My dog has bitten my neighbours rabbit

[Brookerj]

My 2 year old dog got into my neighbours garden and somehow got into the rabbit run and has bitten the rabbit. My neighbour has taken the rabbit to the vet and has presented me with a bill for £1275 as the rabbit has had 2 pins put into its leg. I have been very apologetic and took chocolates round to the owner of the rabbit but I do not have this sort of money to spare - what can I do - I feel awful.

Fo what it is worth though, if we hadn't had insurance, I would have had rabbit put to sleep at first consultation, and I am still appalled at the idea of £1700 being spent on a rabbit.
So I have alot of sympathy.

I'm sorry you're devastated Op but you've got to face the music. YOUR dog escaped from YOUR garden and YOU should have had insurance. Why you think your neighbour should pay is beyond me!

I agree with the majority, I'm afraid. Why should she have to pay the bill, when the rabbit was in her garden, in it's run. Check your home insurance asap, and please also get your dog insured. How on earth would you pay the vet bill if he needed emergency treatment? Believe me, a vet bill for thousands can always be just around the corner.

Im also really surprised at that amount of money being spent on a rabbit too, especially when its just assumed that someone else will pay it, when it was blatantly a complete accident. I would have had the poor thing PTS

Totally agree your dog your responsibility.

I have 2 rabbits they are my DDs beloved pets they would be devastated if anything happened to them, of course I would spend the money to save them.

Go round to your neighbour be upfront and honest say you haven't got that sort of money, your shocked it cost that much, could you work out a payment plan of £50 a month?

And please get insurance we pay £20 a month for our dog, it's peace of mind.

TBH, I'm surprised that the rabbit hasnt been eaten by a fox given the run is so insecure a dog can get in.

I have 2 rabbits they are my DDs beloved pets they would be devastated if anything happened to them, of course I would spend the money to save them.

well, that is nice for you, but most people don't have £1250 lying around to spend on a rabbit.

And in principle, I find myself appalled at the amount of money people will spend on small animals, how ever beloved.

But then I have lived in countries where children are suffering for the want of a small amount of money, so maybe I have a different attitude.

In this case the OP does have to pay it, but I am not surprised she is finding it a lot of money.

Yes most people don't have £1250 lying around that's why you take out pet insurance.

I give money to childrens and animal charities as well I know there is Ann awful lot of terrible poverty in the world, I grew up in poverty myself.

However, I believe that if you get a pet then you must be prepared to care for that pet no matter what. They are not to be discarded if they get too old or too sick although the rescue centres up and fish the country will assure you that's not the case.

Why should the neighbour have to put her rabbit to sleep because of something another persons dog did? There is a train of though that says she should have made sure the rabbit was in a dog/fox proof run but if you have a dog you make sure your garden is secure.

Im also really surprised at that amount of money being spent on a rabbit too,
I had four rabbits for nine years. What I observed during this final bout of rabbit-keeping was that it's a fucking racket. Most rabbit keepers are women - either young women before they have babies, or older women with empty nests. Both groups are inclined to love their animals and spend everything they have, and more, on them.

This will sound like sacrilege, but vets have noticed this, and know a good source of income when they see it. Vaccinations, dental work, gut stasis... rabbits are a constant source of vet-income. Then, when one breaks a leg (not difficult, they can do that just jumping of their own free will and volition, and landing badly) you're in for a thousand pounds. Insurance is essential but it also encourages vets to suggest expensive treatments.

The rabbit keeper will rightly feel that the neighbour with the uncontrolled dog should pay. The vet should have checked where the money was coming from before carrying out the work.

The rabbit owner has probably paid the vet already, IME you pay when you collect your pet or if insured produce your documents before treatment. They're probably shocked at the cost hence trying to get it back from the OP.

Id offer to buy her another rabbit.

Yes, you're right sweetkitty, that's how it would go. But if the owner had, or could access £1250, I'm impressed!

Yea I would offer to buy her another rabbit too! Surely if the rabbits hutch was not safe then a cat could just have easily got in and done the same damage..

That's a lot for a bloody rabbit. Id have had the poor thing PTS

Of course you pay, if your dog attacked any of my animals and you didn't cover vet bills, I'd have no issue with proceeding with court action to recover the costs. Although I have insurance so they'd recover costs from you.
I'm pretty disgusted at the throw away attitude of some posters regarding small animals! You take on a pet and all responsibilities for them, including vet care. I've spent a small fortune on my guinea pigs and wouldn't ever think of PTS & replacing them if the bill was high

Buy another rabbit?! It's a living creature, not a tshirt you spilled coffee on!

£1275 for a rabbit is ridiculous.

Rabbit owner probably backed into a corner and put it on a credit card, now panicking about how to pay it.

If I had a rabbit and knew there was a dog next door I would make sure the rabbit was safe and vice versa if I had a dog and knew there was a rabbit next door make sure the dog can't get to the rabbit.

There's faults on both sides and you've both learned the hard way about pet insurance.

Would offering to pay half be a compromise?

It isn't a disposable attitude to small animals.
There is a strong dose of realism and also what is best for the animal, alongside a sense of what is proportionate.

I do not buy into the idea that when you have an animal you do everythign you can to pay for it under all circumstances. When I was growing up, we kept ducks. they were well looked after and many would be named and pets. If they got injured or sick, they went in the freezer.

Pinning a broken leg on a rabbit causes it lots of pain and distress. I know because the insurance paid to do it to our rabbit and it was a miserable experience for the rabbit.

Rabbits don't like being handled, and you have to handle it all the time to look after it.
Rabbits are sociable and you have to seperate it from the rest of the rabbits and isolate it.
Rabbits tend to be fragile, so, even after you have done all that, they may still keel over dead.

Is all this good for the rabbit? I don't think so. I do not think that some of the procedures we do on animals today are good for the animals. It is all about our human emotion, and not about what is best for the animal.
I hate that programme the SuperVet.

If our rabbit was bitten again, and I had insurance, I would still say to PTS.

rabbits can live as long as dogs
they have individual personalities just as dogs
they are lovely pets if handled properly

unless things have changed you don't have to do anything

a neighbours dog got into my garden, killed 6 of my rabbits and destroyed their hutches getting to them, police wouldn't get involved, told me the rabbits weren't protected by law and at best I could take civil action for trespassing, absolutely no crime had been committed

however morally I think you should pay up

Dimples - I am amazed it wasn't considered to be criminal damage? Or that their dog was considered to be dangerous?

exactly what Steppemum says.
Rabbits shouldnt even be pets. They are not happy in hutches locked up in peoples gardens. They have a very short life span at the best of times, and they get really stressed from handling and being cooped up. They are the most consistently neglected animal. And keeping them in a hutch in the garden gives the rabbit no chance of escape from cats foxes and dogs that could easily get into a garden.
To do this sort of surgery rather than PTS quickly and painlessly is ALL about what the owner wants, rather than whats best for the animal, and to then present your neighbour with an astronomical bill, is purely to punish the neihbour, with very little benefit anyway, as the chances are that this rabbit will now be incredibly stressed and unhappy and will likely die shortly anyway. Its madness

OP most of us don't have that kind of money. Unfortunately it was your dog's fault and therefore your responsibility. I'd be asking to set up some kind of payment plan? You have to pay it off bit by bit if you don't have all of the cash. After this incident I'd be looking into insurance for your dog too. It's really irresponsible not to have it x

Well if it was us we would say we wouldn't be paying it as I think the cost is unreasonable. But I would also expect to be sued. So I guess you either come to an arrangement with the neighbour or wait for a small claims notification.

Not to pay anything would be really stupid. This wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the OPs animal...