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.

No advice, just to say I'm so sorry that happened to you and Rosie OP <3. Wonderful that she's home now, hopefully she's got some good painkillers and will be feeling pretty happy! Small dogs usually adapt really well to three legs, in time it will all be behind her and she'll have many more happy years with you.

I’m so sorry this happened to your beautiful dog and you. I wish her a speedy recovery.

This is so sad. And shocking!
I am glad you’re getting her to pay, very much doubt you’d have seen the money again if you paid. And I’ll very rarely say this, but I’ll be so glad when you get her shut down permanently. She is not fit for looking after dogs, and it’ll keep other families from heartbreak.
So sorry about Rosie, she is adorable. Hope her healing goes smoothly from here on.

This is horrific OP, no dogs should be subjected to such care. Sadly I think this is more common than the general public realise.

I used to use a kennel about 10 years ago, lovely place, clean, lots of space to run they even played music into the dog kennels to settle them. Suddenly when I tried to book whoever answered the phone said “oh our prices have gone up” ok I was happy to pay more “no they have gone up significantly!” Very hostile. After a quick google it transpired that they had a dog run away from the facility and the owners of the dog were out at all hours in the local area searching for it. Later on it came out that the dog had escaped and was hit by a car and sadly died. They kept that from the owner. Since then I’ve always used family members to house sit.

@Karmaisac4t no it begins with a G

💐

You will be fighting an insurer, and they will tell you the loss is the price of a comparable new dog (assuming all vets bills covered by the insurer without a fight). Unless, that is, you have a claim for mental injury to yourself. In which case damages are more meaningful.

I'm so sorry for you and little Rosie. She looks so sweet and I hope she recovers quickly.
You didn't let her get hurt though, please don't blame yourself. Some people holiday leaving dogs home alone, with people calling in to feed and walk. Others leave them with friends, family or neighbours with no insurance if something was to go wrong. What you did was leave her in the care of a licensed, insured dog boarder with 5 stars, who you had used in the past. In no way is this your fault.
Let's hope it doesn't take long to get them shut down. Acting the victim now shows what an absolute twat she is and she deserves everything that's coming to her.

Sorry hadn't read the updates. It's vet's bills and replacement cost still, even if the claim is against the kennel owner because cover invalidated. It's shit, but the law treats animals like any other form of replaceable property.

I would be unleashing hell on her if she let this happen to my dog.
Report to everyone and go and see a solicitor who specialises in dog cases. At the very least there is a breach of contract claim. Poor dog 🐶 x

Have you spoken to Trevor Cooper yet (or one of the other dog law specialists, there are a few but I know Trevor personally)...

What have your insurers said?

Just an update . I spoke to the police and my insurance who are taking it up with her insurance / her I haven't really got an answer with who is paying the vet bill yet, but the main one has been paid.

She's home and very quiet but that's to be expected.

Day care lady's license has been suspended. She failed a random inspection and I've since found out that the same dog killed a dog 2 weeks ago. So around the time that my dog was staying. However she said hadn't reported it to the police because it happened in her home and that dog was old and 'Goaded him' this is very outing but I don't care. I reported her to the police and they are now investigating.

I still won't be posting a post fight photo of my dog because it's so traumatic. With a shaved head, back end, no leg and no eye.
Maybe when her fur has grown back!

Oh and day care lady has paid for the flights and lost accommodation because we had to come home early

Oh my days OP, it sounds like an ongoing nightmare. I'm really glad she's paid your out of pocket expenses, though obviously nothing can repair the damage done.

I'm really glad to hear she's been shut down, she should never be allowed to operate again, and hopefully she won't.

So sorry @Ellythe that this is still ongoing. I hope the dog-care Lady is NEVER allowed to work as a dog-carer ever again. I'm glad your wee Rosie is home at least

Oh my goodness op what a nightmare. Terrible to hear this woman has been cashing in on people’s pets.

your dog looks like a sweetheart. I hope she - and you - will be ok.

'Goaded him'?!

She shouldn't be allowed to work with other peoples dogs and tbh I doubt she should be allowed to keep dogs at all.

She should not be having her own dogs mix with boarders - there should be no opportunity for one dog to 'goad' another nor for a dog to retaliate.

She clearly has zero understanding of dog behaviour or how to manage multiple dogs in one building, and zero fucking empathy either.

I hope Rosie bounces back soon!

It gets worse! Is she still posting things so people feel sorry for her.

Glad Rosie is home safely

Poor little Rosie. She will feel so much better now she's home with her loved ones and I'm sure she will recover in no time.
i hope the boarder woman gets all that's coming to her and that she's never allowed near animals again.
xxx

At last some justice for your poor dog and you!

Gosh the dog killed another dog just prior to the attack! Your poor Rosie was lucky not to be killed. Bless her.

Was the dog that was killed another of her pets, or was that a boarder/day care dog? Has the mastiff been PTS?

It must be awful to find out all this new information, and awful to see your dog with such injuries. Do you have someone IRL who is supporting you, OP?

I am sure this is the place in my town because I saw a Facebook video about the boarding dog dying having goaded the mastif by growling at it and getting bitten and was worried it was yours as only one dog bite/incident was mentioned. But they say the other dog died of heart attack and not the bite.

The mastif is OK and still there as there are videos of him playing. They have said they are only doing grooming and training now though but say it is all caused by a nasty neighbor and anonymous false claims about the training.

Omg this is horrendous. I’d rather I was injured than my dog.

And dogs can’t “goad” each other into action, that’s bollocks. Her dog is obviously a danger to others and must be separated permanently and muzzled when exercised or pts.

Your little dog will adapt in time. When she’s eating again get a good protein rich diet into her, exercise gently and build it up. Dogs with mobility differences need muscle on them to support their weight.

@JinxBlinx do you live in Stirling?

No. Miles away.

That's so weird as it is like an identical story.

A woman runs a boarding and day care and her partner has a training centre separate. The mother helps out. They have a mastif dog; it has bitten a dog which has now died; there are planning issues; she has a groomer bit with extra dogs in. She has done FB posts etc.

It is so weird!