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.

And it sounds like it was a dog friendly area too.

Again, can you cite a law about dogs wragging footballs?

I get balls in my garden form the boys next door and if the ball mad dog gets to them first they are normally nibbled then shredded. If not I grab them and throw them back.
In lockdown I did replace about 4 balls but it was getting ridiculous and the parents said the boys needed to learn better ball skills so no more balls were replaced.

@Allthegoodnamesaregone1 you love the trend of publicly shaming people? That's disgusting.

More than the loss of the football I would think it's sad and cringeworthy the child has a patent who thinks that's the way to deal with issues like this

Nonsense. Your dog would've been at fault and you pay the full price.

Seriously going off dogs as I get older as the owners make them a nuisance

Telling of what?

Not everyone carries cash on them, especially when walking their dog.

I feel your pain..
Your son must have been devastated.. Read below in my photo what happened to my Grandson last month at the park.

One of my dogs is a fiend for footballs, she absolutely loves them because my husband coaches a team and so we always have loads knocking around the place that she has been allowed to play with. However in the park if someone had a ball I would pop her on the lead as I know full well she would go for the ball. In this dog owners shoes I would have replaced the ball but probably not with a £45 one as that a bit of a crazy price for a ball!!

A kid should be able to play with a ball in the football area of a public park. Pet owners whose animals take and destroy people's property need to put them on leads.

And not paying anything is poor. Vet's bills are unpredictable but have to be paid. He's made an expensive lifestyle choice and is taking the hit for his pet's food, medical bills etc but thinks random strangers should not only be inconvenienced by his dog's biting/chewing habit, but fund it too.

This 👆 The guy had his non-aggressive dog off lead in the park. As you said, it showed no aggression to your son. People have dogs off lead in the park (cue pile on from people who don’t like dogs). The owner was in your words very apologetic. Lots of people couldn’t afford to pay for the ball these days. £45 footballs are for proper football games, not for little kids to play with in a public park unless you can afford to lose them one way or another.

How bloody annoying. Similar happened to us with a £20 ish ball. Don’t think the dog owner believed us but nevertheless popped £20 round to us x

Righting wrongs?
It's not in anyway wrong to show children that we must aim for justice.

Society is full of selfish twats. I don't believe they should be allowed to go challenged.

How does you/him being mortified help anyone?

Is it ok to destroy kid's thing and not replace it because it is a kid? What would you do if the dog ruined adult's coat?

Not everyone carries cash on them, especially when walking their dog.

And? That's not an excuse not to offer, the payment could've been organised for a later time.

Again, dog owner was very apologetic, and could not afford to replace the ball.

What else would you like to happen?

Fucks sake, no wonder the justice system here is fucked.

@Allthegoodnamesaregone1

you've not described 'justice', you've describe retribution there's a difference. Can you not see the difference?

This happened to us (though it was a much cheaper ball) and the kids were gutted. The owners refused to pay for the ball. Apparently it was our fault for tempting their dog by playing football in the park 🤨. Some dog owners are pricks.

And what if they could not afford to pay?

£45 is a lot for some people.

Again. Not OPs problem. He goes to find a way to repay it.

Pay for it.

Yea, because it never seeks to restore the victim

Suppose you got 101 on speed dial.

Yeah, it is when you have to replace something belonging to you that some selfish wanker has broken.

There is no selfish twat here.

It was an accident for which the owner has profusely apologised.

"Justice means giving each person what he or she deserves or, in more traditional terms, giving each person his or her due."

The public shame and hipeful pressure from the community would hopefully result in him coming forward with the money.
Correct his future behaviour and alert the community to his character.

YANBU but not much you can do sadly. I’d love it if there was some proper regulation/licensing of dog ownership so that these fuckers would get their dogs taken off them and destroyed for antisocial behaviour. Including allowing them shit everywhere and not clean it up.

As for the ball it is a lot but there are champions league etc balls and thats what they cost

Apologies are useless words.
Can the klchild kick an apology about?

Apologies only matter when action is taken.
He needs to pay for the ball.