Dog burst my son's football

[Maverick99]

Took my 5yo football mad son to the park today to play with his new football that he got for his birthday. It cost £45 and was the first time he'd used it, after months of begging me for it.

He was kicking it through some goal posts when a dog (I think it was a staffy of some kind but know nothing about dogs so could be wrong) ran up to the ball which was about 10ft away from him and bit it, causing it to burst. It then started running around in circles around my son then back to its owner. Didn't seem dangerous but son was hysterical over his football.

Owner put the dog lead on and apologised, and I asked that he replaced the football. I was v pissed off and vocal about his dog and the fact that it wasn't on a lead. He said he couldn't afford it and refused to exchange details or tell me his name but was v apologetic.

Just feel pissed off that there was nothing I could do and nobody else helped me out as lots of people saw.

Can't afford to replace the football myself but thankfully my dad is going to buy him a new one tomorrow.

Not sure what I want from this thread, just a vent because I feel so irritated still and like I could've done more or handled it better.

OP said herself that he was very apologetic. What would shaming achieve?

Lesson learnt OP. Don't let your 5 Yr old kid take a £45 ball to the park. Stick to penny floaters.

Dog owner should've paid something towards the cost of a new ball. 45 quid is too much.

I think the middle ground would have been for the dog owner to have offered an amount akin to the cost of a normal football, say, £15-£20 (assuming it was a proper stitched one). He should definitely pay for a replacement, but probably not an expensive one.

I'm not surprised he didn't give his details - I wouldn't give my address to some random stranger who was shouting at me either, lol.

I do think he should have offered you a replacement but I do think it's unrealistic to expect someone to pay you £45 for a football for a 5yo. I'd maybe have offered a tenner.

Maybe he’ll keep his dog on a lead until the dogs recall has improved.

If the dog owner cannot afford £45 in damages the dog owner shouldn’t have the dog off lead able to cause damage

My god dog owners that can't control their dogs off the lead really piss me off , if you don't have full control over your dog it stays on the lead ,simple . I would be fuming if my son had had a ball 2 years and it got ruined through no fault of his own .

The ball was 10ft from the dog when it chased after it. That is no distance at all. And nowhere did OP said that the man struggled to control his dog.

Dogs chasing balls, and popping them is no new thing.

Alexa - show me someone who knows nothing about football. Poor lad. Hope he's ok.

Completely irrelevant. If the dog had been on a lead it wouldn't have happened. People should be entitled to use things in public places without them being destroyed. The only person at fault here is the idiot dog owner. Nothing you can do op but I would be fuming. This exact thing once happened to my ds but thankfully it was an old ball and he has loads more. I was still livid and told the owner so.

Bloody irresponsible dog owner. Again.

@XenoBitch so let them pop their own balls in their own gardens and keep them on leads in public places, it's really not difficult.

He’s a 5yo in the park, not playing in the Prem 😂

A dog chasing after and destroying someone elses property is not a dog legally under control by its owner.

Unfortunate thing to happen, I think it was reasonable that the owner apologised, you could have got al ot worse off some dog owners if challenged,and if you'd have asked me for45£ for a football id have told you to do one. I think you should keep the expensive football for private use, lesson learned. I've had footballs coming into my garden for years annoying the fuck out of me and squashing my plants, my dog is uninterested however, despite encouragement from me to burst the bastard things😁

Why are people querying the cost of the football?

The issue is the random animal sinking it’s teeth into whatever it fancies.

So what if OP has an expensive football? She’s allowed to have nice things.

What if a dog sinks its teeth into a child? Are you supposed to leave your child at home and take the cheaper version out?

This thread is bizarre. If the people who would pay, but not for the value of the football, damaged someone's porche, would they pay for repairs, but only what the costs of repairs would be for a Nissan or something, on the basis that 'that amount of money is ridiculous for a car, and its a risk you take when you buy and expensive car and take it out on public roads'?

I think you need to focus more on the dog being out of control and off it's lead.These are the real issues and the owner wasn't controlling his dog.

The cost is irrelevant. The dog bit the ball because it wasn't under control. That's the owners responsibility. They should have offered to replace it.

The owner needs to learn to control their dog so it doesn't do this.

All these owners like shouldn’t have an expensive ball.

Your the reason people want rules such as all dogs muzzled and on leads at all times.

If you dog can destroy something you do not have control of them. The law requires you to be in full control of your pet otherwise that can be considered a dangerous dog and you are considered at fault for all damaged. See when a car hits a dog, dog owner is liable because dog was out of control.

You do yourselves no favours.

@XenoBitch

OP said herself that he was very apologetic. What would shaming achieve

Maybe he can spend some time learning to control his dog.

Was waiting for the "what if it was a child?". Dogs can tell the difference between a ball and a kid.

People encourage their dog to go after balls, because balls are a popular thing to throw for your dog. Balls for dogs are small enough for them to run about with, but to get a grip on a larger ball, a dog will bite down more so they can carry it about. If the ball is filled with air, it will get burst. No malice or aggression involved.

Don't be ridiculous. Apologetic means fuck all if you're not going to right your wrong.
He was at fault alone.
He was absolutly a dick about it by not exchanging details and paying up. He should've worked towards the money.

I have a dog that can't be off lead but say I didn't and my dog popped the ball...I'd certainly offer you £20 for a replacement but I wouldn't actually believe you that it cost £45. My Husband is a coach and our 3 sons are football mad and I've never even SEEN a football for sale for £45...what is it?!

Exactly all thief’s are sorry I stole your Rolex and you slashed the tires on your Bentley 😂😂 like sorry fixed shit. They still do it again 9/10