Advice request: Mother attacked by neighbour's dog.

reallyrose

Last week my mother was attacked and bitten by one of the dogs belonging to a neighbour. She was in the company of the neighbour, so she wasn't intruding. She was bitten pretty badly, came close to needing stitches and ended up with a huge infection requiring a trip to the doctor and antibiotics.

The issue now is, what to do?


The incident went as follows:
My mother went over to a neighbour's house for coffee
She was walking into the house, along a path running along the side of the house with the dogs jumping around her, barking and nipping.
My mother didn't really do anything, other than maybe walk a little quicker (to get into the house).
One of the three dogs bit her, quite hard on the lower leg.
My mother was wearing jeans, so they protected her a fair bit but she still had a significant bite wound on her leg.

The owner didn't do anything much. She shoo'd the dogs into a shed or something while my mother went into the house to check the damage/ clean up her leg (Mammy is hazy on the details, she'd just been bitten!)

I do understand that the behavior of the dogs is mostly the fault of the owner, they are badly trained dogs. They have not been taught not to be aggressive towards people.
As far as the dogs are concerned, what happened was: Intruder comes onto their turf. They attack and bite the intruder. The intruder went away. Job done!


I wouldn't like to see three dogs being put down, especially as only one dog did the biting. However, I would also hate to hear that someone more vunerable was attacked and badly hurt by these animals. My mother is a hardy country woman, well able to defend herself against a few terriers! A child or elderly person may not be.
Also, because it's a small village and a neighbour's animal that might cause problems too.

The dogs are not the pets of any children and they are not farm dogs. They are little terrier/mongrel/things.

My mother isn't confident enough in herself to approach this woman about her animals, but I have no problem with it!
I'm going to talk to her (the neighbour) this weekend and I'd like a few options to present her with.

Ideally, I'll talk to her with an understanding of the law in place and I'll be able to say "We could call the Gardaí/dog warden now, or here is the number of a dog trainer in Meath. Please get your dogs under control"

What do you guys think?

I'm so so angry that my mother was hurt because someone can't control their animals. But I'd like to use my anger to come up with a constructive solution instead of hitting the owner with a bat screaming "zomg, keell dogs naaaaoo!!!".

ISDW

Fair play to you, I think if that was me, I would have been round there already shouting and screaming, which wouldn't get anybody anywhere. Its not the fact that the dog bit your mother, but the apparent lack of responsiblity or compassion on the part of your neighbour that would incense me. Did she even apologise?

Is the neighbour's garden open at all, can the dogs get outside of their boundary?

reallyrose

:pac: I haven't been around because she's in Meath and I'm in Dublin.

As far as I know there is a fence around the property. However, little dogs like that can wiggle out of anywhere!
She did apologise but in the words of my mother
"It was like she spilt a drop of tea on me and her attitude was ~Sure, I can never get them to listen to me, the little scamps, tut :rolleyes:~"

Xinkai

In fairness this happened to my great uncle there 3 weeks ago, attacked by a lockjaw that belonged to a crimelord and his GF. He was left with skin folded back and torn on the back of his leg, fingers broken so he's in splints, 165 stitches on his back/sides among trauma and other stuff (81 years old).

The blood was so bad the fire brigade had to hose the path down. The dog also had other crimes of attacking people too, or so I'm told.

In my opinion as an animal lover, there are 3 possible outcomes for this situation.

1. Put the attacking dog down.
2. Get an outside ban placed on the dog from the police/DSPCA
3. Return the dog to the DSPCA for ettiquite training (They do this)

The dog that attacked my uncle, seeing as how he had previous cases of attacking people, was put down.

Bookworm85

Xinkai wrote: »

In fairness this happened to my great uncle there 3 weeks ago, attacked by a lockjaw that belonged to a crimelord and his GF. He was left with skin folded back and torn on the back of his leg, fingers broken so he's in splints, 165 stitches on his back/sides among trauma and other stuff (81 years old).

The blood was so bad the fire brigade had to hose the path down. The dog also had other crimes of attacking people too, or so I'm told.

In my opinion as an animal lover, there are 3 possible outcomes for this situation.

1. Put the attacking dog down.
2. Get an outside ban placed on the dog from the police/DSPCA
3. Return the dog to the DSPCA for ettiquite training (They do this)

The dog that attacked my uncle, seeing as how he had previous cases of attacking people, was put down.

Jesus! Your poor uncle - I hope he's doing ok!

Same for your mum OP, I hope the infection wasn't too nasty.

I reckon your approach is perfectly reasonable, but I'd also be handing her a receipt for your mum's medical expenses.

It would be no harm to mention this to the Gardai anyway. You don't need to make a statement, but at least they will be aware of the incident, and if anything like this happens again they will have a previous record of this dog's behaviour.

ISDW

Xinkai wrote: »

In fairness this happened to my great uncle there 3 weeks ago, attacked by a lockjaw that belonged to a crimelord and his GF. He was left with skin folded back and torn on the back of his leg, fingers broken so he's in splints, 165 stitches on his back/sides among trauma and other stuff (81 years old).

The blood was so bad the fire brigade had to hose the path down. The dog also had other crimes of attacking people too, or so I'm told.

In my opinion as an animal lover, there are 3 possible outcomes for this situation.

1. Put the attacking dog down.
2. Get an outside ban placed on the dog from the police/DSPCA
3. Return the dog to the DSPCA for ettiquite training (They do this)

The dog that attacked my uncle, seeing as how he had previous cases of attacking people, was put down.

Whats a lockjaw? I don't know that breed.

That sounds horrific, but it is very different to the OP's case, the dog in your uncle's case was being used as a weapon apparently.

The OP is in Meath, so the D(ublin)SPCA won't be involved.

reallyrose

Sorry to hear about that Xinkai. I guess there is always someone worse off than oneself!

Is there a dog trainer or obedience class that anyone could recommend in Meath?
That was if the owner tuts about how difficulty in finding someone to train her animals, I can just hand her a phone number.

Reading the Control of Dogs Act, it seems that my mother can easily give the owner the medical bills, so I'll get her to do that.

I guess it would have to be the local Gardaí? That might be difficult because of <idiotic village politics>.

Thank you for the replies so far.
It will be so much more satisfying to smack this woman with information and facts and things, rather than just shouting at her.

*prepares polite face*

Toulouse

http://apdt.ie/index.php/find-a-trainer/dog-trainers-in-county-meath/

I can highly recommend anyone on this page.

mosi

OP, sorry to hear about this, I hope your mum is ok.
I would say hold off on getting the gardai or dog warden involved. You're being very reasonable about this and, as you said, you don't want it to turn into a village political affair.
The best thing is to go around to her and talk to her about how your mum needed medical treatment, and ask her to cover the expenses (which she should definitely do). Perhaps she didn't realise the damage that the dog had done? You could then mention about the training and stress the importance of her keeping her dogs under control, saying how if it were to happen to someone else, they might exercise their right to complain to the dog warden/gardai.
I think that a lot will depend on how she reacts to you. It sounds more like a very unfortunate incident that an aggressive dog issue like the other post on here. Terriers can be nippy, especially when excited, and it sounds as if she has let this go unchecked. I'm not trying to underplay what happened but I think that you should tread softly at first.

Discodog

There are two ways that you can handle it. You can use the criminal law as the owner failed to keep the dog under control. Or you can go the Civil route & sue the owner for medical costs, distress etc.

The criminal route is public whereas the civil procedure is more likely to stay private. The key is to get the owner to admit liability in a provable way, for example in writing or in front of witnesses. This becomes essential as the owner will change their story if the matter were to go legal.

If you report the matter to the dog warden/guards then there is a real possibility that the dog will be put down & the owner not punished. You will have no say in what happens to the dog. Even in a civil case it could be questioned why you failed to contact the dog warden - a court won't accept your concern for the dog.

Xinkai

Uncle was attacked by a Bull Terrier, one of these guys :



OP please keep us updated on the status of this case, something has to be done about people and violent animals.

Discodog

Xinkai wrote: »

something has to be done about people and violent animals.

Better if something was done about idiot owners instead of blaming & punishing the dog.

Xinkai

Dog had previous cases of mauling humans. Only option this time was putting it down. Police call, not my uncles.

Discodog

Xinkai wrote: »

Dog had previous cases of mauling humans. Only option this time was putting it down. Police call, not my uncles.

So the owner had previously allowed their dog to cause injury but were not banned from keeping a dog. The problem is that the owners don't get punished. There were other options but the Guards would not be informed enough to take them.

slashygoodness

Xinkai wrote: »

Dog had previous cases of mauling humans. Only option this time was putting it down. Police call, not my uncles.

wow, I'm sure it took the moron who abused the dog all of two minutes to get new one...did he even get a fine or charged?

reallyrose

Well, I talked to the owner with the numbers of dog trainers one village over, an estimate price for training the animals and some hastily crammed knowledge of the Control of Dogs Act and got nothing in return.

She didn't take ownership for what they did, she is still maintaining the attitude that "Sure, isn't that what wee dogs are like?"

I resisted the urge to punt her out through a window and gave her the numbers and info anyway (Put them on the table in front of her).
Then I told her her the date and time and told her that I was leaving it in her hands for the moment and she could have a think about it because the next step is a lawyer and a civil case.

*sigh*

With any luck she'll get over herself and get the mutts trained!

I'm still spitting angry. I saw the bite mark on my mother. While it doesn't come close to the injuries suffered by the poster above there, it's a considerable wound.

Thanks for the advice guys.

Whispered

OP I think you're handling this brilliantly! Fair play to you for your composure.

reallyrose wrote: »

She didn't take ownership for what they did, she is still maintaining the attitude that "Sure, isn't that what wee dogs are like?"

wee dogs are like this because of owners with that attitude. I know how annoying it is to own a breed with a tarnished name because of stupid owners. I'm sure small dog owners feel the same. It's a pity the woman doesn't realise that all she is doing is creating more people who say "oh I'd never own a terrier, all snappy little things".

I hope your mother is feeling better and fingers crossed the owner takes responsibility.

ISDW

reallyrose wrote: »

Well, I talked to the owner with the numbers of dog trainers one village over, an estimate price for training the animals and some hastily crammed knowledge of the Control of Dogs Act and got nothing in return.

She didn't take ownership for what they did, she is still maintaining the attitude that "Sure, isn't that what wee dogs are like?"

I resisted the urge to punt her out through a window and gave her the numbers and info anyway (Put them on the table in front of her).
Then I told her her the date and time and told her that I was leaving it in her hands for the moment and she could have a think about it because the next step is a lawyer and a civil case.

*sigh*

With any luck she'll get over herself and get the mutts trained!

I'm still spitting angry. I saw the bite mark on my mother. While it doesn't come close to the injuries suffered by the poster above there, it's a considerable wound.

Thanks for the advice guys.

As I said right at the very beginning, you're a better person than me. Well done for keeping your cool. People like that drive me nuts, taking no responsibility at all. Hopefully she'll listen and do something.

Zapperzy

Well your doing considerably better than what I would do, I wouldn't have been able to keep my cool. I own a small terrier and no that's not just 'what wee dogs do', just because my dog is small I do not allow him to run around biting people. This woman doesn't sound responsible enough to own a goldfish nevermind a small dog, I would hate to see the damage if she had bigger dogs, but regardless of size she shouldn't allow them to run loose biting people.

Has she even offered to cover medical expenses or offer an apology? That's the very least I would expect of her. :mad:

reallyrose

Whispered wrote: »

OP I think you're handling this brilliantly! Fair play to you for your composure.

ISDW wrote: »

As I said right at the very beginning, you're a better person than me. Well done for keeping your cool. .

Zapperzy wrote: »

Well your doing considerably better than what I would do, I wouldn't have been able to keep my cool.
Has she even offered to cover medical expenses or offer an apology? That's the very least I would expect of her. :mad:

Heh, I tend to get calmer the angrier I get. The more rage-filled I am, the more polite and restrained I am.

I was SUPER SUPER polite to her. :pac:

Zapperzy wrote: »

Has she even offered to cover medical expenses or offer an apology? That's the very least I would expect of her. :mad:

A half-assed apology is all. Sort of "Well, I apologised for bumping in to you, but now you seem to be over-reacting" type apology.
I'm not sure about medical expenses, I brought them up but she was too busy telling me to know my place and how dare I speak to her so.

Poor dogs can't be too happy if they are acting out like that.
If she was my owner, I'd bite people too.


I'll give her til next week and then give her a friendly little call to see how the wee doggies are getting on in school.

hdowney

reallyrose wrote: »

Heh, I tend to get calmer the angrier I get. The more rage-filled I am, the more polite and restrained I am.

I was SUPER SUPER polite to her. :pac:



A half-assed apology is all. Sort of "Well, I apologised for bumping in to you, but now you seem to be over-reacting" type apology.
I'm not sure about medical expenses, I brought them up but she was too busy telling me to know my place and how dare I speak to her so.

Poor dogs can't be too happy if they are acting out like that.
If she was my owner, I'd bite people too.


I'll give her til next week and then give her a friendly little call to see how the wee doggies are getting on in school.

the cheek. you were defending your poor mother, who probably isn't in any fit state to say anything to the woman, not that she'd wanna go near them dogs again anyway. i totally believe you were nothing but polite and that woman is NOT going to do anything about it so unfortunately (particularly for the dogs) you are going to have to show her you mean business, and she cannot let her dogs bite people like that, and escalate the action.

reallyrose

My mother is in hospital now because of the infection in her leg.

I called the owner to let her know and was told that I was harassing her, so I guess I can't contact her that way again.

I've phoned her twice in 10 days, I don't think that's harassment, is it?

Is going straight for a solicitor now over-kill?

(I need to be careful or I'll be using this thread to rant and swear!)

piperh

reallyrose wrote: »

My mother is in hospital now because of the infection in her leg.

I called the owner to let her know and was told that I was harassing her, so I guess I can't contact her that way again.

I've phoned her twice in 10 days, I don't think that's harassment, is it?

Is going straight for a solicitor now over-kill?

(I need to be careful or I'll be using this thread to rant and swear!)

No you've played fair and this woman is shirking her responsibilities as a responsible dog owner. Go to the solicitor asap.

reallyrose

She's an assbutt.

hdowney

reallyrose wrote: »

My mother is in hospital now because of the infection in her leg.

I called the owner to let her know and was told that I was harassing her, so I guess I can't contact her that way again.

I've phoned her twice in 10 days, I don't think that's harassment, is it?

Is going straight for a solicitor now over-kill?

(I need to be careful or I'll be using this thread to rant and swear!)

dear god your poor mother. that neighbour is being a complete asshat. seriously now your mother is well fooooked from the injury so you are well within your rights to be contacting the owner looking for them to do something. they are being ...... about it, so sod them, get on to a solicitor, the police, whoever it is that is necessary and sod ur woman. she doesn't give a toss so you need to get it sorted proper and show her you ain't about to lie down and let her dog end your mother up in hospital

Discodog

reallyrose wrote: »

Is going straight for a solicitor now over-kill?

No but you should get one on a no win no fee basis. There is a thread about it here:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056082465

And the following company is mentioned in the thread

http://www.personalinjurydirect.ie/

Your mother was injured because of the owner's negligence.

reallyrose

My parents have a law firm they deal with, but thank you for the information.