Anyone have experience of reporting a dog attack to the Police [sad]

[HyacinthsBucket70]

My dog was badly attacked last weekend by another dog in our village. This was its 3rd time. The 1st I didn't report, but was annoyed that the owners didn't react. 2nd time I did report as I had my grandchildren with me and it was terrifying. Last weekend, we were walking off our dog when it tore through a NDNs hedge (they were visiting friends) and it savagely attacked mine. It took 4 adults to get the attacking dog off mine and I can still hear mine screaming, words can't describe how horrendous it was. We darted our dog straight to the OOH vet, where he was given painkillers and treated for the marks on his legs and paws (DH managed to get our dog in his arms but the other dog was biting his legs to pull him down). The dog has had stress colitis as a result and had to go back to the vet today with a large haemotoma on his chest that had to be drained.... and he's probably going to need surgery Monday to remove the hardened parts of it.
I'm so far beyond fuming, the dog owner actually HID in the NDN's garden and let the NDNs deal with it. We reported to Police and were given a crime number from our county HQ and told it would go to the local officers but it's been a week now and we've heard nothing.
2 other dog owners in the village have reported the same dog for it attacking their dogs, and apparently the owner was warned about keeping the dog under control ..... like hell he cares.
Does anyone else have experience/share some words of wisdom. I've hardly slept since as I'm so stressed, and I'm having to drive miles in the car everyday to walk my dog as I'm too scared of meeting this horrid dog and its owner again.

[DoryNow]

Sounds horrendous Hyacinth, & absolutely you did the right thing reporting it. Your poor pooch & poor you & DH too.

That dog has been traumatized in some way so that it attacks before it is attacked himself, and his owner is being totally irresponsible in not taking action to muzzle him & restrain him appropriately when out, preferably well away from other dogs.

This type of owner makes my blood boil, what if there was a child around who got caught in the cross fire? Bad enough people's darlings dogs are suffering, it is not on to behave like this.

Keep pestering the police, this dog is a danger to the public.

[mustbemad17]

I think the problem is this is dog on dog...from experience the police aren't very adept at dealing with them 😔 report to the dog warden as well as the police, purely because the DW may be able to cajole the police into acting. Sounds like the owner needs a cattle prod up the arse, the dog is clearly not a happy one & needs very strict bloody control.

Hope your poor dog is okay, get the bill sent to the irresponsible twat who felt hiding was the best option 😡😡

[Youaremysunshine2017]

Keep following up with the police. It sounds horrifying. It makes my blood go cold to think what would happen if the dog got near a child.

I used to have a dog that I rescued and she had been bred to fight (for bets). I always walked her with a muzzle and a halti lead. I also had my garden fenced properly rather than hedges. Owners of dogs that are known to be dangerous need to take precautions.

[HyacinthsBucket70]

I've just written a complaint to the Police via their website feedback option that this isn't being dealt with. The dog did puncture my fingers and bruised my hand, I did photograph them but dropped my phone Thursday and broke the screen. They've healed now so nothing to show for it. It also got the NDN's hand too, but they are best friends with these people and I've not got a lot of hope for a witness statement or back up ..... I will try the Dog Warden too, thanks.

It's not been a good week

[Lucisky]

How dreadful for you and I hope your dog, and you, recover.
I know of a dog that attacked and killed a sausage dog. This was dealt with by the police and the dog (which is alarge crossbreed) now has to be muzzled and kept on a lead at all times in public. However, the dog that attacked yours escaped from a garden? Is that right? I think I would also approach the dog warden for advice, and also inform your insurance company as they might want to seek legal redress for the vet fees. If you are not insured I would consider going through the small claims court. People hate being hit in the pocket.

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

The dog did puncture my fingers and bruised my hand, I did photograph them but dropped my phone Thursday and broke the screen.

The police are, sadly, going to be far more concerned about minor injuries to a human than substantial injuries to a dog. Have you tried taking the phone to a repair shop to see if they might be able to get the photos off your phone? Is there any chance they might have been auto backed up to the iCloud / Google Photos / similar?

The Dangerous Dogs Act would be the main relevant bit of legislation; it would be worth a read; this is a useful primer. www.gov.uk/control-dog-public

[mustbemad17]

Someone may be able to get those photos for you even with a cracked screen. If you can get them the police will have to act as it shows the dog is dangerous to humans too. It's a sad thing when our pets are at risk & legally we feel trapped about dealing with it

[HyacinthsBucket70]

I'll try getting the photos off phone with a USB cable today, failing that I'll try a repair shop.

It's the feeling that I'm powerless to do anything that I'm struggling with. How can it be right that you can just let your dog attack anything in its path and totally have the law on your side

[BiteyShark]

So sorry to hear this. I don't have anything to add but yes I feel as owners we should be held far more accountable for the dogs actions that we are right now. Responsible owners muzzle or take other preventative measures but unfortunately you will always get the irresponsible ones and it's someone else that ends up paying for it.

Hope you get the photos and the police do something about it.

[mustbemad17]

This may sound extreme but can you borrow something like a go pro for a few days/weeks? That way you don't have to worry about whipping your phone out IF (god forbid) anything else does happen...but then you have exact evidence of the fact that a) this dog is bloody dangerous & b) the owner is an inefficient prick who actually clearly doesn't care the damage his dog is doing.

[Benji13]

Yes we have recently had a similar experience to you but the dig actually killed our cat. We were and still are devastated.
I called the police who were useless. A freind who runs a rescue advised me to put everything in writing including citing witnesses and to quote the dangerous dogs act. I emailed the police and within 2 days they had made a visit to the dogs owners and issued a warning. It hasn't bought our beautiful girl back but I did all I could.
Get it in writing and state you expect a response in 14 days. X

[WowLookAtYou]

I'm afraid I think you won't get anywhere with this. Something similar happened to a friend, only they were quite seriously bitten (needed emergency surgery) as well as their pup. Went to court (private prosecution) but paltry fine and dogs back with their owner!

[SpanielsAreNuts]

The injuries to you are actually the key. Sadly harm to your dog is not really considered much of an issue.

You need to emphasise how frightened you are that this dog will seriously harm you next time and that it has already caused you harm (fear about your dog being attacked again and the injuries your dog has received are unfortunately a minor sideline of your report, so don't emphasise them). Also whilst this may seem over the top, in future, go to the doctor's with a dog bite. You may need a tetanus injection, plus it is then officially noted that you have been injured by a dog and will help in getting the police to take action.

[mustbemad17]

Spaniels makes a very good point. The dangerous dogs act was changed to include fear of a dog attack as reason to deal with a dangerous dog. This isn't a one off so make a point of telling the police how worried you are, especially if you have children walking with you

[DoryNow]

Following with interest as 2 neighbours have had their cats attacked by another NDN's dog vaulting the 5 bar gate to get to them, having escaped from his own garden.

[missbattenburg]

OP, our JRT was attacked about 5 years ago by an off lead dog. He tore the skin off her from her neck to her hips, exposing all the muscle underneath. She had extensive surgery to stitch her back together and was in torso cast for several weeks while she healed. Luckily she is a fighter. I suspect, had it been our other JRT, he would be dead now because he is of a more fragile temperament.

The experience was similar, sympathy but not much else from the police. Since then their budgets have been slashed and the pressure to respond to more serious crime has escalated. I suspect they are simply too overwhelmed to be able to do something here. It's not right but it is what it is.

The key to getting over it was to let go the idea that we had to restore sense of justice and accept that the very best thing we could do was to deal with the dog's potential reaction to the incident and help her overcome it.

This meant NOT being scared to take her out, even to the same place where she was attacked, knowing the dog was still around. It meant searching out calm, friendly dogs for her to interact with. Restoring her confidence on walks again.

By all means continue to push the police and pursue with a dog warden but I would caution not to assume it will take the stress away or allow it to distract you from helping your dog get over the attack. In our case, we have a dog that you would not now be able to tell had been in such a savage attack but that's only through a shed load of work to get her there. I say that with much empathy so apologies if it doesn't come across like that. xx

[pigsDOfly]

I knew someone whose beautiful gentle rescue collie has a similar attack to yours Missbattenburg. Whilst the police were sympathetic, they made clear that they would not pursue a dog on dog attack, even though the attack dog was supposed to be permanently muzzled when outside it's home, and my friend should deal with the dog warden over it.

The police did advise him that they would be unhappy if he put up posters of pictures of the attack to his dog as a warning to other dog owners as to what the dog who attacked his was capable of; they told him that the pictures would cause distress, which is fair enough, I suppose, it was a horrific attack.

As far as I recall - it was a few years ago now - nothing came of it. The dog warden did have a word with the owner of the attack dog but that's as far as it went.

[YummyBelicious]

We had a similar dog attack a few years ago as above
My dogs side was completely ripped open.

The police weren't very interested but I went through the community police/safer neighbourhood team and they prosecuted using the dangerous dogs act, we went to court and I got compensation and the other dog was destroyed (had attacked many other dogs too), although that wasntnt necessarily what I wanted

Hope this helps

[HyacinthsBucket70]

It's appalling that this is so common . I feel that it's my duty to protect my dog, and knowing I've been unable to is really troubling me. He's really quiet today, and has taken to standing behind me when another dog approaches him. I'm doing my best to reassure him, but think we're going to need a behavouralist to help him too. It breaks my heart that he's such a trusting dog normally.

[HyacinthsBucket70]

Thanks for all your stories, it's helped me enormously .

[NotSureThisIsWhatIWant]

I think a dog so dangerous should be destroyed, what would have happened if it had been a kid walking the victim dog?

I would go by Yummy Belicious advice and try my best to get the dog destroyed, at the end of the day it is unlikely the owner would ever do something about it.

[crazycatgal]

Make sure you mention that you were attacked and bitten too, there seems to be more done when a human is attacked. This dog needs destroying if it has attacked several dogs.

[Wellfuckmeinbothears]

I’m so sorry to hear this, your poor dog that sounds terrifying. The owner should be fucking ashamed of themselves.

How badly is the screen smashed? If you can see it at all could you try emailing the pictures to yourself so you can view them on a computer? If you have an iPhone I can talk you through how to do this if you’re not sure.

for you and your dog x

[IJustHadToNameChange]

The police might make a note of it, but it occurred on private land.

[Wolfiefan]

I'm so sorry this has happened. The fact that similar things have happened three times means something needs to happen. The dog warden can put something (I think it's) called a dog control order. Dog muzzled in public eg. How terrible not to feel safe in public.