Dog Attack

mikerobertson_uk

Hi all,
My dog was attacked by a saffie cross on Friday just picked him up from the vet the bill is £437.Ive asked the owners of the other to pay.But they are point blank refusing.Has anyone on here had the same thing happen & what there advice please.

Mike

vax2002

Was your dog on a lead and the other running free.

There is no such type of dog as a Staffie, it is the friendly term for a pitbul.
A staffordshire bull terrier is a completely different breed, small, box headed and usually non aggressive.

Post the circumstances of the attack.

mrcow

We there any witnesses?
Did you report the attack?
Would you be prepared to try and take them to a small claims court for the money?

chris_n_tj

I feel so sorry for you and your dog, I hope he recovers well and has no lasting damage x

I am afraid you will be fighting a losing battle with this. The poilce wont be interested, you will just get yourself stessed out. Also if you can just stand the bill yourself and steer clear of the owners of the dog that attcked you.

Are you insured?

Sally_A

Circumstances aside - although they will have a bearing. Chat it through with the free legal advice line you probably have on your home insurance policy.

If the staffie owners care enough about their pet, and they see the words "legal advice" pop up in a letter, they may just play ball (on the assumption you re 100% not at fault).

Unfortunately staffies have the "don't let go/grip harder" mentality.

In my soft attitude towards all dogs , I took one home with me that was untagged, but had joined my 2 in the garden all day and was playing very nicely, with the intention of taking her along to the dogs home in the morning when they re-opened. In the morning I fed them all, keeping the staffie separate from my two, when I thought all the food had gone i let them all mix again - whoops, there were still some invisible dregs in the staffies bowl that my girl went to lick out. All hell broke loose. Staffie (aged just under 2), grabbed my girl by her scruff and just would not let go - luckily I had a mate there, evidently staffies fight like pigs (literally), she told me to grab a short stick (my toothbrush was the nearest), she rammed it into the back of the staffies mouth to make it gag, and simultaneously we pulled the dogs apart. Luckily my girl was no worse off than a small puncture wound which was easily treated with vaseline, and very diluted dettol.

I was a panicking mess, thanks to my mate who had a sensible farmers daughters head on her, who would take no messing from an animal, the situation was quickly sorted.

There are tales of staffies being taken into the vets because they won't let go of their own tail. ie they chase and grab tail, it hurts, they grip harder thinking another dog is inflicting the pain.

Anyhow, moral of this story is - if you get into trouble with a won't let go staffie, make it gag with a stick in the back of the throat to let go, butyou will need 2 strong adults to pull them apart, and restrain them.

Paradigm

vax2002 wrote: »

There is no such type of dog as a Staffie, it is the friendly term for a pitbul.
A staffordshire bull terrier is a completely different breed, small, box headed and usually non aggressive.

Round here (Staffordshire) a Staffordshire bull terrier is commonly referred to as a "Staffy" & a Pitbull is called...err.... a Pitbull!

devildog

Less drastic but just as effective is to throw a heavy coat/blanket etc over their head.

mikerobertson_uk

My dog is a 13 year old Jack Russell who has arthritis,he was not on as lead as he never leaves our side & We walked into our local village club & the Bull Terrier/Jack Russel cross who was about 4 meters away on a extendable lead which was fully extended lead ran over grabed buster by the front leg & started to drag him abut.I got on the floor & broke it up while the owners of the other dog did nothing to stop the attack.They were just verbally abusive towards myself & my wife.This is the third time this dog has attacked Buster & twice he has had to go to the vet because of this dog.The dog is not allowed near its owners mums dog as it has done the same to that dog.

pawsies

mikerobertson_uk wrote: »

My dog is a 13 year old Jack Russell who has arthritis,he was not on as lead as he never leaves our side & We walked into our local village club & the Bull Terrier/Jack Russel cross who was about 4 meters away on a extendable lead which was fully extended lead ran over grabed buster by the front leg & started to drag him abut.I got on the floor & broke it up while the owners of the other dog did nothing to stop the attack.They were just verbally abusive towards myself & my wife.This is the third time this dog has attacked Buster & twice he has had to go to the vet because of this dog.The dog is not allowed near its owners mums dog as it has done the same to that dog.

Under the Dangerous Dogs Act (1991) as their dog was on lead and yours was not then you are deemed the one irresponsible and having an out of control dog.
It might sound insane (as it kind of is) but in the eyes of the law they have control over their dog (leash), you do not.
From their point of view they could argue that your dog wandered up to their on-lead dog and caused a reaction. Therefore they are not liable.
Having said that, as the dog has previously attacked other dogs I would call the dog warden to see if an order can be placed on their dog to prevent future attacks.

Kinski

vax2002 wrote: »

There is no such type of dog as a Staffie, it is the friendly term for a pitbul.
A staffordshire bull terrier is a completely different breed, small, box headed and usually non aggressive.

Staffie is just an abbreviated word for Staffordshire Bull Terrier, just as sheltie is an abbreviated word for Sheltand sheepdog. Staffies are great people dogs but unfortunately a lot of them have a tendency to be dog aggressive. Mike you could report the attack to the police but not many forces will act on it unless of course you thought that the dog was going to go for you and you were afraid of it, the only way to try and get money back is through the small claims court but you might not be successful. If you have a local dog warden have a word with them and see if they will talk to the owner of the dog.

vax2002

Right you have a very good case for damages.
Firstly this dog needs to be reported to the police.
Keep all paper work and only send copies.
Make an account of what you have lost and send your account to the owner of the dog with 14 days to settle the account or make arrangments to do so.
After 14 days send them a NOTICE BEFORE ACTION stating that if not paid you will seek a CCJ against the owners or keepers of this dog.
Then file a money claim on line stating the facts.
They may not pay, but they will have a ruined credit rating.

The case will be a very easy win.