Dog burst my son's football

Hmm, I think the dog owner should’ve offered to pay. It’s so easy to Google the price of an item on your phone and the more expensive footballs are in that price range- the ball would have the brand name, etc. on it.

At the very least, he should’ve contributed something to the replacement cost.

A 5 year old having on going trauma issues will grow up to be someone like me. Make of that what you will.

I agree with this post too

Me too. Just playing Devil's Advocate for the much hated dog owner on MN.

Agreed completely

@XenoBitch honestly I'm embarrassed for you.

Right.....

Except they don't.
But you really should.

Yes, I am a man with a staffie (am actually a woman with a greyhound, but you believe what you want).

Being passed off and vocal about a dog not bring on a lead probably made the owner very intimidated and I am not surprised they didn't engage.
Try being more understanding next time.

Much worse breaking of rules and laws gets unpunished and the police do no have the resources to investigate every wrong doing.

I am shocked at the vitriol of so many posters against the dog owner.

An amicable settlement did not happen.

The boy's mum "was v pissed off and vocal about his dog and the fact that it wasn't on a lead".

The dog owner was very apologetic but refused to pay £45 for a destroyed football and refused to give his name and address. Anyone here who would have agreed to pay £45 or given their name and address?

The mum says "nobody else helped me out as lots of people saw." Could it be that they sided with the dog owner?

For all those calling for punishment for the dog not being on a lead and destroying property, in a country following the rule of law, you don't name and shame offenders on Facebook - you make a complaint to the police, and if necessary, the matter goes through the courts. A person (and dog) is innocent until found guilty.

Would you be willing to go through the legal procedure?

I feel sorry for the boy and his mum, but it seems dog haters have hijacked the post.

I would have been mortified if my dog did this, luckily I would be able to replace it - although I'd be shocked at the price, and would probably order a new one then and there on my phone rather than hand over the cash.

If he can't afford it though, he can't afford it. It's really not different from the OPs child breaking another child's toy and her not being able to replace it.

In an ideal world he should have discussed it further to come up with a solution, but it doesn't look like the OP gave him much of a chance.

The responses on here are bat shit though -
Owner should sell his dog to make the repayment
OP should hang around the park for a few days in hopes of seeing him again
Follow him home

Insane.

Kid is 5. They will get over it. If they don't, then they need to build mental resilience (just like I have been told on this thread).

@XenoBitch well we don't gain anything do we? It's a discussion about something that happened to someone else. But I'm still baffled as to why you're so adamant that he did nothing wrong.

Tbf to the man, if some random had asked me for £45 to replace a football, I'd have assumed they were pulling a fast one and exaggerating the cost to try and get more money, so I'd have walked away on the basis that if someone was going to do that they would probably not discuss it politely. I also would be unlikely to have that amount of cash.
If they'd said £15, I might well have paid up straight away.

Hey @XenoBitch - are you the guy from the park whose dog destroyed a child’s ball? Why do you not think you’re responsible for the damage? You are responsible for your dog and all its actions in public.

Dog owner is lucky you’re not obsessive football dad. Where I live, football dads would slash his tyres in revenge 😂

@Deadlinesaredickheads what would you do if given a name? How would you even know it was the right person?

Except for the 5 year old.

OP said he was very apologetic. What do we gain by calling him selfish etc? Fuck all

It is all done and dusted.

Exactly this. Not sure why it is so hard to understand

It doesn't matter if you paid £4 or £45 for the football op, that shouldn't have happened.

They should have bought your son a new ball.

£45. , Footballs hey lovey and damaged all the time. What would you do if another 5 year old child has accidentally damaged it? Would you expect their parents to pay £45 for your choice to bring an expensive item to the park for children to kick about?

@XenoBitch it's not about demonising them. It's about being a responsible dog owner and a decent human being. Yeah nobody died but a child's belongings were destroyed because an entitled idiot chose not to keep his dog under control, ie on a lead. People should be allowed to go out into public spaces without random dogs approaching them and inconveniencing them. It's really not difficult to put your dog on a lead or if you can't manage that, take them somewhere where they aren't going to bother other people.

The question is why are you so desperate to defend such irresponsible, selfish behaviour?

This. I'd have whipped out my phone and took a photo of him and the dog and posted the story on Facebook asking for a name 😂

Gosh how awful, on the first day he used it too.