Help my dog has been attacked

[CupcakesAndCocktails]

Hi I've not posted on here before but have read a lot of great advice on here in the past. Hope someone can help out. My lovely staffie cross was just bitten by another staffie. My DH was taking her out for a walk, he managed to get outside our gate before a staffie ran over the road & attacked her. Our dog was on the lead & the other dog was off lead. The owner was in a group of young lads hanging around the street.

My DH managed to separate the dogs. Our dog has a gash about 2cm long on her chest AFAIK the other dog is not hurt. The owner became very aggressive & threatened my DH. His friends dragged the owner off & we have called the police.

The police will only deal with the threats, they don't do anything about dog on dog aggression. Is there anything else we can do?

Thanks

Sadly not- our neighbours dog got attacked, they reported to the police who wouldn't even record it- they would only take further if it had attacked a child. They wanted something on record just in case it happened again but no, they wouldn't do this. it's awful, we were shocked.

It's very upsetting, hope your dog and dh are ok. Stuff like this can really affect dogs so watch out for any aggressive behaviour and see a behaviourist if there are any issues.

Thanks for your reply Sausage I was afraid that was the case. My dog seems fine in herself but I'm sure there will be repercussions as I've struggled to get her out for a walk this morning. She was really reluctant to go outside.

You could try your local paper, so that other people in your area are alerted. There was a dog where I used to live that badly attacked another dog, the paper did a story about it and 2 more people came forward, 1 to say they had their dog attacked in the same park by what they believed to be the same dog and another similar story where people witness a local cat being killed by the dog. The owner was aggressive when challenged in each case.

On another note, surely the dog damaged your property (your dog) and so the owner should be held accountable for that and any bills incurred. I know most people don't think of pets as possessions, but I think that's how it's legally viewed. I'm sure this is what public liability is for on pet insurance.

Hope your dog is feeling better. I'm pretty appalled that the police don't take it more seriously, as it's potentially dangerous to children and other dogs and is not under control.

Speak to the dog warden.

This is solely the fault of the other owner. His dog should have been on a lead and I suspect he knew this was likely to happen (and I speak as the owner of two agrressive staffies who cannot be let off the lead), hence his reaction.
The police will not get involved in the animal aspect (several years ago they weren't concnerned when a MASSIVE dog came over my six foot fence and attacked and killed my cat), but I think you should persue the threat aspect. At the very least the bloke might keep his dog on a lead in future.

As for your dog, bathe the wound in cooled boiled water with salt in it. If your dog is reluctant to walk for a while, don't force it. Just keep trying.

Copied and pasted from my local council website

"The Dangerous Dogs Act also addresses the problem of dogs dangerously out of control in a public place (or a private place where it is not permitted to be). There is no need for the dog to injure someone for an offence to occur: "A dog shall be regarded as dangerously out of control on any occasion on which there are grounds for reasonable apprehension that will injure any person, whether or not it actually does so".

This Act has also been used successfully when a dog has been regarded as dangerous to other dogs rather than to people (Briscoe v Shattock QBD 12 October 1998)

Damage and Injury

If a dog (or any animal) under your control injures a person or animal or damages property, the owner or person responsible may be liable for damages. This would be a civil claim rather than a criminal offence in most cases."

My dog was attacked last Sunday and I was bitten by the other dog, so police are pursuing. Is your husband sure he has not been injured too??.........

Hope your dog is ok now op x

Thanks for all the messages. Sorry I've not been on MN for a few days. My dog is doing much better, the wound is healing up & she is now letting us walk her as usual. We have reported it to the dog warden & RSPCA.

Thanks again for all the advice given, it's really appreciated