Dog Attack Recommendations and Legal Advice

JohnRogerson88

Hello,

I'm not entirely sure I've posted into the correct section. If this post needs to be moved to another thread, please do so or let me know to follow site rules.

Recently (within the last week) I was attacked by a dog at a relative’s house, the owner of the dog is another relative, I was admitted to hospital and had to undergo surgery. Normally, dog wounds aren't stitched to allow bacteria/bugs to come out naturally along with the blood and puss but because of the severity of the wound, the doctor's consultant recommended a few stitches but to not fully seal the wound (again, to allow bacteria/bugs to come out naturally).

My relative (the owner of the dog) hasn't phoned or contacted me to apologise or to see how I'm doing, without using profanity as I don't want to break the site rules, he's a horrible person and really doesn't care about anyone else, considering I'm a family member and the dog owner (a relative) doesn't care about me, imagine if the dog were to attack a random person in the street, what's the likelihood of him caring about that (next to none is the answer). All of the doctors in the hospital were saying what if it was a child that was attacked instead of me, the child would have lost its life.

Currently, I have reported the incident via Police. During the incident there were two witnesses and the owner of the dog was not in the household. Unfortunately, one of the witnesses during these scenarios is like an ostrich, they bury their head in the sand and imagine nothing has happened and want to let everything blow over. I'm 100% certain they saw the events that transpired as there was direct line of site between the witness, me and the dog - they've done this in the past with other events (not saying anything) in attempt for it to all blow over without causing conflict, but they shouldn't do that in this case when there's a clear victim. The other witness on the other hand I'm sure would be happy to write a statement of events and also supply a character statement of the dog owner. I have photographic evidence of the damage caused to my body, and the dog's location in the house directly after the event. Furthermore, I have also contacted the Local Authority Dog Warden in attempt to inform others so that no one else (dogs or dog walkers) are attacked or potentially killed. Unfortunately, as much as I would like a warm, loving and caring family, the dog owner really is a disgustingly dreadful individual. I would be able to gather a few character statements of the dog owner and a witness statement.

Now I need your help. What options do I have? I would have though as follows.

Option 1: Proceed with the Police under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and 2014 Amendment (that applies for houses). This option would have the dog to wear a muzzle permanently or for destruction of dog. Do I get the choice? If a muzzle is to be worn, and it isn't done so by the owner it's classified as a level 3 offence fine-able up to £1,000.

Option 2: Settle it privately with the dog owner. Is it legal for me to ask privately for financial compensation, for the dog to wear a muzzle permanently while not in their registered home, for the dog to be trained and evidence supplied of the dog training and for a deposit to be made to me and in the event that the terms aren't met, then for the deposit not to be given back. For example, if the owner agrees to have the dog trained but doesn't take the dog to training lessons, then the dog owner wouldn't get the deposit back. The reason I would want something like this is because I know that the dog owner’s personality, the dog owner may agree to the dog training terms but wouldn't go through having the dog properly trained by a certificated professional - or would go to one training class (as the dog owner as the trainer) and never again. Also, for the dog not to be in the relative household at the same time as me, or to be near me in the future. Summary: Financial compensation, muzzle, dog training and evidence supplied, deposit for terms, dog not allowed near me. Bear in mind that I don't know what is possible in this option and would want to keep everything legal, this is just my initial thoughts.

It's in this option that I require the most assistance from the community.

Option 3: Legal route. Because I've collected evidence in support of myself (photos, witness statements, character statements), what's the best option to choice via a legal route. Is the No Win No Claims (NWNC) the best as this way a legal firm would take on average 25% of the financial compensation, or should I hire a private solicitor/lawyer/paralegal? Does anyone know any good NWNC firms or who to hire? How much does this cost for NWNC (some have up-front costs/insurance costs) or private lawyer? I've also heard it's possible to claim under home insurance? Also, how much money am I expected to gain from financial compensation? I know it can be determined by the amount of damage done to myself so I'll state as following. There's permanent skin damage to my body (large scaring) and a superficial nerve was removed. I wouldn’t have thought this would happen to me because I’m not one to get scared too easily or a fear for something, I had always wanted to have a dog myself at a later date in life and to be trained fully from a puppy but now unfortunately do have a fear towards them in the street/walking down the path.

Option 4: Do nothing.

I could really do with the community's assistance with this one, if you know of anyone that's gone through this please let me know or get them to create an account and comment. I really do appreciate all the help and could use as much of it as possible.

Regards,
Dog Attack Victim

wilfred30

I would go with Option 1

Mojisola

JohnRogerson88 said:

Recently (within the last week) I was attacked by a dog at a relative’s house, the owner of the dog is another relative

My relative (the owner of the dog) hasn't phoned or contacted me to apologise or to see how I'm doing, without using profanity as I don't want to break the site rules, he's a horrible person and really doesn't care about anyone else

Option 1: Proceed with the Police under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and 2014 Amendment (that applies for houses).

I would go with option 1.  You're not going to lose a good relationship by going through the formal process and you might well save someone else from being injured.

TBagpuss

Option 1 - the police are best placed to determine, and enforce, whatever safety measures are needed in order to ensure that the dog doesn't pose a risk to other people moving forward.

You can also, separately, pursue No.3, and make a claim for compensation for the personal injuries which you have suffered, against the dog's owner (or their insurer). 

I would suggest that you ask friends for recommendations for a local solicitor who deal with personal injury claims and take things from there.

one thing to consider is whether the dog's owner has any money and is likely to be able to pay if you make a claim. - unless he has pet insurance I think it's unlikely he would be covered under household or other insurance, so (for instance)  if he is unemployed and doesn't own his own house then there may be little point 

sassyblue

Option 1. Financial recompense should be very much an afterthought and in option 1 you will be saving someone else from a potential attack by that dog.

MalMonroe

You say this "the owner of the dog was not in the household" - why? I mean, why was the dog there but not the owner?

You don't say what exactly happened to make the dog attack you. Was it spooked?

And the owner - even though a 'horrible and disgustingly dreadful person' is probably feeling very, very guilty and that's why they haven't contacted you. It's not ideal but it's understandable when something like this has happened. No doubt they know that the incident has been reported to the police and they are now waiting for the hammer to fall. I don't, for one moment, think they consider this incident to be minor.

However, we don't have all the full details here. What exactly were the injuries and was there more than one?

What breed of dog is it - is it one that's classed as being dangerous - and why was the dog owner not in the property?

What happened to make the dog attack?

It seems to me that you don't really have a choice here because you have already taken Option 1 - you've reported it to the police and now you will have to wait for them to conduct their enquiries. If you want to take any action after that, it's entirely up to you.

You say, "I would be able to gather a few character statements of the dog owner and a witness statement" - which is fine but they are hearsay and may not be accepted in a court case. What would be better would be medical reports from the doctors who treated you, together with the photos of your injuries. They are irrefutible proof.

JohnRogerson88

Mojisola said:

I would go with option 1.  You're not going to lose a good relationship by going through the formal process and you might well save someone else from being injured.

Thank you for your reply. I don't have a good relationship with the dog owner.

TBagpuss said:

You can also, separately, pursue No.3, and make a claim for compensation for the personal injuries which you have suffered, against the dog's owner (or their insurer). 

I would suggest that you ask friends for recommendations for a local solicitor who deal with personal injury claims and take things from there.

one thing to consider is whether the dog's owner has any money and is likely to be able to pay if you make a claim. - unless he has pet insurance I think it's unlikely he would be covered under household or other insurance, so (for instance)  if he is unemployed and doesn't own his own house then there may be little point 

Also, thank you for your reply. He's unemployed, does not own his home (it's owned by another relative) but I know he has sufficient money in his bank account. Acquiring that would be harder as you've rightly said.

sassyblue said:

Option 1. Financial recompense should be very much an afterthought and in option 1 you will be saving someone else from a potential attack by that dog.

Thank you for the reply. I also wouldn't want anyone else to be injured.

MalMonroe said:

You say this "the owner of the dog was not in the household" - why? I mean, why was the dog there but not the owner?

You don't say what exactly happened to make the dog attack you. Was it spooked?

And the owner - even though a 'horrible and disgustingly dreadful person' is probably feeling very, very guilty and that's why they haven't contacted you. It's not ideal but it's understandable when something like this has happened. No doubt they know that the incident has been reported to the police and they are now waiting for the hammer to fall. I don't, for one moment, think they consider this incident to be minor.

However, we don't have all the full details here. What exactly were the injuries and was there more than one?

What breed of dog is it - is it one that's classed as being dangerous - and why was the dog owner not in the property?

What happened to make the dog attack?

It seems to me that you don't really have a choice here because you have already taken Option 1 - you've reported it to the police and now you will have to wait for them to conduct their enquiries. If you want to take any action after that, it's entirely up to you.

You say, "I would be able to gather a few character statements of the dog owner and a witness statement" - which is fine but they are hearsay and may not be accepted in a court case. What would be better would be medical reports from the doctors who treated you, together with the photos of your injuries. They are irrefutible proof.

It was a completely unprovoked dog attack. I can't go into too much depth regarding the injuries and the incident as family members read through these forums and I want to keep everything confidential for now. But, with that being said the majority of the damage to my body will result in a permanent large scar in the area affected, there was also multiple puncture wounds. The breed of dog is banned in America, but isn't classified as a dangerous dog in the United Kingdom. I have collected the medical reports.

wilfred30

JohnRogerson88 said:

It was a completely unprovoked dog attack. I can't go into too much depth regarding the injuries and the incident as family members read through these forums and I want to keep everything confidential for now. But, with that being said the majority of the damage to my body will result in a permanent large scar in the area affected, there was also multiple puncture wounds. The breed of dog is banned in America, but isn't classified as a dangerous dog in the United Kingdom. I have collected the medical reports.

To be honest, I think that particular ship has already sailed

Maskface

I'd go for option 1 as well. All too often in these cases it won't be the first time the dog has bitten someone and dogs like this tend to disappear under the cover of darkness getting passed from pillar to post with incident after incident and never get reported. My own dog (a large breed) accidentally bit me once, he was being attacked by a much larger dog which was out of control in public and I got stuck in the middle of it. My dog thought he was biting the other dog back then suddenly realised it was by hand in his mouth and let go. I reported it because the only reason I got injured was because the other dog was out of control. The dog in question had only suddenly reappeared in the area after vanishing for months and after I was injured it vanished again and has never been seen since. I suspect I wasn't the first person whose dog was attacked in the area or who had been injured but as soon as it happened the dog was spirited away again. Probably in another town now attacking other dogs.

sheramber

You cannot dictate  any action to be taken against the owner/dog. Only the court can do that.

Sometimes the police will come to an agreement with the owner of action to be taken to avoid prosecution.

You have reported  it and now you have to wait for  due process.

Marvel1

Option 1

Option 2 and 3, seems you don't care if it happened as a long as you got some ££££