I’ve been bitten by another dog while walking mine

[OrangeSamphire]

There’s a dog in my village who is ‘known’ to be a problem. He has gone for other people’s dogs before. I always keep mine well away.

Today we were walking back up from the beach on a narrow footpath. I saw this dog approaching. Both on leads. My dog has recently had surgery so I got her to stand to the very edge of the footpath and I stood alongside her while this dog and the woman walking him (not his owner), walked past.

As they passed, this dog growled and barked then went for me, he bit the back of my leg.

It all happened so fast, and it is a very minor injury, they had walked on and we had walked away before I really realised.

Should I report it? I’m not sure of the protocol.

I would report it for definite.
Dog warden and 101 police.

Thanks. Annoyingly I’m not sure of the dog’s exact address. Will see if I can find out from a neighbour.

I’ve photographed the cut and bruise on my leg. And I have a witness, another friend who was walking up from the beach a few yards behind me.

If the skin is broken you may need a tetanus injection so it may be best to call the NHS advice line soon

Ah gosh I hadn’t even thought about that. Skin is broken. Albeit mildly and through cotton trousers.

If your skin is broken you need to have it looked at. You could get a very nasty infection.

It looks more like a scratch, on top of a bruise, rather than a cut. I don’t really want to bother my GP with it and it doesn’t seem severe enough for the minor injuries unit!

It looks like the kind of thing you might do if you bumped against a sharp corner of a table.

Is the infection risk serious even though I had trousers on, and if I wash it carefully?

It looks like this

Personally, I'd wash it, disinfect it, keep an eye on it and possibly phone my GP to be on the safe side. And check your tetanus - I'm not sure if dogs can carry it, but if you're out and about in the countryside it's worth being up to date.

Ok, so need to report on 101 - they may say 'report to dog warden etc' but state that a puncture wound is an aggravated offence under Section 3 of the Dangerous Dogs Act and you would like this to be investigated.

You will need to find out the name or address of the dogs owner too.

This is an aggravated criminal offence and the police should investigate. The outcome could be anything from a community remedy (not ideal as they aren't legally enforceable) , a warning, an application for a dog control order, or even prosecution for a dangerously out of control dog.

Thank you.

Just been for a tetanus jab on advise of GP.

Reported via 101 email and will see what happens.

This dog seems to be reactive to dogs rather than people, I think I was just in its way. But lots of people in the village let their older children walk their dogs (I don’t) and I would hate to think of one of them being injured.

For such a tiny bruise it really hurts!

Please report it, by doing so you're protecting other dogs and their walkers in the future.

My friend had similar yesterday. Called 101 and they advised him to keep dog on lead and muzzled. He hasn't though and dog was going after people again today.