Question...My dog got bit.

[Whitey]

Long story short...
I was at the dog park today. Usual crowd, maybe about 7 dogs hanging out. A guy shows up with his shepherd mix and it's immediately aggressive with all the dogs. The new dog gets into it with my dog (a Shepherd) and it escalated very quickly. I jumped it and ripped his dog away, but not before my dogs ear was torn open and I took a bite to the hand.
Bottom line is this cost me $375 to get my pup stitches. I haven't got my hand looked at yet, and I don't know which dog got me. Do I have any right to try and recoup this cost from the other owner, or is this just something that happens I have to eat it?

[Seanz0rz]

id contact the other guy. might be decent and pay up.

[AutoShop]

From personal experience, When I was 2 years old my neighbors dog bit the left side of my face off. 86 stitches and nearly missed taking out my left eye. It was some kind of poodle mix. Some ankle biter. They paid my hospital bills and shot the dog the next day.

If anything, call the douche bag. Ask him to pay for your dogs medical bills. If he refuses you can sue him and take him to small claims court for the cost. As far as your bite goes, it really depends on your judgment if you think his dog did it. If so, have him pay those medical bills too.

What I want to know is, why did YOU break up the fight with the dogs? Where was the other owner?

[Whitey]

What I want to know is, why did YOU break up the fight with the dogs? Where was the other owner?

Believe me, when things settled down, I was pissed about this too. People were just in disbelief about what was happening. I grabbed his dog, and I turned around, my 5'2 wife had our 1 year old Shepherd. Some people just fail as dog owners.
As far as my hand being bit, there is no way I could prove whose dog got me.

[corax]

the dog owner is responsible for his dog. I'm sure the park is absolved from any litigation in the posted rules of the park. If/when you go to get your hand looked at ask the doctor if there is any way to match the bite markson your hand with your dogs teeth (puncture spacing for ex.), if it doesn't match then it would be the other dog. If the other guy refuses payment, I would contact the police and report him. Then you would have an incident report to take to small claims court, if it escalates that far. Do you have witnesses? They might help persuade the police to write an incident report or at least take a statement (they may balk at the idea, since it sounds like they were not at the scene).

BTW, where was the park?

[corax]

Some people just fail as dog owners.
As far as my hand being bit, there is no way I could prove whose dog got me.


Very true.
If there were only 2 dogs involved and the bite marks can be seen, they can at least rule out one dog by the bite pattern (like a finger print of teh dogs mouth). At the very least, take a high quality pic of the bite with a ruler next to the punctures showing spacing.

[04 Rocko Taco]

I would definitely at least call the other guy, see if he will man up, be polite at first, but then dont be afraid to get a little pushy, and depending on how far you want to take it, mention the small claims court thing.

[Whitey]

I was so hasty to leave today because my dog and I were bleeding so much. In hindsight I wish I mentioned something before i took off. At least there were witnesses.

[AutoShop]

Sounds like a good case to me. Do as Corax mentioned with getting imprints of your dogs teeth. That way, if you do go to small claims, you do have actual proof that your dog didnt do it. Judge would rule in your favor immediately.

[paddlenbike]

I had a very similar experience last month. I was at the river with my GF's border collie (on a leash) when an unleashed pit bull ran up and laid into her. Long story short, she had to go in for a $715 emergency laceration surgery. The vet right away the bite was from a pit. I got the owner's telephone number and she said she would make payments on the balance. So far I have collected a little over half the amount, but of course, now she is about 2 weeks past when she was supposed to pay it off, so I let her know she has until next Friday to make the last payment or we will settle the balance in small claims court. I've done plenty of research on the issue--a dog owner is responsible for their pet's actions, period.

[RunnerUp]

in some instances if it happens at a dog park then there is nothing you can do, that of course doesnt stop you from being able to call the guy out and trying to see if he will pay for what his dog did.

im atleast glad you identified the dog as something other than a rabies infested pitbull as so many people like to do when a dog attack occurs, even if its a mutt...

i hope your pup and your hand gets better soon!

[cooldry]

Regardless of whether it was at a dog park or not, I believe the owner of the dog that bit is responsible. Especially in a case like this where there's really no question on which dog was aggressive and started the whole thing. We've had a few incidents around a park by my house (not a dog park) where dogs have gotten involved, and the biting dog owner always paid. Luckily we have neighbors that own up to there dogs. I'd insist that the other guy pay for your dogs vet bills. And I would take it all the way to court if need be.