Can I take legal action? Dog related trigger warning

[Ellythe]

My dog is my baby. I got her 3 years before my child died and she helped me through it all and she knew him.

I am currently in the USA, waiting for a plane home 8 days earlier than planned because I got a call from the woman looking after my dog saying that her Mastiff has mauled my dog and she has lost a leg and an eye in the fight. I've seen the cctv footage and my dog walked near her dog and he lunged at her and then attacked her.

Shockingly the boarder doesn't notice the interaction between the dogs until her neighbour comes running into her house shouting because she can hear my dog yelping and screaming. At the time of the fight the person I paid to look after my dog was grooming another dog and in a completely separate area of the unit. The other person insured to look after the dogs was out at the shop and so there were 5 day care dogs and 4 home boarding dogs + her own 3 dogs.

What is my legal recourse?

I want her to pay for my dog's treatment, the flights etc.

I would never have let her look after my dog if I realised she wasn't in the same area as the dogs. I didn't realise that dogs were being left completely unattended for up to 6 hours whilst she's grooming.

For the avoidance of doubt my dog didn't do anything to cause her dog to attack her, she merely walked passed him and he just went for her.

She is 6 years old and I cannot lose her. She is the last connection I have to my child. I'm beside myself right now. This is hideous.

I need to know what to do next. Do I report to the council? The rspca? The police? I want to take any and all action I can.

She's saying that her insurance company won't cover the cost because she wasn't actively looking after the dogs so she asked us to pay initially and then they'd pay us back but I refused. It happened under her care, she's responsible

This is important. If her insurance won’t pay then it would seem she’s not running things as she’s meant to.

@Fluffyelephant because then it gives someone the basis to argue the whole thing is a personal vendetta, the claimant organised a social media pile on by people who have no actual knowledge of what happened other than what they have read online from OP, they are doing everything they can to destroy a business not just get what they are legally due and their evidence should be viewed in that context. At a bare minimum, it muddies the waters in court.

There is almost no benefit (since if OP can evidence what she is saying the business will get shut down anyway) and the potential to make any claim messy.

Am I the only one wanting to see the sm posts? I csnt believe her audacity. Only thing she should be doing is apologising profusely and making sure she does everything she can to help, now.
I'm so sorry this happened op and so glad it looks as if she's going to be okay.
Enjoy your holiday-as if! I adore my dog and I'd be absolutely hysterical in this situation, as well as fuming.

Your poor dog, I hope she's on the mend.

Agree that her insurance not paying out is practically an admission of her negligence. I'd contact my own insurance to discuss as many offer legal advice and may well pursue the boarder for costs/compensation and offer guidance on your next steps. I'd steer clear of social meia. I hope your little dog makes a good recovery and is soon able to come home.

My god this is appalling & horrific in equal measure. I am so so sorry for all you have been through, losing your daughter and this horrific attack on your beloved dog. I'm glad she is home with you now and embarking on recovery.

Go to town on the boarder- you're doing all the right things, she definitely needs to be shut down & I hope you are awarded suitable compensation

She should pay the costs of your early return home from holiday too. And any future bills. It’s all her fault, also her fault she’ll have to personally pay as a result of invalidating her insurance with her reckless and greedy behaviour (being concerned with making as much money as possible rather than the welfare of the dogs in her care).

What will happen to her mastiff?

I have only just seen your thread and just wanted to say how terribly sorry I am that this happened to your poor sweet girl. You are obviously doing everything you can do and will ensure this cannot happen to anyone else but what a shocking and cautionary tale for people. You absolutely must not blame yourself - you left her with (5 star rated) people you trusted to look after her and they let you down so badly.

She looks such a beautiful wee thing and I know so well the bond we have with our dogs so can only imagine the special connection you have built with her after losing a child. I am so very sorry this has happened to you both 💐

If it is any small consolation, she is young and fit and border terriers are hardy little things so I am sure she will recover and adapt much more quickly than you will believe.

Please look after yourself and give your darling girl a big cuddle from me x

This didn't happen in a public place, so it wouldn't have prevented anything. OP's dog was in the home of the dog that attacked it.

I'm so sorry this has happened to your poor dog, OP. Don't blame yourself - the boarder lies about how she runs the place, in order to trick people into giving her money for something that she then doesn't deliver. People wouldn't leave their dogs with her if they knew that the dogs are just being left to fend for themselves in large paks while she's busy earning more money doing something else, would they.

Apart from being irresponsible and callous ( "your dog got mauled, soz, enjoy your holiday" what the actual fuck?) she's also clearly thick as two short planks and cheeky beyond belief - asking you to pay the vet bills because her insurance won't do it "because she wasn't actively looking after the dogs"? In other words, the insurance won't cover blatantly irresponsible and unsafe shit like throwing all the dogs in one room and letting nature take its course. Get her shut down, she's an absolute menace.

And give your sweet Rosie a cuddle from this internet stranger.

They weren't in public though, it was home boarding.

Good to read Rosie is doing well, I run a dog park and a fair few of our customers have tripaws, you would be amazed at how well they cope and how fast they can run once they get the hang of it.

Out of interest could you share a rough location as there's a very similar set up near us right down to the parent in their 80's helping.
The owners dog mauled another boarder too.
I'm in Cheshire.

How would that even apply in this case? Dogs are indoors in a boarders house.

I’m so sorry OP. It’s great to hear that Rosie is now home with you.

I grew up with a French bulldog who my parents inherited from my grandmother (a long time before they became a ‘fashionable’ breed). He was extraordinarily unhealthy. By the time he was 4 or 5, he’d lost an eye and an ear and his back legs didn’t work properly following major spinal surgery. As time went on, he lost his sight in his remaining eye. My parents were always worried about his well-being but the vet always reassured them that he had a good life. He was a happy little soul who was deeply loved and who adored my parents in return. He lived to 12 years old and is much missed even 20 years later. He was a lazy bugger, which may have helped when he partially lost the use of his back legs - but he was happy, even when completely blind. And dearly loved.

OP I hope this will give you some comfort that, in spite of her injuries, Rosie will hopefully adjust well. She has the huge benefit of your love for her. 🤗

Is this the boarders beginning with S in Nantwich?

I'm so sorry to hear about your dog, but glad to hear she is doing okay. Absolutely terrible, this woman should not be boarding dogs.

My cat was attacked by a dog which got into our garden. I witnessed it, and knew who owned the dog. My insurers paid for my cat's treatment, but they asked for the dog owner's info with a view to claiming back the money from them. I never found out if they did claim, but it was all dealt with between insurers, I didn't have to do anything. (Cat had a painful 6 month recovery but is now fine.)

I’m sorry I don’t have any more advice to add, but wanted to say I’m so sorry this has happened to your darling dog and echo the others that many dogs do cope well with 3 legs, she can still have a happy life, just a bit slower.

So sorry to hear about your dog. I'm a home boarder. Happy to answer any questions you may have.

As far as the rules go, most Councils permit you to leave dogs alone for up to 3 hours, however, they are meant to be separated, if you do so. Her insurance will be with Cliverton. Although it sounds like they aren't willing to pay up.

Incidents like this are, thankfully, extremely rare. In fact, in the 11 years I've been doing this, I could count on one hand how many play flights have tuned into real fights, and they are nipped in the bud very quickly with a bark stop, which emits a high pitched sound that only the dogs can hear.

That said, I do think that with a large dog like a mastiff, that even if the boarder had been in the same room, it may have been hard to stop any damage being done. I'm surprised that she has admitted to you that she wasn't nearby. Also, how did you get photo's of a load of dogs together that exceeded her limit? That seems very silly of her. I'm permitted to have 4 at once, which is the most my Council allows. I met a boarder from a different Council a few years ago, and she had a licence for 14, I was shocked!

All dogs have to be vetted before they stay, to make sure that they are not aggressive in any way, although in this case, the dog was owned by the boarder.

I have no idea whether you would have any legal recourse. How are things at the moment?

@Ellythe if she is insured, her policy will be similar to mine (kennels).
Let me know if you would like to see the wording of the document regarding vets feed and I can get it emailed over to you.
Or I can screenshot and post here if you want to stay anonymous.

And I should say, I am glad you have got her home, that will give her a good mental boost.

I hope her recovery continues to go well and she goes from strength to strength.

Actually, if the Op goes onto the Cliverton website, she will be able to see what home boarders are covered for. I don't ever recall seeing anything about costs for a customer to come home early. But in any case, it sounds like Cliverton are saying that she's not covered, because she wasn't caring for the dogs in the way that her licence stipulates. Or maybe the boarder just said she was insured, but wasn't?

Where I live, there are loads of people who do boarding who aren't licensed or insured. I know this, because when I was looking for a home boarder for my own dog, I could see things in their photo's or descriptions, that meant they could NOT have a licence, things like living in a flat that didn't have it's own main door, or having kids under 5 years old, or not having a secure garden. The things we need to do, to get the licence are listed in a document that's about 12 pages long!

@Blondiebeachbabe there are other insurers out there, not all as comprehensive as Cliverton.
Ideally she will be told who she is insured with.

Licensing regulations stipulate a maximum of 10 dogs to 1 member of staff, if there were 12 dogs and only one staff member then they were likely in breech of their licensing conditions.

Dogs in a professional setting should not be left together unattended.

I would recommend speaking with the local councils animal activities licensing department. The chances are if they are in breach of their licence conditions their insurance will be invalidated which could make getting a payout difficult but they will likely loose their licence.

Get well soon Rosie.

How traumatic,

She's saying that her insurance company won't cover the cost because she wasn't actively looking after the dogs so she asked us to pay initially and then they'd pay us back but I refused. It happened under her care, she's responsible

I expect her insurance company have refused to pay out as she wasn't operating in accordance with her license.

That's a very, very common clause in insurance - I just do dog walking but the small print is very clear that I have to obey any guidance set out by the council (so, use leads in areas that require them, stick to the maximum number of dogs etc) and if I don't, then they won't cover me as I wouldn't have been operating legally, if that makes sense.

Luckily I've never had to claim but I imagine lots of people just think "I've got insurance so I'm covered" without actually reading the details.

sorry to hear about this awful trauma.

Trevor Cooper at DogLaw would be who I’d be calling.

I haven’t read all the replies to your post so his name and his company may already have been mentioned.

He is the top dog, if you’ll excuse the pun, on all things in law relating to dogs and trains the police and licensing officers as well as taking or participating in legal cases in court.