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What legal action can I pursue if my dog was leashed in a park when an unleashed dog attacked her2007-11-25 2:53:31

Today my precious Havanese puppy (5 months old) was attacked at a park by an unleashed Border Collie x Pitbull. I was walking her around my local oval/park with my 12 year old niece when she was attacked. It was a big dog with a friendly yet mean look. Jewel was bitten on her side where the dog broke 2 of her ribs and she suffered a big wound where the other dog bit her hind leg. I was screaming but was too scared to do anything. My niece was shocked and was crying as we watched my dog be attacked. After the action took place, the dog ran away. A few minutes passed and the dogs owner was running towards me with a leash in one hand a remote control in the other. While the dog was attacking my dog, he wore a shock collar which kept making buzz noises which set him angrier. The owner apologized to me and told me that he would pay $50 for any vet bills. Once I got Jewel to the vet, her injuries will need $2500+ to fix. What legal action can I persue? Sorry if it's confusing. I'm in shoch.

Answers:

Report the incident ASAP. Ask the vet who the proper authorities are to report it. Unless the dogs were inside an off-leash dog specific park, he can be fined first for allowing the dog off leash. You can also probably sue him to pay the full vet costs for his negligence. Definitely talk to the vet and find out what to do.

There's also a chance you can report the incident to the police and have the dog destroyed. An animal that aggressive in the hands of a clearly ignorant owner is a threat to the community. At the very least, they can label him viscious and dangerous and require that he be kept indoors or muzzled on a tight leash at all times. If he's found in violation of that, the dog will automatically be taken and destroyed.

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First of all you will need the police report. If there is a crime (dog off leash) the police would have needed to come, or nothing can be done there. Second, you will need to hire a lawyer and try to sue them for the damages.

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Take the owner to small claims court, you did everything right and he did everything wrong.