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Original poster

Tradesman bitten by dog

91 replies

Preps · 10/06/2023 13:28

It's my friend's son. He was doing some plumbing work in their house and the dog has sunk his teeth into plumber's leg. There is a clear bite mark with broken skin.

It's been cleaned up and his tetanus is up to date. Does he need to "do" anything about the dog?

OP posts:
zurala · 10/06/2023 13:30

Personally I'd report it to the police but I'm sure some dog lovers will be along to tell it's fine and not the dog's fault at all.

Gymmum82 · 10/06/2023 13:31

I would report it to the police and attempt to force the animal to be euthanised

Thesunwillcomeoutverysoon · 10/06/2023 13:32

What was the owner's excuse for not shutting the ddog away? We have 4 ddogs.. Def our responsibility to not allow this to happen. Not ddog at fault here. Imo
.

IronCandle · 10/06/2023 13:33

Yes definitely report it to the police.

LauraNorda · 10/06/2023 13:35

The dog was in its own house so it has done nothing wrong. The owners, however, should have put the dog into another room for the duration.

uhtredsonofuhtred1 · 10/06/2023 13:35

I'd report it to the police too and I'm a dog owner. My teenage son knocked on my neighbours door at her request to help her with something and her dog barged past and bit my son quite badly on his upper thigh. I reported it to the police because if my little children were there it would've been their face at that height!

The police got in touch with us all and have ordered that some safety measures are put in place. I could've pushed for the dog being put down but I didn't.

Asdf12345 · 10/06/2023 13:36

If it happened in the owners home my understanding is that the law is very much on the side of the dog. Depending on the wider circumstances reporting it may form part of a wider picture but an incident inside the owners home as I understand it falls outside all the relevant legislation.

GodspeedJune · 10/06/2023 13:37

My DP was bitten by a dog at work and tbh the police weren’t really interested. The dog being at home is irrelevant too, although in our case it happened at DP workplace not the customers home. He’s been left with a nasty scar.

TonTonMacoute · 10/06/2023 13:39

Police. They were surprisingly good at dealing with this when my DH was bitten.

Wanting/hoping to have the dog PTS is an utterly stupid over reaction.

However, a word from a police officer to remind the owners that they have a duty of care towards people who come to work in their house will prevent this happening again.

The dog is probably only trying to protect his home, but if he is a risk to tradesmen he must be shut safely away somewhere.

MyGirlDaisy · 10/06/2023 13:40

Dog should have been shut away - it doesn’t really matter what the excuse is, anyone working in someone’s home should feel safe and be protected from this scenario. The owner is irresponsible for putting their dog in this situation and allowing them to bite. I would probably contact the local dog warden or police for advice as to what to do. I say this as a dog owner and someone who works with dogs.

RoxyMuzak · 10/06/2023 13:41

Report to police and check if the damages, loss of earnings, etc, are covered by insurance.

DisgustedOfTidmouth · 10/06/2023 13:43

Doesn't matter if it's the dogs home.

"Under section 3(1) of the 1991 Act (as amended by the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, (the '2014 Act')), if any dog is dangerously out of control in any place, including all private property, the owner, or person for the time being in charge of the dog, is guilty of a summary offence."

Tessisme · 10/06/2023 13:44

It's the responsibility of the owners to keep a reactionary dog away from 'invaders'. But it still needs to be reported to the police as, at the very least, questions need to be asked about how this was allowed to happen.

Malarandras · 10/06/2023 13:46

Report it to the police. The dog needs to be dealt with. If it’s done this once it will do it again quite possibly. The location where the dog bite took place is irrelevant.

tymberland · 10/06/2023 13:50

Report to police. We have two dogs here that have the potential to bite tradesman (as does every dog, but my two in particular would give it a go). Anyway, there are tradesmen here today and both dogs are in a room locked out the way. Not sure why anyone would take that risk to be honest

justgettingthroughtheday · 10/06/2023 13:59

I'd want to know the full circumstances before reporting to the police.
My reactive dog came close to nipping a tradesman recently.
Dog was shut away. Tradesman repeatedly ignored and disregarded my instructions not to enter the room (or even the space outside the room).
Needless to say he came in drill in hand and banging into the door as he came. And the dog was terrified and was lunging and barking at him. Fortunately I had her on the lead and close to me.
He still didn't back off! And actually came towards the dog trying to fuss her and tell her he was ok!!!!

So many people are so completely oblivious to how much distress they cause to reactive dogs who just want to be left alone.

Guinefort · 10/06/2023 14:00

My DP was bitten by a dog whilst at work. The bite needed proper dressing at out of hours and he was given antibiotics as a precaution too as dog bites can turn nasty very quickly. I would recommend him getting it checked over at A&E/Minor Injuries if he hasn't already done so to be on the safe side as may also need antibiotics.

DP's situation slightly different as he works outdoors and the dog was being walked off lead and just ran over and bit him in the back of the thigh out of nowhere. Incident was reported to the police who visited the owner and spoke to her. She was warned to keep the dog muzzled and on a lead in the future. Subsequently discovered dog has form and had bitten someone else in a similar fashion previously. Owner was apparently seen walking dog off lead again on site after the police visit, so it clearly didn't make any impact DP has since changed job so no idea if she still does, however at least the police have it officially logged, so god forbid if the dog attacks anyone again, further action will surely be taken.

DP's work put up signs to say all dogs must be kept on leads, but plenty of dog walkers continue to ignore them unsurprisingly.

Prescottdanni123 · 10/06/2023 14:08

Pushing for the dog to be euthanized is over the top and out of proportion. People complain about dog owners being too soft. Some dog haters are too far the other way. If we brought back public animal executions, there are definitely some people who would attend the dog ones, with popcorn.

A dog's home is it's safe haven and it was probably feeling territorial/threatened. It's owners are at fault for not putting it in another room.

ChocChipHandbag · 10/06/2023 14:11

I think it would depend on the subsequent attitude and actions of the owners- were they apologetic? Did they accept that they made a mistake not locking it away?

HiKenHiKenHiKen · 10/06/2023 14:11

He needs to see a doctor and get antibiotics. A friend is a personal injury lawyer and most of his workload is dealing with infected dog bites.

megletthesecond · 10/06/2023 14:13

Police. The dog should have been out of the way and supervised.

Bluevelvetsofa · 10/06/2023 14:18

A tradesman entering your home at your request, to perform a service for you, has the right to feel safe and carry out his job safely. It’s the responsibility of the owner to make sure the property and its inhabitants don’t present a danger.

It is the dog’s home, but it’s owners have requested that a job be carried out, which is the reason for the tradesman’s presence.

Foxesandsquirrels · 10/06/2023 14:20

Report. The dog will no doubt do this again. It's extremely difficult to prosecute someone when their dog kills or hurts a other person. The more evidence on file, the better.

RoyalGala · 10/06/2023 14:21

Did your friend’s son ask you to post on MN and ask this question? Is the son not capable of dealing with this himself?

CalloohCallayFrabjousDay · 10/06/2023 14:21

If a dog injured someone it's "dangerously out of control". That can be in the owners home too. It's the owners responsibility to keep the dog under control.

www.gov.uk/control-dog-public