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Original poster

My dog has bitten my neighbours rabbit

215 replies

Brookerj · 28/06/2017 14:28

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.

OP posts:
GahBuggerit · 30/06/2017 07:53

The dog could have got a child
The dog could have caused a car crash
It might have attacked another dog
A meteor might have struck the rabbit

But none of these things happened did they?

And where is this kill mode switch? Should really check my dog for one Hmm

YellowLawn · 30/06/2017 07:55

but those possibilities are exactly why every dog owner should have 3rd party insurance.

Unihorn · 30/06/2017 07:56

My neighbour's dog killed our rabbit when I was 5, still makes me sad now.

Lindy2 · 30/06/2017 08:06

Gah, they didn't happen but that is just luck. Hopefully you don't actually own a dog with such a blinkered attitude to a dog's natural instincts.

SoupDragon · 30/06/2017 08:20

For all those assuming the dog wouldn't go for a child and it only wanted the rabbit, think of this scenario....

Good lord,stop making stuff up. That didn't happen. Nor did a billion and one other scenarios.

Imagine if the neighbour had also had a Rottweiler who ate the OP's chihuahua when it bit the rabbit!
Imagine if the OP's greyhound had runoff with the rabbit sitting on its back!

SoupDragon · 30/06/2017 08:24

As an aside, my dog is always on a lead in my garden because none of the 5 neighbours can be arsed to maintain their fences

Nancy91 · 30/06/2017 08:35

How has this descended into people making up random scenarios where a child is killed? You know that dogs don't have a prey instinct for humans right? Just the small furries that humans bred them to kill.

Also one of the above posters suggested she sells her phone handset for £1300? What the hell kind of phone do you have which will go for that amount second hand?! Also how will she be approved for a loan when she is strapped for cash? Confused some people on mumsnet really do live in a bubble or something.

I don't actually think anything will come of this, other than a falling out between neighbours.

I would pay, because I'd feel so guilty. But if I really couldn't afford it then I wouldn't be able to.

GahBuggerit · 30/06/2017 10:36

I actually do have a dog and am a very responsible dog owner. I just don't think it's worth a bean discussing "what ifs" in this situation as it could get rather ridiculous. The dog didn't attack a child, it didn't cause an accident, it didn't attack another dog and a meteor did not in fact strike Iron Rabbit. It may or may not have bit a rabbit, that is all.

GahBuggerit · 30/06/2017 10:38

And it's not in a dogs natural instincts to attack a kid ffs. Hopefully YOU don't own one with such little knowledge of them.

Whitney168 · 30/06/2017 10:53

As an aside, my dog is always on a lead in my garden because none of the 5 neighbours can be arsed to maintain their fences

I am genuinely befuddled at the people suggesting that any neighbour has a responsibility to keep neighbours' pets OUT of their gardens. You people do know that high, secure fencing is not any sort of legal requirement, right? The responsibilities lies firmly with the owner to keep their own pets IN and ensure adequate fencing to do it.

ThomasRichard · 30/06/2017 11:12

I just laughed at 'the rabbit could have been struck by a meteor'. I'm a bad person Blush

OP, your dog was at fault here and as it's owner you have responsibility for paying for the damage caused by your pet. Call the vet to check whether the bill has been paid already. If it hasn't, ask for a payment plan. If it has, take out a loan with your bank to repay your neighbour. Get pet insurance. Install proper fencing to prevent a recurrence.

titchy · 30/06/2017 11:19

If the bill is £1300 and OP has £0, then the bill cannot be paid by her

Bollocks. Neighbour could take OP to small claims court and ask for enforcement which could mean seizure of goods to the value plus weekly installments, off benefit money if necessary to make up the difference. You don't just rock up and say Oh I don't have it so tough.

Namechangearoo · 30/06/2017 11:40

Yeah, I'd be taking the OP to small claims court if her dog got into my garden and caused one of my rabbits a traumatic injury and she refused to pay up.

Chocolates are an insult. Your dog, due to not being properly contained on your property, nearly killed her beloved pet.

I have two wonderful 10-year-old house-rabbits that I love dearly. I had dogs, cats and horses growing up and the rabbits are absolutely similar in terms of personality and longevity as long as some moron doesn't let their dog run free.

One of mine had a broken leg at 2 years old (he misjudged a leap and missed a ledge). It cost a hideous amount to pin but he recovered fully within 6 weeks and didn't need to be separated from his mate throughout the process. Some of the comments on here are foul - buy another rabbit?! I can only hope that such heartlessness doesn't extend to other areas of your life.

Floralnomad · 30/06/2017 11:41

lindy2 , do you have any experience of a dog attacking a smaller furry . My dog would kill any small furry , he is a proper terrier with DNA that tells him to hunt small furry creatures , he did a few years ago get hold of a neighbours cat in our garden , I intervened and managed to release said cat who then scrambled over a fence , my dog would not have bitten me for intervening , it was more likely that the cat would have scratched me . I may have been accidentally bitten by getting my hand in the way but he wouldn't once the cat was released have gone on to attack me in place of the cat ( or attack anybody else, he loves people ) .

steppemum · 30/06/2017 11:54

I was the one who started the whole too much money for a rabbit.
But if you go back to my post you will see that I object to this treatment on a rabbit mainly because it is stressful for a rabbit, and I think often the human need to mend their pet often is the more important consideration than the actual well being of the pet.

I don't think that is confined to rabbits.

And many people have insisted that this treatment is perfectly reasonable. I disagree

As I said before, we had a rabbit with a broken leg who had this treatment on the insurance. The vet said very clearly that it was a very difficult to do on a rabbit, that rabbits were stressed by it and fragile and it often didn't work, unlike on cats and dogs.
So in the vet's opinion, it is not the same doing it on a small animal liek a rabbit compared with a larger animal liek a cat or dog.

Our rabbit died, and having nursed it through the procedure there is no way I would do it again. It was really unfair on the rabbit.

Yes the OP is responsible, and sadly yes she does have to pay.
That doesn't mean we can't have a discussion about what is reasonable.

As I said earlier I hate that programme Supervet, I think there is so much unecessary stuff done, which is not to the long term benefit of the animal, but essential to the human who would be bereft when their pet dies.

most pet owners are not honest enough to admit this

Whitney168 · 30/06/2017 12:04

As I said earlier I hate that programme Supervet, I think there is so much unecessary stuff done, which is not to the long term benefit of the animal, but essential to the human who would be bereft when their pet dies.

Could not agree more with this.

Nancy91 · 30/06/2017 12:04

Agreed with the above post about this type of surgery being very traumatic. Rabbits have very brittle bones and they aren't very hardy so they can die of shock afterwards, or stop eating and they easily get infections. They don't understand that the surgery will benefit them. They only know that they are scared and in pain. They don't always get as much out of life as you get out of keeping them alive.

Vets aren't all angels that will give you advice based on your pet's happiness, they still have to make money and these expensive surgeries are a good way to make it.

People are talking about court but I don't think the neighbour would be awarded the full amount as it was not discussed with OP before hand, she signed nothing, and she could just deny it anyway and that would be the end of it.

Toddlerteaplease · 30/06/2017 12:08

You are devastated? How do you think she feels! You should have had your dog under control. Of course she had to go ahead with the procedure. The rabbit couldn't have been left in pain. You'll have to cough up. Even if the rabbit was insured, the insurance company may well have sought to recoup the costs from you anyway.

LandofTute · 30/06/2017 12:46

Imagine if the OP's greyhound had runoff with the rabbit sitting on its back! GrinGrin

ProphetOfDoom · 30/06/2017 13:15

I still can't get my head round spending £1200 on a rabbit. A rabbit that you really value but apparently don't insure.

The OP is clearly liable but if the rabbit had required surgery where the owner couldn't stick the bill on someone else I genuinely wonder if the neighbour would have gone ahead? Especially as neither she nor the owner of the dog can afford it.

EvansOvalPies · 30/06/2017 13:46

ProphetofDoom - in this particular scenario, the fact that the rabbit wasn't insured is not the issue. Had the rabbit been insured (and as other posters have already pointed out) the insurers would chase the OP for recompense, as it was the OP's dog that caused the injury.

I don't insure our pets, instead choose to put money into a separate bank account. If an accident happened, or a fox got into the run and caused injury, I would pay whatever necessary. In this case, it was someone else's dog that caused the injury to this rabbit. Therefore, the rabbit owner is not responsible for the cost of medical treatment, but the dog owner is, as it was her dog, which was clearly out of control.

I can't get my head around why some people appear to value a rabbit less than a dog. A rabbit is a chosen pet. My children loved the rabbits (and gerbils, and hamsters, and cats etc, etc). Why do you think of a rabbit as deserving of less love than any other pet? Hmm

I don't insure our pets, but instead choose to pay if and when necessary. On the other hand, if we had a dog, I would insure it, simply because as the dog's owner, you are ultimately responsible for any damage or injury that dog might cause. Dogs are more likely to cause damage or injury than any other pet. Our rabbits only damage our lawn. Cats are not a problem with any of our neighbours, as we all have cats, however, if one of our cats injured someone's rabbit or guinea pig, I would not hesitate to pay for the vet's bill. Our rabbits are unlikely to cause injury to someone else's pet - they are contained within their run and are not unusually aggressive - certainly not enough to cause injury to another neighbour's pet.

As far as dogs are concerned, Third Party Insurance at the very least, is probably advisable. If the owner chooses not to take out such insurance, the owner is still responsible for the cost of any damage that dog has caused.

EvansOvalPies · 30/06/2017 13:51

if the rabbit had required surgery where the owner couldn't stick the bill on someone else I genuinely wonder if the neighbour would have gone ahead

If the rabbit had required surgery other than having been attacked by neighbour's dog, we probably wouldn't be reading about it now. The neighbour is not trying to 'stick the bill on someone else'. The OP's dog caused the injury, therefore, the OP is responsible for the Vet's bill.

Why is this so difficult to understand? If one of my pets (or children) caused injury or damage to someone else, it absolutely would not even occur to me to try to wriggle out of my responsibility to put things right.

ProphetOfDoom · 30/06/2017 15:06

You're right. I do struggle to conceive of spending that amount of money on a rabbit, beloved pet or not - and to pass that along to the neighbour. Because if beloved you insure your pet as a responsible pet owner, especially as it's viewed as prey by birds, cats, dogs & foxes. I wouldn't pay the same for a canary or a koi carp either for avoidance of doubt. That said, I'm the granddaughter of a farmer & rabbits are food. In the war my dgf used to leave a a brace of rabbits & produce from the garden on the doorsteps of war-widows & the elderly in the village. You see me as callous; I see it as pragmatism. In fact I think we should treat humans more with the compassion we show animals at the end of life but that's another discussion.

And no where I have not agreed that the OP is anything but liable. But I have sympathy for the OP and am pretty appalled at the neighbour.

trevortrevorslattery · 30/06/2017 15:20

£1275 crikey!
I tend to agree it's best to be insured but what is OP to do if she literally does not have the money to pay?
The neighbour obviously loves the rabbit very much but WBU to pay out £1275 if they were assuming that the OP would be able to afford to pay them back.

JessicaEccles · 30/06/2017 15:24

The OP may now have difficulty insuring her dog against third party now as she would have to declare it has previously broken out of the garden and injured a pet.