Vet Bill After Dog Bite

[huck house]

Peanut was bitten on the chest and neck . The wounds were quite deep . To clean wounds and sew up muscle and soft tissue cost just under $1000 . We are really happy with the care, understand the cost and are just glad it wasn't worse . The altercation occurred on a public reserve along a creek behind an industrial estate . We have exercised our two dogs off lead there for over a year and a half and only ever met one other party with three whippets. Being the case of a perfect storm last week , two staghounds who guard the trucks at the chicken processor were out .. We heard a guy yelling and then saw our two dogs and his two charging each other. The dogs were fighting one on one and being more concerned about Teddy our boy bully it took a minute to realise Peanut was the one in trouble . The dog had her on her back with two teeth in the top of her neck and two in her chest. The dogs owner had hold of the dogs collar while Matt pryed the dogs mouth open (yes , he got a puncture to the palm , but what are you going to do ?). We all got our dogs under effective control , he had no leads , so he held the collar of the biter and the other dog under voice control . He is a worker at the chicken factory who brings his hunting dogs to work on rotation . We have seen them and two others many times behind the fence barking and our dogs ignore them . He he did ask if our dog was ok, and what sex she was . We thought she was okish and just wanted to get the dogs home ( teddys ear and head were punctured and very bloody ) we told him that whippys play here too and don't think he will let them out again .I feel responsible for the predicament my dogs ended up in and played a numbers game in having the perfect dog spot for so long . Do I have the right to ask the dogs owner for money ?Though we were worried about the fallout , our dogs seem fine .. Bounce back bullies .

[Dame Aussie]

Glad your dogs are ok!

Is it an off lead area?

Edited May 1, 2013 by Aussie3

[Crisovar]

We heard a guy yelling and then saw our two dogs and his two charging each other.

The way it reads I'd say no I wouldn't expect the other owner to pay.

[juice]

Nope , you had your dogs offlead, i do too, but i would cop the consequence's myself.

Did it occur on the factory grounds? If so you could be at at fault as his dogs were on private property which your dogs ran onto.

Harsh i know but not really a leg to stand on unless he offers.

[kitkatswing]

I dont think you can ask as all dogs were off leash and not in control.

[fuzzy82]

As all of the dogs were off leash, I would say this falls under "one of those things" and so no one is at fault and you pay for the damage to your own dog. It would be nice of him to offer to pay half (I probably would), but I don't think he should feel obligated to.

[tdierikx]

You could ask... but if the other owner says "go jump", you won't be able to force the issue...

Who knows, maybe he will be happy to stump something towards the bill - depending on how friendly-like you approach him about it?

T.

[Rebanne]

I wouldn't even ask, both dogs and both owners at fault.

[mixeduppup]

No harm in asking but I wouldn't as it wasn't his fault.

[huck house]

Thanks for the replies .

[OSoSwift]

Personally I think no you can't ask. It sounds as if neither sets of dogs were under effective control - i.e couldn't be called back, and both sets of dogs went in to fight.

If you had called your dogs back and they were complying you may have more of a leg to stand on.

In this case I think it's just one of those things.

Hope Peanut is okay and the dogs bounce back okay.

Edited May 1, 2013 by OSoSwift

[BigDaz]

I think no, either train you dogs better or keep them on a leash.

It's people I run into like you that really piss me off when I have my two Staffies on a leash and they get hassled by off leash dogs like yours. Probably lucky the other wasnt a SWF, it might be dead now.

Sorry for the strong words, but I really have trouble comprehending why people let their dogs with no recall off leash, the more people that start understanding this the better.

[chuckandsteve]

Dog is off lead its the owners fault.

I agree dogs off lead with no control are a huge problem. My dog staffy x got attacked by a pug while he was on lead it was off. I now have a reactive dog for the next 20 years to deal with, id have preferred a $1000 vet bill so id count yourself as lucky

[huck house]

Again , thanks for the replies.We were pretty impressed with our dogs listening to us and not being keen on fighting.Peanut likes to play and is polite in asking . These Stags are not family dogs . They are used for hunting and guarding. We don't think any dog who is aggressive or has no bite inhibition should be off lead at all in any public space.

We are so lucky peanut is not dead.BigDaz . Our dogs have never had an off lead incident like this nor have they rushed any on lead dogs . Piss away .

[chuckandsteve]

Dog is off lead its the owners fault.

I agree dogs off lead with no control are a huge problem. My dog staffy x got attacked by a pug while he was on lead it was off. I now have a reactive dog for the next 20 years to deal with, id have preferred a $1000 vet bill so id count yourself as lucky

Are you serious??? Aside from the fact that a dog who has sustained injuries in an attack may well become as reactive or more reactive than a dog who is attacked and not injured, I would much rather my dog not be hurt in an attack and have to deal with his reactivity, than have him torn apart.

I see you have a reactive dog.

He is a 30kg dog who is reactive to dogs and lives in surburbia. Unfortunately he has to be walked and off lead dogs are a constant threat everytime we leave out property. Unfortunely most off lead dogs that rush us are small so one bite from him would do real damage. Do i put him down because other owners cant keep their dogs under control???

Yes i would have preferred to deal with physical injury rather than mental because that could be healed. If anything ever goes wrong again he will have to be PTS it constantly weighs on my husband and i. That is a far worse injury than stitches and surgery.

Would i prefer he both be physically injured and mentally? No

$1000 is bad but there are worse things, you can always get more money and an important lesson has been learned. I just think the original post should look at it like that. Pursuing money might get you some, it might get you reported to the council and a dangerous dog declaration

Edited May 2, 2013 by chuckandsteve

[disintegratus]

I think in this situation both dogs weren't under control, therefore both owners are at fault. As such I think it's fair you ask him for half, but don't be surprised if you don't get it, and don't expect to be able to push the issue.

Were his dogs injured?

[sas]

From how I see it you both did not have your dogs under effective control i.e. you could not recall them and therefore you are both at fault.

[fainty_girl]

If all of the dogs charged each other, I can't see how you can expect the other owner to pay your vet bill, because it sounds as though you were both at fault.

I hope your dogs and his dogs are alright though. Just try to learn from what happened, keep your dogs on a lead and work on their recall. I've made mistakes with my dogs and while it is obviously very upsetting, just try to learn from what you did wrong.