Neighbours dog attacked my son, what to do next

milliemonster

Just after some advice really, we have a shared path with our elderly neighbours to our houses, our drive is next to this path, a couple of days ago we came home from a day out and whilst my husband and 13 year old son were removing things from the car, neighbour came back down the path wih his dog on his lead.

Now the dog is a rescue dog they have had for about 8 months, he's quite an old dog and never shown any signs of any aggression previously in the time they have had him.

Son and husband spoke to neighbour to say hello and a quick chat, dog was sat at neighbours feet when without any warning whatsoever, attacked my son and but him in the left side of his chest and his left arm. I was inside the house at the time so didn't see what happened. But both neighbour, son and hubby said that son did absolutely nothing to provoke the dog, he didn't even reach out to stroke him and the dog gave no warning of what he was about to do, no snarling, growling, hackles etc.

Anyway son came into house and told me what had happened, I had a look at his chest (I'm a nurse) and there was a fairly sizeable wound, bleeding etc both on his chest and arm, I took him to our local minor injuries unit where it was cleaned up, dressed and is now on antibiotics for a week.

Son is ok. If a little traumatised, thankfully we have a dog of our own who is almost 10 and whom we've had from a pup so he knows that not all dogs are like this.

So what to do now. Initially neighbour said he was going to get the dog destroyed, however son was upset about that, I don't particularly feel comfortable with it myself and neighbours were distraught and shocked at what had happened. So after a discussion with them they rang the dogs trust where they got the dog from who were going to come out yesterday to discuss what to do.

My thoughts are I don't want them to keep the dog, we have to share a path to our houses and I don't want my son and daughter and any of their friends to feel nervous every time they leave the house or come back in, and likewise for myself I'm not comfortable living next door to a dog that has attacked without any provocation or warning at all. Hubby has said at the very least dog needs to be muzzled when outside of their property.

So we come home from work last night and speak to neighbours to find out what dogs trust said, apparently they have told them muzzling would make dog more aggressive, and that the fact my son was wearing earphones may have triggered the dog to attack (?), it appears that this dog has been re homed 4 times now but the dogs trust don't know why. Neighbour has said they are going to keep the dog in when they know son is going to school and coming home.

I'm not happy that neighbours now seem to want to keep this dog and that they don't appear to grasp that having attacked once, it could attack again, and that could be anybody in the street. I phoned 101 last night who have said to speak to the dogs trust ourselves and then get back to them if we're not happy with the answers, they can take the dog but it would be destroyed.

I don't want to cause more upset for my neighbours, they have since told us that they are going to send the dog back today, we've told them we think that's the right thing to do, but if it doesn't happen, can anyone give me any other suggestions of how we deal with this?

Sorry this is so long!

moneyistooshorttomention

I would speak to the Dogs Trust myself in your position - and ensure the dog is destroyed.

If this dog has been re-homed that number of times then it does indeed seem likely that that is the reason and there are now several "one off" incidents of an attack that have been done by that dog.

You need to protect others from being at risk from this dog. Add the fact that it would be more than a little unnerving if you had to continue to live next door to the dog. I cant see that you have any option in all conscience except to report this.

Sagz_2

I would speak to Dogs Trust yourself, they are a responsible charity and will want to ensure that no more bites occur: it's in no one's best interests, least of all the dogs.

Hope your son makes a speedy recovery x

moneyistooshorttomention

Another thought - how on earth can the neighbours in conscience "seem to want to keep this dog" when its done that?

Personally - I dont suppose they realised the dog was like that in advance of the attack. But now they know - I'd be willing to bet they havent apologised at all to your son for the fact that, thanks to them:
- your son has suffered pain and injury
- he might end up with permanent scars from this
- he has had to take a course of antibiotics
- he has had to waste hours of his life sitting in an A & E Department
- the NHS has had to use resources needed for peoples illness to treat your son (quite right too that they should treat him I hasten to add....but the treatment wouldnt have been necessary if the dog hadnt attacked him).

I've been on the receiving end of accidentally being injured by someone else:mad: - but its the attitude of the person afterwards that demonstrates whether they are really that concerned about what they have done. I'd say the fact these neighbours are even contemplating keeping the dog after that shows just how little concern they really have for your son (and anyone else....).

milliemonster

Thank you for your responses, son is a little more traumatised than I thought as I've just had a nightmare trying to get him to school this morning because of the soreness, he says he feels sick, hasn't slept well etc etc, I think it's just hit him today what happened.

Anyway I have taken the day off work so will see what happens with the dog. I've just seen him take the dog out for a walk so they don't appear to be in a rush to do anything at the moment!

Yes we ended up spending 3 hours waiting around in minor injuries to be seen and treated, plus the car parking costs and my time and inconvenience.

Neighbours were initially very upset, crying and tearful etc, they are elderly, don't have children and have had dogs all their lives (they treat they treat digs very much like it's their baby whereas although my dog is loved and part of our family, he very much knows his place and is treated like a dog) so to them, this dog is their child and I can appreciate that it's heartbreaking for them to have to let him go.

But I also completely recognise that a dog that has bitten someone completely unprovoked and without any warning at all is a huge risk to the public. I'm actually quite shocked to see that a day or so after this attack he has just taken the dog out without a muzzle for a walk without a care in the world!

summerlady_2

I agree with others who suggested that you contact the Dogs Trust.


Your neighbour undertook to do this, but it would appear that he hasn't. Even if he has I think you have a right to know exactly what was said on both sides.


This dog could attack again. The bites were at chest height on your son. On a smaller child it could be at face height.


Your neighbours seem to be concerned only about themselves, when they should be worried about your son and the effect that this attack has had on him.

Person_one

I would give your neighbours 3 options.

1. They have a muzzle on the dog whenever it is out of the house.
2. They return the animal to the Dogs Trust, today.
3. You contact the police and report the bite.

I'm a huge dog lover, and I understand that a dog never bites for no reason (even if the humans around can't understand/see what the reason was) but I'd be worried that these people are not knowledgeable or experienced enough to cope with a dog with aggression issues and that they aren't taking appropriate action. Yes, it's very upsetting, but this doesn't sound like a nip or a warning, it sounds like a fairly serious injury.

fairy_lights

I'm surprised that the Dog's Trust didn't give your neighbour any more constructive advice or suggest he return the dog - I wonder if he played down the incident slightly and didn't tell them the full extent of your sons injuries? So I agree with the suggestion of speaking to them yourself.
If your local council has a dog warden it might also be worth contacting them for advice.
It would be very sad if the dog has to be destroyed but far, far worse if it is left unchecked and seriously injures anyone else.

milliemonster

fairy_lights wrote: »

I'm surprised that the Dog's Trust didn't give your neighbour any more constructive advice or suggest he return the dog - I wonder if he played down the incident slightly and didn't tell them the full extent of your sons injuries? So I agree with the suggestion of speaking to them yourself.
If your local council has a dog warden it might also be worth contacting them for advice.
It would be very sad if the dog has to be destroyed but far, far worse if it is left unchecked and seriously injures anyone else.

Yes I agree, I think they've played it down, I've just had a fairly lengthy conversation with a lovely lady at the dogs trust, they can't tell me if my neighbours have been in contact with them due to data protection but they have told me they would without question re home the dog, but they cannot forcibly take the dog from the owners so it's up to us really to get the owners to contact them and ask for the dog to be re homed. They also said they can't take the dog until at the very earliest the weekend and even then that would depend on how my neighbours describe the attack, if they play it down then they'd see reforming as less of a priority.

I'm going to have a chat with my neighbour this afternoon and see what they have to say and take it from there

missbiggles1

milliemonster wrote: »

Yes I agree, I think they've played it down, I've just had a fairly lengthy conversation with a lovely lady at the dogs trust, they can't tell me if my neighbours have been in contact with them due to data protection but they have told me they would without question re home the dog, but they cannot forcibly take the dog from the owners so it's up to us really to get the owners to contact them and ask for the dog to be re homed. They also said they can't take the dog until at the very earliest the weekend and even then that would depend on how my neighbours describe the attack, if they play it down then they'd see reforming as less of a priority.

I'm going to have a chat with my neighbour this afternoon and see what they have to say and take it from there

I'm amazed at that reply from the Dogs Trust - it seems really irresponsible to me that they might just move the problem on to somebody else. Mind you, I was equally puzzled by the fact that they think that muzzling a dog makes it more aggressive - not an opinion I've come across before.

https://k9aggression.com/using-a-muzzle-for-an-aggressive-dog/

I'm glad that they're not an animal charity I support if they're doing this sort of thing and handing out this sort of advice. Quite disgraceful on their part!

Person_one

missbiggles1 wrote: »

I'm amazed at that reply from the Dogs Trust - it seems really irresponsible to me that they might just move the problem on to somebody else. Mind you, I was equally puzzled by the fact that they think that muzzling a dog makes it more aggressive - not an opinion I've come across before.

https://k9aggression.com/using-a-muzzle-for-an-aggressive-dog/

I'm glad that they're not an animal charity I support if they're doing this sort of thing and handing out this sort of advice. Quite disgraceful on their part!

I believe the Dogs Trust uses a lot of volunteers. I'm hoping that the OP and her neighbour have been speaking to well meaning helpers who aren't in a position of any real influence. I'm also assuming that when the OP says they would 'without question rehome the dog' she means they would take it back into their own care.

The Dogs Trust have a clause on their rehoming contract that states owners agree to: "Under no circumstances to part with the dog except to return it to Dogs Trust."