill (this was sent from them not the vet) I do not know how they got my father’s address or why they are going to him when they know it was my insurance that was to be claimed.

However, there are rumours the owner had a dog taken from him and maybe was not meant to have dog... hence the possible “anonymous” report and also the vet bill has came in under a different name from the neighbour, so my insurance won’t even pay out as names dont match up. This could be sorted. However, as im not living there i wil be cancelling this policy shortly.

I have spoken with the SSPCA, I contacted the police myself and I am also seeing a pet behaviourist for 1-2-1 training for my dog (who says that my dog is fine, there is just an issue with staus, which i am working on) i did offer to pay this 1 month ago and it was flung back in my face and how they have gone about getting the vet bill to me has annoyed me. They were hoping my dog was going to get put down (which i would do myself if it were a dangerous dog) I can understand they were upset but at end of day I have tried my best to resolve this and they don’t have the decency to come speak to me about it. I have covered my back and done everything I could. I am mortified it happened and was so upset and showed compassion.

So my question after this war and peace is. Legally do I have to cover this bill in Scotland?

Many thanks for any help. x

undaunted

Personally I think your initial offer to pay for treatment of the bite was fair and proper, regardless of the law. I wouldn't however feel it reasonable to be expected to pay for any other pre existing illnesses (eg hernia), the dog being put down (unless this was a far more serious fight than you appear to suggest).

You can clearly give them your address if you wish, no need for your father to be involved but it's surely upto them to sort out whatever your insurance needs to get the bill passed.

You may be able to get proper legal advice from http://www.doglaw.co.uk/

princessolipops

Thank you for your reply.

Well i havent went to the vet to ask if this was pre-existing or not but i have done research and if my dog punctured something this can cause a hernia. So a bite from my dog may have caused, if i pay this, this will be something i look into. I wasnt suggesting this fight wasnt serious, at the time it didnt appear to be as dog was ok, just bleeding from a bite as i said. It was over by the time i got down stairs but the dog was smaller than mine so anything is possible. x