Who is responsible for fees?

[amynnixmum]

I already posted about this one the am I being unreasonable section but thought I would post here as well.

My neighbours dog attacked my cat yesterday and hurt him. The dog was out of control and not on a lead. Fortunately it appears that he is not seriously hurt but so far the vets fess have cost me nearly £60 and will definately rise to at least £80 as he needs another checkup in a few days. It may end up being more as he will need surgery if his poors don't heal properly.

I wanted to know if the neighbours are legally responsible for their dogs behaviour and any damage he causes and whether they are legally obliged to pay the fees. A couple of posters on my other thread seemed to think they were but before I approach them I wanted some more advice.

I was hoping that my neighbour would come and see me yesterday (her useless husband said she would when I talked to him yesterday lunchtime) but nothing...not even a note through the door. When i talked to the husband he admitted that he knew what had happened and that it was my cat.

poors? I mean paws

Where did the attack happen? In their garden, your garden or in the street?

In the street. I think my cat was probably in my front garden to start with as he's usually there at that time of day. I heard shouting and looked out the window and by then they were across the street with my cat running like mad to get away.

The dog owner can if necessary be sued. The Statute is the Animals Act l971. It is an offence to allow a dog on the highway if not under control.

In the same way that the owner would be sued if the dog got out onto the road and caused a car crash, the owner may well be covered under his house insurance policy, although as it's a relatively small amount of money, it wouldn't be worth their claiming.

If they don't pay up, write and tell them you're thinking about suing them in the small claims court (assuming you don't mind being off their Christmas card list!)

I am not sure about this, but if they don't pay up, I would think you could threaten to report the dog to the police which might end up with it being destroyed. I am not sure if they take an attack on another animal as seriously as an attack on a human, but it would be worth checking with them.

Thanks mumblechum

We're not really friends but have always been on good terms. I'm really hoping she'll approach me and all that sort of thing can be avoided. I'd be happy to accept half the fees as I know they don't have a pot of money but then neither do we and so far she hasn't even apologised.

Mumpbump - I know that it is different for attacks on animals - there is little the police can do in these circumstances. i wouldn't want it destroyed over this anyway - he just needs to be kept under tight control and his owners need to take responsibilty for him which IMO is paying for the vets fees.