Can I take legal action? Dog related trigger warning

Have you spoken to Trevor Cooper yet (or one of the other dog law specialists, there are a few but I know Trevor personally)...

What have your insurers said?

I would be unleashing hell on her if she let this happen to my dog.
Report to everyone and go and see a solicitor who specialises in dog cases. At the very least there is a breach of contract claim. Poor dog 🐶 x

Sorry hadn't read the updates. It's vet's bills and replacement cost still, even if the claim is against the kennel owner because cover invalidated. It's shit, but the law treats animals like any other form of replaceable property.

I'm so sorry for you and little Rosie. She looks so sweet and I hope she recovers quickly.
You didn't let her get hurt though, please don't blame yourself. Some people holiday leaving dogs home alone, with people calling in to feed and walk. Others leave them with friends, family or neighbours with no insurance if something was to go wrong. What you did was leave her in the care of a licensed, insured dog boarder with 5 stars, who you had used in the past. In no way is this your fault.
Let's hope it doesn't take long to get them shut down. Acting the victim now shows what an absolute twat she is and she deserves everything that's coming to her.

You will be fighting an insurer, and they will tell you the loss is the price of a comparable new dog (assuming all vets bills covered by the insurer without a fight). Unless, that is, you have a claim for mental injury to yourself. In which case damages are more meaningful.

💐

@Karmaisac4t no it begins with a G

This is horrific OP, no dogs should be subjected to such care. Sadly I think this is more common than the general public realise.

I used to use a kennel about 10 years ago, lovely place, clean, lots of space to run they even played music into the dog kennels to settle them. Suddenly when I tried to book whoever answered the phone said “oh our prices have gone up” ok I was happy to pay more “no they have gone up significantly!” Very hostile. After a quick google it transpired that they had a dog run away from the facility and the owners of the dog were out at all hours in the local area searching for it. Later on it came out that the dog had escaped and was hit by a car and sadly died. They kept that from the owner. Since then I’ve always used family members to house sit.

This is so sad. And shocking!
I am glad you’re getting her to pay, very much doubt you’d have seen the money again if you paid. And I’ll very rarely say this, but I’ll be so glad when you get her shut down permanently. She is not fit for looking after dogs, and it’ll keep other families from heartbreak.
So sorry about Rosie, she is adorable. Hope her healing goes smoothly from here on.

I’m so sorry this happened to your beautiful dog and you. I wish her a speedy recovery.

No advice, just to say I'm so sorry that happened to you and Rosie OP <3. Wonderful that she's home now, hopefully she's got some good painkillers and will be feeling pretty happy! Small dogs usually adapt really well to three legs, in time it will all be behind her and she'll have many more happy years with you.

sorry to hear about this awful trauma.

Trevor Cooper at DogLaw would be who I’d be calling.

I haven’t read all the replies to your post so his name and his company may already have been mentioned.

He is the top dog, if you’ll excuse the pun, on all things in law relating to dogs and trains the police and licensing officers as well as taking or participating in legal cases in court.

She's saying that her insurance company won't cover the cost because she wasn't actively looking after the dogs so she asked us to pay initially and then they'd pay us back but I refused. It happened under her care, she's responsible

I expect her insurance company have refused to pay out as she wasn't operating in accordance with her license.

That's a very, very common clause in insurance - I just do dog walking but the small print is very clear that I have to obey any guidance set out by the council (so, use leads in areas that require them, stick to the maximum number of dogs etc) and if I don't, then they won't cover me as I wouldn't have been operating legally, if that makes sense.

Luckily I've never had to claim but I imagine lots of people just think "I've got insurance so I'm covered" without actually reading the details.

Get well soon Rosie.

How traumatic,

Licensing regulations stipulate a maximum of 10 dogs to 1 member of staff, if there were 12 dogs and only one staff member then they were likely in breech of their licensing conditions.

Dogs in a professional setting should not be left together unattended.

I would recommend speaking with the local councils animal activities licensing department. The chances are if they are in breach of their licence conditions their insurance will be invalidated which could make getting a payout difficult but they will likely loose their licence.

@Blondiebeachbabe there are other insurers out there, not all as comprehensive as Cliverton.
Ideally she will be told who she is insured with.

Actually, if the Op goes onto the Cliverton website, she will be able to see what home boarders are covered for. I don't ever recall seeing anything about costs for a customer to come home early. But in any case, it sounds like Cliverton are saying that she's not covered, because she wasn't caring for the dogs in the way that her licence stipulates. Or maybe the boarder just said she was insured, but wasn't?

Where I live, there are loads of people who do boarding who aren't licensed or insured. I know this, because when I was looking for a home boarder for my own dog, I could see things in their photo's or descriptions, that meant they could NOT have a licence, things like living in a flat that didn't have it's own main door, or having kids under 5 years old, or not having a secure garden. The things we need to do, to get the licence are listed in a document that's about 12 pages long!

And I should say, I am glad you have got her home, that will give her a good mental boost.

I hope her recovery continues to go well and she goes from strength to strength.

@Ellythe if she is insured, her policy will be similar to mine (kennels).
Let me know if you would like to see the wording of the document regarding vets feed and I can get it emailed over to you.
Or I can screenshot and post here if you want to stay anonymous.

So sorry to hear about your dog. I'm a home boarder. Happy to answer any questions you may have.

As far as the rules go, most Councils permit you to leave dogs alone for up to 3 hours, however, they are meant to be separated, if you do so. Her insurance will be with Cliverton. Although it sounds like they aren't willing to pay up.

Incidents like this are, thankfully, extremely rare. In fact, in the 11 years I've been doing this, I could count on one hand how many play flights have tuned into real fights, and they are nipped in the bud very quickly with a bark stop, which emits a high pitched sound that only the dogs can hear.

That said, I do think that with a large dog like a mastiff, that even if the boarder had been in the same room, it may have been hard to stop any damage being done. I'm surprised that she has admitted to you that she wasn't nearby. Also, how did you get photo's of a load of dogs together that exceeded her limit? That seems very silly of her. I'm permitted to have 4 at once, which is the most my Council allows. I met a boarder from a different Council a few years ago, and she had a licence for 14, I was shocked!

All dogs have to be vetted before they stay, to make sure that they are not aggressive in any way, although in this case, the dog was owned by the boarder.

I have no idea whether you would have any legal recourse. How are things at the moment?

I’m sorry I don’t have any more advice to add, but wanted to say I’m so sorry this has happened to your darling dog and echo the others that many dogs do cope well with 3 legs, she can still have a happy life, just a bit slower.

I'm so sorry to hear about your dog, but glad to hear she is doing okay. Absolutely terrible, this woman should not be boarding dogs.

My cat was attacked by a dog which got into our garden. I witnessed it, and knew who owned the dog. My insurers paid for my cat's treatment, but they asked for the dog owner's info with a view to claiming back the money from them. I never found out if they did claim, but it was all dealt with between insurers, I didn't have to do anything. (Cat had a painful 6 month recovery but is now fine.)

Is this the boarders beginning with S in Nantwich?

I’m so sorry OP. It’s great to hear that Rosie is now home with you.

I grew up with a French bulldog who my parents inherited from my grandmother (a long time before they became a ‘fashionable’ breed). He was extraordinarily unhealthy. By the time he was 4 or 5, he’d lost an eye and an ear and his back legs didn’t work properly following major spinal surgery. As time went on, he lost his sight in his remaining eye. My parents were always worried about his well-being but the vet always reassured them that he had a good life. He was a happy little soul who was deeply loved and who adored my parents in return. He lived to 12 years old and is much missed even 20 years later. He was a lazy bugger, which may have helped when he partially lost the use of his back legs - but he was happy, even when completely blind. And dearly loved.

OP I hope this will give you some comfort that, in spite of her injuries, Rosie will hopefully adjust well. She has the huge benefit of your love for her. 🤗

How would that even apply in this case? Dogs are indoors in a boarders house.