my dog attacked by another - any advice?

gethro

relay wrote: »

The trouble is the law doesn't view dog on dog attacks the same way as dog on human attacks so cases like this one a rarely (if ever) followed up.

Last year a Japanese Akita got hold of a Spanial in our local park & ripped it's throat open in front of the kids, several people called the dog warden and they all got the same response - all they could do was make a note of it & nothing more was heard of it. They said that if they got lots of reports of repeated incidents with the same dog then they 'might' be able to investigate but one dog on dog attack was not enough to take action unless a person was injured.

I know it sounds cynnical but you will probably not get very far reporting it if our experience is anything to go by. Maybe your best move is to make people aware of what happened so that you can help prevent any more incidents.

Under the circumstances i don't think it would have been wrong to pick your dog up at least to get her away from the other dog - of course that presents the problem of the other dog jumping up at you to reach her.

Fair comment - it 'could' have been a small child - but it wasn't & that makes all the difference as far as the DDA is concerned.

I have been looking on the web to see what i could do as my (rescue)Springer got bitten today by a Japanese Akita.
I took him down the local park where we go most days,i let him out of the car and was doing up my boots when he went over to an Akita who was on his way out of the park,both dogs were squeeking at each other,i looked down to tie my lace when i heared a noise i looked up and the Akita had my springer by the neck.
I rushed over and could only seperate the dog by kicking the Akita several time and the last time was in the groin he then let my dog go,the owner then appeared around the corned with his wife and young daughter ,i took my dog to the vets and he found 4 punture marks which were cleaned and i now have pain killers and anti biotics and a bill for £60.
The owner has given me his name and address and the vet told me that it's not unreasonable to give him the bill as his dog caused the injurys
There were several witnesses who i see daily while walking the dog who saw the incident.
I have been given different advice from report it to the police to the rspca but looking at this thread there is very little i can do about this :mad:

Spirit_2

Fc I am sorry to hear if this. In my experience no 'authority'will take action and if the owner is an ignoramus nothing you can say or do will make a difference.

A couple of years ago a bull terrier attacked our frindly old retriever whilst we were in the woods adjacent to our home. For a terrifying 30 seconds the owner and Mr Spirit wrestled the dog off ours. He refused to gives us his name and as we walked behind him (in the direction of home) he threatened to set the dog on us if we did not back off. Riders we met offered to look for the pair or a parked car but without success.

Our Vet patched our poor boy up, puncture wounds bleeding swelling but alright. It badly knocked our confidence in being out ..........this was dreadful as the woods abutt our fields.

The police were not interested. We warned other villagers to look out for this man and dog but there was nothing else to be done. I found myself keeping an eye out for them for ages.

Spirit

Kayl06

Gethro - You are both equally at fault and have no right to demand the owner pays the vets bill. Why were you not keeping an eye on him? You could have kept him in the car until you were ready to go, don't just assume that everything is going to be fine. What about the injuries you caused to his dog?

If i met you in the park i would be really annoyed, i have to pick my dog up whenever there's dogs off the leads as i know he will bite. Not all dogs are friendly you know and my dog would cause a lot of damage given the chance and there is no way i would be paying the fees as you are in the wrong.

wreck_fisher

No disrespects intended but after reading a lot of the posts, there are a lot of inexperienced owners here. Dogs should be kept on a lead if there is any risk with other dogs being off the lead, by picking up your dog you will be reducing risk. It is nice to see dogs run but it is not always ideal, a dog can get sufficient excercise if walked far enough at a decent pace.

Your dogs will also see you as their leader and expect protection, dogs are bread for different purposes so have different temprements. They are also not brought up or trained enough by their owners, unfortunately it is very often the case that it is the owners that require educating.

Amarillo

I've read this with interest as a new dog owner.OP, I'm glad your dog is OK.

My pup is 7 months and very sociable which causes problems. I have been working hard with her when we are out and she is called back as soon as I see another person/dog/jogger/cyclist/horse and she has to sit/ignore/meet on my terms, whatever I decide in the situation. I am completely mortified after yesterday's walk where we met a lady with a similar age pup and an older dog. Her and the other pup egged each other on and they chased a cyclist and jumped at a walker who kicked my dog. So it is a long line for the forseeable future for us until the recall is spot on and I'm going to beat myself up about the cyclist and walker for some time to come.

What has been an eye opener is the attitude of other owners. My dog has been on lead, an off lead dog approaches, the sniff and meet then my dog will sometimes get over excited and bounce on the other dog. The owner then has had a go at me for not having my dog under control when it is theirs off lead.

And there have been a few who seem to think that if people go for a walk in a place where people walk their dogs then they should expect to be jumped up on and shouldn't mind muddy paws. And it appears that a lot of people feel it is OK not to clear up their dog's poo.

I'm not surprised sadly that there is a fair amount of anti dog feeling these days (and I have managed to contribute to that yesterday by being irresponsible). I have met some lovely people though with older dogs who have been hugely helpful in helping me train mine, shame about the others.

foreign_correspondent

folks thanks for your best wishes and concern - however, its probably worth me pointing out that this is a very old thread (2 years!) which has surfaced again due to gethro finding it and posting on it re: his/her dog getting attacked.

Gethro, hope your dog is ok, it may be better to start another thread if you are still seeking advice..

I am sorry to hear that Spirit has had a similar experience too, and that Amarillo's pup is behaving like a wild thing!! (they do that Amarillo, try not to worry too much, but back to the long line sounds to be a good idea for the time being!)

gettingready

FC - first of all, congratulations on handling the situation in such a good way.

You are absolutely right about not picking a dog up as this puts it in more danger, closer to the attacking dog's jaws and with no option to escape. Once a friend of mine picked her dog up (australian shepherd being attacked by a doberman) BUT she was near a car and put her own dog on that car's roof (quick thinking on her part here).

RSPCA and Polisce will do nothing DDA does not apply to dog on dog attacks (I feel it should though).

Park warden (if there is one) is possibly the best option.

Where I walk Zara, we have park rangers and any incidents like this can be reposrted and the owners of such dogs (attacking other dogs) will (and are) banned from the park.

Give your dog a cuddle from me....

mafric

The other dog owner is not responsible for the bill for your dog. Their dog was on a lead, yours was not and you were not even watching what it was doing. That sounds harsh, but, i own an akita and to me there is nothing worse than a strange dog running straight at mine. She doesnt like other dogs and is always on a lead because of this. I have checked before with the police about this as i wanted to be sure where i stood, as long as mine is on a lead i an NOT responsible if an off leader approaches and they end up scrapping.

foreign_correspondent

mafric wrote: »

The other dog owner is not responsible for the bill for your dog. Their dog was on a lead, yours was not and you were not even watching what it was doing. That sounds harsh, but, i own an akita and to me there is nothing worse than a strange dog running straight at mine. She doesnt like other dogs and is always on a lead because of this. I have checked before with the police about this as i wanted to be sure where i stood, as long as mine is on a lead i an NOT responsible if an off leader approaches and they end up scrapping.

I dont think the akita was on lead - gethro said:

I rushed over and could only seperate the dog by kicking the Akita several time and the last time was in the groin he then let my dog go,the owner then appeared around the corned with his wife and young daughter

taxi97w

I can't see that your dog was on a lead. You said your dog was 20 feet in front of you. If yours was off the lead too.....