Who is at fault? Unleashed dog came upto my son and bit him

[BlueBunny23]

My son was playing in our front garden. The neighbours dog was running loose and came into my garden and upto my son who put his hand out to stroke the dog and it bit him. He has a hole in his hand and we are off to see if we need cleaned / stitches. Who is at fault? My 10 year old son for attempting to stroke the dog that came up to him? The neighbour for letting her dog loose? Tried to talk to her, she slapped her poor dog in the face and said when it bites her kids she puts this antiseptic rub onto them so offered some for my son, so like she knows it bites and still just let me roam the street when there are kids playing

You son has every right to play safely in his garden. The dog's owner is at fault. I would ring the police and council for a dig warden. If your son is permanently damaged, I would sue for damages.

Thanks everyone again. Son woke up early and has went back to bed. Not like him at all. No word from the police as of yet. I just want to make sure this doesn’t happen ever again, especially as I’m heavily pregnant and this baby could be running around our front garden next summer as we often sit out there on the summer nights and put a paddling pool out for my son. I would never leave the baby unattended but it scares me to think the dog could also bite me!
there was also an incident last year when my son went to go out to play and the dog was in our front garden and as my son opened our front door to go out the dog came upto my door barking at my son and my son was terrified and couldn’t get out of his own house to go and play with his friends. The neighbours was nowhere to be seen and I couldn’t get out either as this dog no doubt would have attacked me if I had went any closer…. And the only way to go and find the owner was to leave my front door and this would have meant getting closer to the dog. I had to stay in the house with the door closed until the dog went away. I did tell the neighbour and she said sorry. That was as far as that went.

The police take good biting people seriously in my experience, dog on dog attacks they don't at all.

This is the nervous collar and lead set I have for my nervous dog. I also have the green "friendly" set for my friendly dog.

They are useful but not a substitute for proper dog supervision. Neighbour is at fault.

@SkygardenTower yes I believe it was wearing something similar however it’s a long haired dog so you could only even see a little bit of yellow and I didn’t recall seeing any writing on it

I cannot believe anyone lets their dog roam freely, no reason or excuse for it, completely unacceptable!!

Dog lover here. I wouldn't spend a second having it on my conscience if a dangerous dog was put down. I would lose sleep if I didn't report and a child was mauled to death.

@Prescottdanni123 of course you are responsible for your child. But a dog that bounds up to a toddler which might quite rightly be playing in their garden more than 2cm from their parents can get bitten in the blink of an eye. Why is everything pointed back at the parents all the time?? It's the dog owners responsibility 100% and that dog should not be on private property just because it's got some 'yellow collar on'. It's not about this incident, it's about the complete lack of responsibility from the owner the potential danger this dog clearly is.

@LondonLovie

I have clearly stated in my previous posts that on this occasion, the owner was in the wrong because her dog was out of control and roaming around OP's garden.

However, more than one person has suggested that warning collars are useless because small children cannot read them. Parents are responsible for teaching their children the importance of not approaching and petting strange dogs without asking permission first. Whether or not the dog is wearing a warning collar. That can be drilled into children from a very young age.

Neighbour is clearly at fault, but that doesn’t change the fact that your ds needs to be safe in the garden. Can you get any type of fencing/boundary?

Thank god you've reported it. What a stupid woman she is.

While the neighbour shouldn’t be letting the dog in your garden, I’d be looking at getting a good fence. Glad you’ve reported it, honestly I’d also be reporting the neighbour for neglect if she’s keeping a dangerous dog around her children, letting it bite them, and possibly not getting them adequate medical attention when it does. (Judging from her comment about putting antiseptic cream on it, sounds like the dog biting them is a regular thing and if she’d been getting them medical attention each time then it should have been flagged up as a safeguarding concern by the medical professionals)

Any owner of a reactive dog is extra careful. That ladies dog should not have got out. Accidents happen. Has it happened before ? I personally would go to see your neighbour first before reporting it. The dog may well get destroyed because of a simple mistake. Yes your son got bit but I would be seeing if the neighbour is responsible enough to own that dog first.

Nope, report. One bite of a child is enough to qualify for a report.

I'm a dog owner of many years standing & I haven't heard of the yellow collar thing. The onus as far as I am concerned is to keep one's dog under control . That said ( & don't take this personally OP ) - it is sensible to teach your children to approach dogs sensibly & if not sure & this dog has a history - stay away. My elder two would not harm a fly ( & I know some will say - ye yes - that it what all dogs owners say ) but I once had them both on a short lead under my chair in a park whilst I had a coffee and a young boy thought it was funny come over and to poke their eyes with a stick he had found. Of course they got pissed off and barked. I repeatedly asked him to stop & then went to ask his mother to ask him to stop ( she was on a different table absorbed in her phone ) and she said "Oh he's only playing "

My main point is , it the dog owner's responsibility to keep their dog safe from harming others. But it is also sensible for people to teach their children how to approach ( or not approach ) dogs - especially if the child is nervous or in that one case just impervious to how a dog might become annoyed if you try to poke their eyes etc.

I'm just repeating what others have said , I know.

A child's wellbeing is the priority of course

My DH was bitten by a dog recently, unprovoked! It's important to take your DS to the GP though our GP sent him straight on to A&E.
They will ask if he's up to date with tetanus immunisation and dress the wound. Animal bites need watching, they can turn nasty.
Agree with those saying report to the police. That's what we were told. There are no exonerating circumstances, a dog who bites is out of control.

How is your son now @BlueBunny23 ? Did you hear back from the police?

Yes police asked if I wanted to prosecute and go to court or if they can talk to her and keep in contact with a dog warden. I went for the second option so she’s been spoken to by the police and told how serious this is and how it could result in her dog being removed from her. She’s promised to always keep her dog on a lead. I’m told to report back with proof as soon as I see other wise to the dog warden. So I do hope that’s the end of that. My son is ok his hand is healing well and he’s very wary of dogs now

Good for you for doing something @BlueBunny23 & hope owner takes on board the seriousness of it. All best to you and son