Page 5 | DC was bitten by strange dog, owner has now contacted me

VettiyaIruken · 14/04/2021 15:22

Given your update I imagine they want to contact you to blame your child and put pressure on you to drop it
I agree with pp who say just pass their info to the police.

Steph64 · 14/04/2021 15:22

@PomegranateQueen

I would have my solicitor call to find out where to send the papers. Yes I would sue.

For what

Personally I would want my DC to have the best counselling money could buy after something like this.
Presumably if the dog has broken the skin, the clothes OP's son was wearing were trashed. I would want the owner to replace those too.

Don't bother calling them OP, they sound like the type of owner who will tie themselves in knots trying to blame your DS for what happened. Forward thier details to the police and chase it up, this dog needs to be euthanized.

^^ I agree.

Don’t get involved, the police need to invoke the law, this is a dangerous dog out of control.

Summer hasn’t even started yet. I predict a bumper year for these incidents as lockdown new dog owners swell the ranks of their gormless counterparts.

Aprilshowersandhail · 14/04/2021 15:22

Op it may not be the ddog's first offence.
The owner is negligent allowing dc to be in charge of a ddog that size.

Likely she wants to get to you before the police take action to try play down the accident. The ddog may be seized pending investigation. My exh claimed he was bitten during a parcel delivery and the 2 ddogs were seized... Until it came to light he was a lying fucking weasel. I could have told them that.
. The couple sold their house to pay for court costs and the poor ddogs spent best part of a year in custody..

ConstantlyChanging · 14/04/2021 15:26

Take pictures of your child’s injuries.

BluePeterVag · 14/04/2021 15:27

Something similar happened recently near here, but the dog bit an adult. Police dealt with it under the Dangerous Dogs legislation. If they wish to apologise they can do so via the Police.

Puppalicious · 14/04/2021 15:28

@lljkk, I don’t know what action is generally taken these days but like pp, I would expect (hope) that a minimum it be ordered to be muzzled in public, and possibly be put down if it has previous (again like pp, back in the day I would have thought a dog could be put down for an unprovoked attack on a child).

Babyroobs · 14/04/2021 15:28

They probably want to apologise in the hope that you wont report it and they will be absolutely devastated that their dog could be put to sleep because of their negligent behaviour. They probably want to plead with you that it will never happen again. Very sad situation all round. I think I would let the police deal with it.

Zippy1510 · 14/04/2021 15:30

I would be furious and wouldn’t be responding to their request for a phone call. I would message them back to say that the police will be contacting them instead. I had an experience recently when a dog was let off the lead in an area where you had a very narrow path that people were trying to walk along with a high wall on one side and a steep bank down to a river on the other. The dog was jumping up at everyone who had no way to move out of its way and growling/snapping. It went for my 3 year old and I picked it up and threw it down the bank. The owner looked shocked but the look I gave him stopped him from saying anything.

YoniAndGuy · 14/04/2021 15:30

Don't contact them except to say 'I have passed your details on to the police. Please do not contact me directly again.'

Then let the police deal with it. However if you think that they might not be aware that this clearly isn't a first incident. please make them aware of the FB post too.

Sounds like these idiots have a dangerous and out of control dog which, sadly, needs to be destroyed.

AliceMcK · 14/04/2021 15:31

Personally I’d call, they probably want to make sure they have the right person before saying anything. Id want to talk to them one on one so I can say what I want to say, but I know not everyone feels the same.

Given they have actively tracked you down I’m guessing they want to check your lo is ok and probably explain themselves.

I’d also be upfront that the police have been contacted and you will be passing the details on. If they are reasonable then they will understand, if not then who cares what they think.

Lauren15 · 14/04/2021 15:31

@YoniAndGuy

Don't contact them except to say 'I have passed your details on to the police. Please do not contact me directly again.'

Then let the police deal with it. However if you think that they might not be aware that this clearly isn't a first incident. please make them aware of the FB post too.

Sounds like these idiots have a dangerous and out of control dog which, sadly, needs to be destroyed.

Perfect response.

42isthemeaning · 14/04/2021 15:35

Don't contact them. Pass it on.
I was attacker by a bull terrier as a child. I still have the awful scars to this day.
The owners felt awful, but put my ddad in an awful position asking him if he wanted them to put the dog down. The dd was screaming hysterically at my ddad, "don't kill our dog!"
Ddad felt awful and said 'it's your decision' to the owner who didn't take further action. The dog then attacked other dc, including his own.

Sillyduckseverywhere · 14/04/2021 15:40

Do not engage.
Pass to police.
They have no good reason to talk to you unless it is to apologise and tell you the dog has been destroyed.
I doubt it will be that, it will probably be to get you to call the social media/police off.
An accidental nip, maybe forgivable, multiple puncture wounds? No.

RedMarauder · 14/04/2021 15:41

@AliceMcK

Personally I’d call, they probably want to make sure they have the right person before saying anything. Id want to talk to them one on one so I can say what I want to say, but I know not everyone feels the same.

Given they have actively tracked you down I’m guessing they want to check your lo is ok and probably explain themselves.

I’d also be upfront that the police have been contacted and you will be passing the details on. If they are reasonable then they will understand, if not then who cares what they think.

You are naive.

It is a police matter so the OP should pass all communication from the owners to the police and not communicate with the owners herself.

CovidCorvid · 14/04/2021 15:44

@lljkk

What do folk expect the police to do? What is the outcome (those of you who recommend police) would like to happen?

Can’t the police/dog warden tell the owner the dog must be walked muzzled?

An offence has been committed under the dangerous dogs act so I’d expect the police to do their job. 🤷‍♀️ Who knows, maybe it’s not the first time it’s happened and the police would be aware that the dog has bitten before?

oppositeofbubbly · 14/04/2021 15:46

I was expecting to come on this thread to encourage you to give the dog owner a chance to apologise and explain what they will do to make sure this can never happen again. But then I read your update and it's clearly best left to the police.

There seem to be a lot of dog owners who think their dog has a right to be off lead every day, regardless of their recall etc, and the rest of the population should just put up with it. My rescue dog wears a muzzle when he is in public and is only allowed off lead at home or at a private secured field. Lots of people seem to be very much against dogs wearing muzzles which I think is a shame because mine is very comfortable in his (it took a few weeks of training but to his mind it is a walk in treat dispenser) and it means that even if his lead broke or a child ran up to him he cannot damage anyone.

I do feel sorry for the dog though- the owners have allowed it to be at risk of being taken away etc.

ChubbyLittleManInACampervan · 14/04/2021 15:48

Your poor DS!

Don’t call them. Avoid talking to them.

I was in a similar situation but with a dog attacking my dog (ripping her belly open, she almost died) the owner was crying, apologising, promising to pay my vet bills, saying all the right things.

I had nothing in writing of course. Once they had my side of the story, they:

-refused to pay
-Refused to accept any responsibility
-Changed the story to say it was my dog attacking theirs (no marks on their dog, also this was not what happened at all)

checked the age of witnesses and as most of them were under 18, their statements did not count

It was nasty. They started off being so sorry and crying and apologising 100 times, then changed tack to look after their own

Just be careful

Pompom2367 · 14/04/2021 15:48

Don't contact them directly op it will just upset you x

LadyCatStark · 14/04/2021 15:49

I wouldn’t contact them, they’ll be trying to get you to retract your report to the police because they know they’re in the shit.

mumwon · 14/04/2021 15:50

I imagine your dc probably was dressed warmly with a few layers
Imagine if it had been midsummer
Thank goodness it wasn't
I wouldn't be surprised if you rang them (DO NOT) that they would be threatening or downright nasty judging from its reported history - do not engage with them
I would check to see if your house insurance would cover legal advice or your bank accounts
Why? Because maybe if the police can't or don't proceed with this if they are sued it might frighten them to behave more responsibly & they would know not to approach you
& it might cost them - good
People should remember that pets are animals & may behave unpredictably especially large dogs (wolves in a suit)

HedgleyTheHedgehog · 14/04/2021 15:50

We took DD(2) to a lovely little children's play area last week, 100% fenced and gated. We'd not been before. Big pile of dog muck under the slide and whilst we were there a woman with two children turned up with a dog and brought it in with them. It was on a lead but we decided to leave at that point

I just despair that somebody would allow a dog not only into a children's play area but then let it do a big dump and not even attempt to clear it up

OP I wouldn't reply to this person. Just pass on to the police. You've said the msg was bordering on rude and offered no apology. You don't want anything to do with this person imo. I hope your dc isn't traumatised by this. I was chased by dogs a few times as a child and I'm not v comfortable around dogs to this day. A friend's ex-police Alsatian once tried to bite me too when I was told to try and be friendly to it. Needless to say I didn't go in the house that day and any other day

BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand · 14/04/2021 15:51

@Villanelle

Yesterday my DC was bitten by a dog at the park. He was playing in the play area, went down the slide and then started running after his younger sibling, the dog came out of nowhere and started chasing him. It caught up to him and bit him on the leg and back. He was hurt (puncture wounds, bleeding and bruised) but not enough to need stitches, thankfully. It was terrifying though and could have been so much worse. It was a big dog, like a Weimaraner, and totally out of control in a children's play area, the children(!!) walking it had to drag it away.

We contacted the police but they're going to contact us again in a couple of days.
It was posted about on FB by someone who witnessed it. I didn't reply to it but somehow the owner of the dog has contacted me. They haven't apologised or anything, just given me their phone number and told me to phone them.

I want to shout at them for being so irresponsible, I'm so angry. I don't know if I should reply to them or just leave it up to the police/dog warden. I don't want to argue with them, of course, but I don't think they realise how awful the situation was?

The "told you" to phone them? Fuck that. Pass the number to the police and ignore.

BigHairyPaws · 14/04/2021 15:51

@ChubbyLittleManInACampervan

Your poor DS!

Don’t call them. Avoid talking to them.

I was in a similar situation but with a dog attacking my dog (ripping her belly open, she almost died) the owner was crying, apologising, promising to pay my vet bills, saying all the right things.

I had nothing in writing of course. Once they had my side of the story, they:

-refused to pay
-Refused to accept any responsibility
-Changed the story to say it was my dog attacking theirs (no marks on their dog, also this was not what happened at all)

checked the age of witnesses and as most of them were under 18, their statements did not count

It was nasty. They started off being so sorry and crying and apologising 100 times, then changed tack to look after their own

Just be careful

Sad to say, I've had an eerily similar experience.

Other dog off lead and uncontrolled in the street. Ran up to my on lead dog and nearly killed her - she had to be rushed to the vet for OOH emergency treatment and took several months to recover.

They went from being so sorry and offering to pay the vet bills to battening down the hatches and not paying a penny, still walking the dog off lead, ignoring us etc.

listsandbudgets · 14/04/2021 15:52

No way. Contact the police and tell them

a) There was a witness and that there is a post on facebook about it along with comments suggesting others have encountered the same dog

b) The owner has somehow obtained your contact details and got in touch wanting you to phone them.

Don't talk to them. They'll be wanting you to say your DS is alright, that it was just an accident, agree the dog was just being friendly... anything that lets them off the hook.

The dog has attacked a child and luckily while hurt your DS has been comparatively lucky - the next child could be hurt much worse.

I hope your DS is OK. That sounds very frightening for him. Dog bites can be nasty, I was bitten on my finger tip years ago and still have a scar and numbness not to add an ongoing dislike of Jack Russell's .

I'm glad he's seen a doctor but please do take him again if you are at all worried. Dogs don't have the cleanest of mouths.

Hope he recovers quickly

picklemewalnuts · 14/04/2021 15:53

Guessing the owner may want to know what happened to find out if dog needs to be put to sleep, or just supervised better.

Hopefully.

Alternatively they will want to persuade you not to go to police.