Dog attacked by another dog - advice please

[darkyoung1000]

Dear PH,

My girlfriend was out running this morning with her border collie, and while on the way back, running along the pavement on a public road, heard a dog barking while passing a house and upon turning around a little while later found that she was being pursued by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

The collie was on a lead and the Staffie had escaped from its garden/house.

The Staffie then attacked the collie, biting its ear and worrying it - a situation which continued until the person living in the same house as the Staffie arrived after about half a minute and got the dog to release its grip by applying boot to head.

The vet's bill is about £200.

The person living in the house with the Staffie was extremely apologetic, claimed the dog was his Aunt's and said (before any cost was mentioned) that they/she would pay the bill. He put my G/F in touch with his Aunt, who claimed, that she's not his aunt, the dog has never done anything like this before, doesn't have the money among a number of other things that makes my worry that the money will never be forthcoming.

The Vet suggested reporting this to the Council (open again on Monday) as the police will only be interested if the dog has bitten a person.

Any suggestions about possible recourse/next courses of action gratefully received.

Many thanks,

Tom

[TooMany2cvs]

I'm presuming your dog isn't insured, and you've got no legal cover on your house insurance?

[darkyoung1000]

Correct on both counts unfortunately - there is a fund put aside for such eventualities from which the vet's bill has been paid.

Thanks,
Tom

[TooMany2cvs]

Then, unless they do cough up voluntarily, you're going to have to hit them with a small claim.

[Jasandjules]

Ask them for their house insurance details. It should cover this.

[Boosted LS1]

And forget the police. They aren't interested in dog on dog unless it's a banned breed type. They'll take note if your girlfriend was bitten though as that's a different matter.

As above, look for house insurance info or go the small claims route (your best bet imo).

[StuntmanMike]

TBH Tom, its hard but I'd put it down to experience, If the owner applied boot to the dogs head, lied about the owners details, it just sounds like its not worth it for 200 quid.
That's not to come across as condescending, but I have had some big Vet bill this year and 200 ponuds isn't one, 200 pounds is alot of money but how much for the hassle of chasing some knobber through court to get 5 pounds a week.

[gtidriver]

OP sorry to here about your dog, some people are scum bags and you'll probably get nothing from this"aunt" i had some one allow there dog to chase my cat, he was scraped up quite bad and required a visit to the vet which ended up costing me £50 i think. The owner of the dog refused to pay even though i had a witness say that she saw the dogs owner drop the lead to attack the cat, i was fking fuming.

[gtidriver]

OP sorry to here about your dog, some people are scum bags and you'll probably get nothing from this"aunt" i had some one allow there dog to chase my cat, he was scraped up quite bad and required a visit to the vet which ended up costing me £50 i think. The owner of the dog refused to pay even though i had a witness say that she saw the dogs owner drop the lead to attack the cat, i was fking fuming.

[Jasandjules]

gtidriver said:

The owner of the dog refused to pay even though i had a witness say that she saw the dogs owner drop the lead to attack the cat, i was fking fuming.

I think I would have had a few words with such a person.

[velocefica]

How Staff aren't a banned breed is ridiculous. At least 90% of dog attacks on other dogs or children/adults involves a Staffie.

[imagineifyeswill]

Thats absolute nonsense, far more attacks on dogs and people are by Jack Russells, Staffies by nature are the most docile affectionate litte dogs you could ever hope for, its bad owners not bad dogs.

[Impasse]

velocefica said:

How Staff aren't a banned breed is ridiculous. At least 90% of dog attacks on other dogs or children/adults involves a Staffie.

85.72% of statistics are made up.

[dirkgently]

velocefica said:

How Staff aren't a banned breed is ridiculous. At least 90% of dog attacks on other dogs or children/adults involves a Staffie.

A quick check with Google would suggest Staffies don't even make the top ten.

[CAPP0]

dirkgently said:

velocefica said:

How Staff aren't a banned breed is ridiculous. At least 90% of dog attacks on other dogs or children/adults involves a Staffie.

A quick check with Google would suggest Staffies don't even make the top ten.

Last time I looked (few years ago now) the breed statistically most likely to bite you was……a Labrador.

[gruffalo]

The Staffie, also known as the nanny dog because of their caring nature around children and desire to protect the younger members of the pack.

No not a dog owner.

[Jasandjules]

velocefica said:

How Staff aren't a banned breed is ridiculous. At least 90% of dog attacks on other dogs or children/adults involves a Staffie.

You appear to suffer from a magnificent lack of knowledge in relation to this subject area. Perhaps some research is in order?

[Ilovejapcrap]

Ring council , next time may be a kid

[BullyB]

Staffies scare the st out of me, where we live they are really common and we don't even use the park that is 30 meters away from the house anymore due to their aggressive nature. just not worth the risk.

Hope all works out ok for the OP

[Greendubber]

BullyB said:

Staffies scare the st out of me, where we live they are really common and we don't even use the park that is 30 meters away from the house anymore due to their aggressive nature. just not worth the risk.

Hope all works out ok for the OP

Are you afraid of the dark as well?