Witch hunt for old woman

[DogsBehavingWrongly]

Yesterday a woman was walking her dog when it was attacked by an offlead dog. Offlead dog was owned by elderly woman who always walks dog in this same area daily. She says the dog has never done this before. Attacked dog was limping after the attack and elderly woman was asked for her details (after been shouted at by other woman). She refused to give any details and rushed off home.

Woman with attacked dog then posts on Facebook saying what happened and asks if anyone knows the woman as she wants the vet bills taken care off. This then starts a witch hunt on Facebook of people trying to identify old woman and suggesting people follow her home etc to get her address. A relative of old woman then posts that her grandmother is terrified at what is happening and asks for people to leave her alone as she’s now too scared to leave the house.

im torn on this - on one hand accidents do happen, dogs are unpredictable sometimes and this elderly woman has previously walked her dog in this manner with no issues. On the other hand, I’m sick to death of irresponsible dog owners and am fearful everytime I walk my dog that she will be attacked by an offlead dog. This area is full of the “it’s ok, he’s friendly!” Types.

Where would you stand on this? IMO the elderly woman (or her relative) needs to do the right thing, accept responsibility and pay the vet bills.

If it is a witch hunt then elderly woman turned it into one by dashing off. If she’d dealt with the other owner at the scene and offered to pay, the younger woman may not have even posted online.

This happened where we live .Old woman but other way round! Whole street was involved ,some saying owner of aggressive dog should pay others taking their side! Got rather messy as was all over facebook

Elderly woman had her dog off lead and it attacked another dog.

Doesn't matter if it's never attacked before, it did that time and she should be tracked down by whatever means possible and asked to pay for the treatment for the dog attacked by her dog.

She didn't turn it into one at all.

Posting it on Facebook and inviting public comments is what turned it into a witch hunt.

Minor errors do not deserve the community responding with feral and aggressive comments, with the underlying threat of people taking things into real life.

As I've already said, I've seen this happen several times. Thank goodness the admin of one of my local Facebook pages now only accepts these posts after she's turned off comments.

Utterly unfair. Had the injured dog owner not immediately started shouting at the elderly lady, she may not have got frightened and left the scene at the time.

The injured dog owners actions had led to this scenario; it could have been handled very, very differently and with a very, very different outcome.

Obviously none of us were there but going by OP's description, I'm not surprised the elderly woman left the scene.

I HATE witch-hunts.

@DogsBehavingWrongly I'm presuming not all of the incidents you mention involved this particular woman though? I'm not excusing it, I hate off lead dogs approaching me and my dogs. But nothing good comes from this sort of Facebook drama. It smacks of playground bullying to me.

I agree that witch hunts are awful.
However the elderly lady should have left a phone number at least.
If a dog had attacked my dog I would probably shout, I'd certainly be angry.
A dog once attacked can so easily become reactive, it's not just the injury to the dog it's the permanent psychological damage.

@DogsBehavingWrongly I advise you to carry a walking stick and use it if necessary.

Lol what?
If someones dog attacked my dog to a level a vet is needed I would think I have every right to shout to that person to keep their idiotic dog on a lead and pay vet bills.
There is zero reason to be polite to people who have dangerous dogs off lead.
It could have been child that got bitten.

The Blue Cross have helpful advice. All dog owners should have third party insurance. It isn’t expensive. It is included in membership of the Dogs Trust. It is included in my household insurance. And you can get stand alone dog insurance. If someone chooses not to be insured then they have to take the consequences.

@Genevieva Surely if the owner of the injured dog is a responsible dog owner then they will already have their own pet insurance to cover vet bills. Why do they need to be so shoutily insistent that the other owner should cover them?

There's hardly zero reason -If you want someone to do something for you - in this case provide you with their details - screaming and shouting at them isn't a particularly good way of achieving this.

I'd say that's a pretty flipping obvious reason to try and stay calm/polite if possible. I'm good at standing up for myself but if someone started shouting and threatening me, like fuck would I be giving them my home address. *

This reminds me of the 'dad screaming at teenager after she'd sworn at him' thread running a few days ago.

There seems to be this bizarre view among many people now that there is never any reason to temper your behaviour regardless of where you are or what you're doing - if you feel angry it's okay to scream and swear and shout, if you feel sad, feel free to wail, if you're scared scream out loud, and whatever reaction you exhibit, it's never YOUR fault how you react, it's the person who made you feel that way's fault.

Of course FEELING scared and angry if your dog gets injured is a completely valid FEELING, but rationale adult behaviour (given the dog wasn't in any immediate danger, which I assume was the case as if so you'd just run straight to a vet rather than standing around arguing) would be to discuss it calmly. Nobody is saying you couldn't be annoyed/curt/authoritative and express that in your tone, but shouting and behaving aggressively is never going to do anything other than making a situation worse.

I do wonder how people manage in work and just daily life if they can't manage their reactions, and worse, don't think they SHOULD, if anyone annoys or is rude to them. But I suppose it explains all the issues with teachers and shop staff needing to wear body cams etc.

*I obviously wouldn't completely just leave like the older lady, would give my first name and A contact detail, but I wouldn't be giving them my full name and address.

If you are directly involved and yur dog was attacked I think you just need to message the middle lady and tell her when the elderly woman has contacted you to sort it out then you'll publicly put up a post saying its been dealt with.

Id also look into whether any laws were broken and contact police with the relatives details so you can pursue action that way.

Not a fan of witch hunts , but elderly woman's dog caused injuries, which need paying for, and as her dog was not under control and caused them - then she liable.

Elderly woman and her relative both had chance to do the right thing, and didn't. Therefore wotch hunt only way

Ever had an insurance policy that didn't have an excess? It's 20% of the bill on our policy.

The owner was probably shouting at her to get her dog off , have you ever been on the receiving end of a dog on dog attack because shouting ‘get hold of your dog ‘ is a natural reaction .

"Community come together to identify and bring to justice irresponsible dog owner who allowed dog to attack and seriously injure another dog and fled the scene."

Her age is irrelevant, she's responsible for her dog, to think that they can frame her as a victim is bang out of order. Dog needs putting down, she needs to pay vet bills.

The owner was probably shouting at her to get her dog off , have you ever been on the receiving end of a dog on dog attack because shouting ‘get hold of your dog ‘ is a natural reaction

This. My dog has been attacked brutally by another dog in a completely unprovoked attack- it got her round the neck and tried to rip her throat out and yes I did shout to the owner to control his dog. What was I supposed to do?- whisper in a calm breathy voice "oh I am so, so sorry to bother you, please dont be scared of me raising my voice but would you mind terribly stopping your dog from killing mine? thank you so so much- thats very much appreciated"

FFS. The poor woman whose dog was attacked was in shock and probably terrified. The elderly woman is a horrible piece of shit and she should pay. If it was HER dog, you'd bet she'd be shouting.

Because shop staf is not damageing my property amd refusing to provide cover for it lol.
I see zero reason for being polite to people who are obvious danger to others and refusing to take actions to fix probelms they caused. I don't need to pretend I am polite to get what I want in these situations.
In situation OP described it is very obvious you can just follow person refusing to give you contact details and involve police... or (gasp) wider community as obviously some people respond only whem their cuntish behaviour is made public.

If that dog owner applologies and provided contact details there would be no reason for the whole drama. If you make a mistake you are responsible for calming other person and helping fix situation. This is what adults do.

The injured dog owners actions had led to this scenario; it could have been handled very, very differently and with a very, very different outcome.

WTF??!

Too bloody right the owner of the injured dog shouted.

If the owner of the attacking dog had it under control in the first place none of this would have happened.

The elderly dog owner should have given details and accepted responsibility for their dog. It would have prevented this online "witch hunt". I'm another one who is skeptical about it been first time and never done before story.

I really really do think we need proper training and education for all dog owners. Whilst a licence scheme for all dogs would be expensive and unpopular, I really think we need to face up to the fact we have reached a critical mass of poor, irresponsible and sometimes ignorant dog owners. It needs to cover what a properly in control off lead dog looks like (hint, it is not half the field away whilst you amble along looking at your phone). What responsible ownership looks like, what a well socialised and well trained dog looks like (doesn't bark at strangers or other dogs, doesn't approach strangers and other dogs ect) and correct and responsible care for dogs.

There are far too many people who have got dogs that are completely inappropriate for their homes or lifestyle. Too many people who think allowing fido to jump up at strangers or other dogs is friendly, too many people who think a 5 minute amble up the pavement a couple of times a day is a suitable dog walk for a large working bread dog. People who buy dogs with behaviour traits that have been bread in for a working purpose and then complain that their dog displays these traits and how to train them out of them. People buying dogs which have purposely been bread with flat faces/ thick folds ect for aesthetic reasons without consideration for the welfare of the poor dog. People who walk their poor dog in 30 odd degree heat along pavements with no consideration for their welfare.

Being old doesn’t absolve you of responsibility. She should have offered to pay any vets bill.🙄

I'd be confrontational too if my dog had just been attacked. I'd be even more angry if the owner refused to give her details and just scurried off. Bit like the owner whose dog attacked me a couple of years ago while I was minding my own business. I did the same thing and posted pictures of my injuries on the local group after reporting it to the police. I knew which group of houses she lived in but not which number and the only reason the police didn't read her the riot act is because I didn't see which house she went in. The victim blaming on here is disgraceful. Blaming the owner of the dog that was attacked because she shouted is pretty cuntish.

This.

she could have gone through the police or gone locally/ door to door. People who post on Fb attract angry assholes that decide they’re going to solve something (generally by going out looking for a fight). The woman shouldn’t have left but the woman who posted definitely shouldn’t have and I’d say she was purposely looking for trouble for that woman

The elderly woman was wrong to leave without giving her details or taking the women's details so one of her relatives could sort it out for her.

The woman whose dog was attacked is reasonable to try to find the the woman but should not be doing it in a mob mentality enticing way and actively discouraging it when it started/removed the post. Now she has contact with the womans relative she should take down the post.

the relative of the elderly person could very easily make it stop by paying the bills (or getting the elderly person to), couldn’t they. Interesting that they chose to just post about it for free instead…