Dog on Dog Attacks

[brownbear201]

Whilst I know it's probably impossible to say, is it likely that anything will be done about a dog-on-dog attack? I would be interested if knowing if anyone else has experienced a dog on dog attack and what was done about it.

My dog was seriously attacked by another dog last week. The other dog was being walked on a lead attached to a harness but slipped its harness three times to attack my dog. The owner of the attacking dog had to wrestle the dog off all three times. Each time my dog ran off and the owner put the dog back on the harness, the dog slipped the harness again and ran after my dog, caught up with him and attacked him again. The dog was not wearing a collar. Eventually I caught up with my dog after the third attack and picked him up and ran off. My dog was wearing a lead before the attack but slipped his collar in the commotion so ended up off lead. My dog was rushed to the emergency vets and into theatre. It cost me a four figure sum in treatment. My dog had several blood clots, required a blood transfusion and various stitches around his neck and ear area. He has a couple of puncture wounds in this area that are being left to heal naturally. He was lucky to survive and I believe if he was a smaller dog he would not have survived.

I informed the police who asked me to send photos of my dogs injuries and a photo of a very minor injury I got to my hand. The owner of the attacking dog was bitten quite extensively by his dog. The police are aware of the owner's name and address. I haven't heard anything since. The owner has had many reports made about him before. This is the first serious dog on dog attack, but his dog has killed a deer in a country park and has done many minor attacks on other dogs in that it has ran up to other dogs when the owner let it off lead, grabbed them and pinned them but not injured them badly. The owner would then become very aggressive towards the owner of the victim dogs by shouting and swearing at them because his dog was 'only playing'. He was told by the police previously to keep it on a lead which is why it was on a lead when it was able to attack my dog as the owner used to walk it off lead.

I am planning to send the owner the vet bill. I highly doubt he will pay it but worth a try. I am unsure if I need to wait until the police get back in touch before sending him the bill?

Would love to hear if anyone has any experiences/comments. I'm too worried to walk my dog again in the local area until I know this dog has been dealt with.

Have you contacted the dog warden? That sounds terrifying. The dog clearly isn’t under control.

I've never known anything like it in over a decade of dog walking. They directed me to the police as they said they don't deal with dogs attacking other animals. I can try again though and emphasise that I got injured but I don't know if they would take it seriously as my injury was very minor.

I think the key is that you were injured. The dog was out of control in public. And not wearing a collar. All of which make this a dangerous dog and out of control. Bloody scary. I’ve been tempted to get a body cam to walk mine. Hope you and dog are ok.

I would really, really emphasise how scared you were and keep mentioning your injury. That's probably the only way you'll get somewhere with the police 😞

Unfortunately dog-on-dog attacks are almost impossible to legislate around - a lady had her little terrier killed by a pack of lurchers around here not long ago and absolutely nothing was done about it. He still has all his dogs.

I really hope you and your dog are okay - these things are so scary.

Yes. My last dog was almost killed in the street by an off lead dog. She needed emergency surgery at midnight (she was having her last wee walk of the day when it happened), something like 60 staples and a full body cast to put her back together. It was truly horrific.

Police informed. Nothing happened to the owner or dog.

The other owner also offered to pay vet bills at the time but then never did.

Sorry OP. I wish I had a better take to tell. Except maybe I do - because my dog went on to live another 8 years and the attack didn't seem to put her off anything, not even other off leads dogs rushing at her.

I would speak to the police before sending the vet bill, my friends dog was seriously attacked by 2 German shepherds that jumped out of a garden and the owner offered to pay but the police said to not accept (there were some factors at play and I think the owner of the GS was banned from keeping animals if i remember rightly?) but it is worth speaking to them first, especially if he is known to police and has been agressive to other people in the past when challenged.

I am sorry to hear about your dog it’s awful and there are so many idiots around

Was the dog that attacked a banned breed? The council officers can be useless - had a very close call with an extremely aggressive pitbull mix on a kid’s play area and knew of others attacked. I was told they don’t ‘discriminate’ based on the type of dog and that I would have to call The police during an attack. Utterly useless.

this is the legal guidance on dog offences:
https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/dangerous-dog-offences

Petition link here - most of the animal legislation concerns livestock. https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/petitions_noticeboard/4837767-make-dogs-attacking-other-pets-a-specific-criminal-offence

Your police force should have a dog liaison officer. Ours is an ex dog handler. I know this as DD was bitten by a neighbour's untrained "fur baby" in the park and the dog officer came round to see us before going to see them. He asked us what we'd like to do in terms of pressing charges.

In the end I said they need to be told to sort their training regime etc. He called back afterwards and said they were a Flexi lead dog food left out al day lazy owner whose kids basically are all over the poor dog so it's very resource guardy and anxious (which is why it bit DD).

They were issues with a letter to say any more incidents and the dog would be destroyed. And this is a fluffy cockapoo.

With that dogs history you need to push for
a) police removal of the dog and
b) your insurers need to get his insurance details for cost of medical care as it includes public liability. If their dog is uninsured then pursue a small claims case against the owner using your legal protection cover on your house insurance for the cost of the dogs care.

I have had 2 dogs that were bitten by other dogs and needed vet treatment. With the first, my dog was on the lead, the other wasn't and the owner refused to pay the vet bill. I reported to the police and dog warden and the dog warden spoke to the owner and told her the dog must be walked 1 to 1 and kept on a lead. She did pay the vet bill eventually. I had no further issues.

Earlier this year my newish rescue lurcher was bitten when off lead and the other dog was off lead. The owner was very upset and apologetic, he paid the vet bill and assured me the dog would be kept on the lead. I didn't report it and see this dog off lead almost every day, I now wish I had reported it.

I am so sorry to hear about your dog's injuries and how horrific this attack was. The fact that you were injured does make it much more serious. I would definitely pursue the owner for payment following police advice. It is a fixed fee for a small claim court claim.

The fact the dog bit you is significant, even though your injury is more minor - mention it to the police, repeatedly.

Also ask GP to take a look at it and clean it as they can turn nasty. This also has the "benefit" of putting on record that you had medical treatment for it.

Your dog warden should be involved. Be ready to hassle them and ask what they plan to do.

Unlikely the police will do anything but I have experience of several cases taken to the small claims court where the owners of the attacking dog have had to pay the vet fees. So do be prepared to do this. It seems daunting but is pretty straightforward.

If you felt at risk from the dog make sure the dog warden is aware of this and control orders can be put on the dog eg ensuring they are muzzled when out and always on a lead (on a correct fitting harness!)

Sorry you had to go through this.

Thanks all. I will make sure to push then. I have had some lovely support and offers from the local community so hopefully we can get something done!

Me and the dog are fine thanks. Dog is sore physically whilst healing but seems fine in himself and is healing well. I’m a bit shaken up but otherwise ok.

No, it wasn’t banned. It was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier but the KC registered legal kind not the Labrador sized ones. Awful that the council wouldn’t get involved with your report though!

My old boy was attacked by a greyhound, it took 3 people to get the dog off him, owner tried to blame me for having a small fluffy dog (he wasn't that small and was on lead). It happened at a dog show/fundraiser for a retired greyhound charity. They paid the vets bills as they had just homed the dog with the owner

Why am I not suprised it’s was a bull breed 🙄

Deed not breed.

I see a lot of dangerous dog criminal cases in my line of work and non-bill breeds are just as common as SBTs.

Seen everything from a Newfoundland to a Patterdale to a spaniel.

If the dog has a history of attacks and has bitten you too then they may take it seriously. My cat was killed by a dog, the police were unable to act until it attacked someone's dog.

Grow up. These are not any way like a banned pit bull and are nice dogs. Many "naice" dogs attack.

@Tara336 I mean… retired greyhounds aren’t socialised with dogs other than greyhounds, and it’s pretty well known… I wouldn’t take my bichon mix to a retired greyhound fundraiser full of retired greyhounds, because I know that those dogs have been encouraged to chase the fluffy thing their whole lives and haven’t been socialised with other breeds of dog to know the difference between fluffy prey and fluffy smaller dog… the new owner of the greyhound wasn’t wrong in that the dog attacked yours because it’s smaller and fluffy, and stating that fact isn’t blaming you, it’s explaining the greyhound’s behaviour. Your dog being on a lead means nothing to a greyhound who has spent its whole life chasing the fluffy thing on a cord…

@Jenzine it was a dog show put on FOR ALL breeds of dogs not just greyhounds tbh all that is totally irrelevant where I was! So if the bloody thing had snatched my dog into its mouth when it was quietly laying by my feet on the street then that's different? The dog was dangerous, all the other greyhounds managed to resist attacking mine and the tons of other fluffy dogs that were there that day except that one. If the retired greyhound trust felt their dogs couldn't or shouldn't be around other breeds maybe they should not have put the show on!

@Tara336 Apologies, the way I read your original comment was that the fundraiser was solely for the retired greyhound trust.
Most retired greyhounds are muzzled in public until they’re deemed safe for small dogs, and pretty much all of them have to remain on lead for life, so yes, it would have been different if it happened in public at random, because people are made aware by the charity when they adopt what they need to do to ensure their pet doesn’t harm/kill someone else’s. That means they’re aware of the liability and the dog should be muzzled.
At an event solely for the retired greyhound trust, I’d expect people to know better than to show up with little fluffy dogs.
At a general dog show, I’d expect the greys to be muzzled for safety reasons while not in kennels.
To be clear, I also wasn’t blaming you, for the attack, only pointing out that explanations after an incident are not always attempting to assign blame. Not every explanation is an excuse.

Unfortunately where I live they don't seem to care. Lots of reports of dogs attacking are kept out the local news here. We know this because their witnessed yet never no record of it.The police didn't even take away a staffie that literally ate someone's small dog. And so many more awful stories. Ignored me when I asked them to tell someone to put their clearly aggressive mastiff on a lead whilst standing at a bus stop with children around. Naturally it later went for someone and took several officers to subdue it. Theres incidences every single day. Its petrifying to step foot out own door. Shouldnt have to live with the fear of being mauled to death. Its ruined our lives and many others. Place is over run with all kinds of dogs. The fact people do not know basic common sense either anymore when it comes to dogs is astounding. For eg letting xl bully and akitas loose on the bus with no lead , drivers dont care , they're protected behind their window . Its so depressing not going to parks and walks in nature. Especially over past spring summer. Prisoners in our homes. I really hope your local force fares better.

As it’s been bumped back up I thought I’d update this post. The dog that attacked my dog has now been put to sleep. My dog has recovered well and although he has some scarring, seems to be ok. I’m still pretty nervous walking him though!