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Just wondering if anyone could give me some advice on this situation. My dog (Siberian Husky) was outside with out a leash on our town home property, the neighbor lets out her three dogs without leashes and they wonder over to the side of our house where my dog is. My dog sees their smallest dog (extremely tiny with no hair) and thinks it's some kind of squirrel, so she runs at it and grabs it in her mouth. My dog is not a vicious animal, but it was just her instinct. I'm not sure of the gravity of the injury but the small dog had to go to the vet and possibly had a punctured lung. Would both parties be at fault? It was on our property and no one had leashes. What do you think could become of this incident? I do feel very sorry for the neighbor, but what is the law regarding this?
I'm guessing you will be at fault as your dog was off leash and went to the other dog... something he couldn't have done if you had him on leash.
I disagree. It was on HIS property. He has a right to have his dog off-leash as long as it is on his own, private property. Leash laws generally state that a dog must be confined to his/her own property--when not on the property and in PUBLIC areas the dog must be on a leash. By your reasoning, if my neighbor wanders into my home with his/her dogs off leash and my dog grabs one of them, I am at fault because I need to have my dogs on a leash--even in my own home/property?!!! This person's neighbor will have to eat the costs of his/her own stupidity. Do not allow your animals to wander onto other people's property. (and then have the nerve to blame the owner of the property if something goes wrong on their property with your dog). That person's dog had no business on his property! Here in Texas, people are allowed to shoot your dog if it is disturbing their property or (in rural areas) their livestock. That in itself keeps somebody from just allowing their dogs to wander, pee, poop and do whatever else on everyone's property. I am not from Texas, but hey, I can see that it's a deterrant to those who feel they can allow their animals to wander at will.
The main reason I went that way was it is outside and there is no fence... or it sounds that way. Plus being a town home is the location of the incident actually on an area defined as "your property" or is it a common area?
The man said 'our town home property' that to me says the dog was on HIS property. My mother lives in a town home and there are definitely fences and property lines.
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Originally Posted by mayalevi
I disagree. It was on HIS property. He has a right to have his dog off-leash on his own, private property. Leash laws generally state that a dog must be confined to his/her own property--when not on the property and in PUBLIC areas the dog must be on a leash. By your reasoning, if my neighbor wanders into my home with his/her dogs off leash and my dog grabs one of them, I am at fault because I need to have my dogs on a leash--even in my own home/property?!!! This person's neighbor will have to eat the costs of his/her own stupidity. Do not allow your animals to wander onto other people's property. Here in Texas, people are allowed to shoot your dog if it is disturbing their property or (in rural areas) their livestock.
That sounds reasonable to me but under no circumstances should anyone rely on internet advice in such a situation.
Regardless of where the bite took place, your dog was still out of your immediate control and caused a significant injury to another dog. It isn't difficult to imagine that you will get stuck holding the bag if the two of you seriously cross swords. Legality aside, you would still be a good neighbor and a good person to offer to split any medical bills or at least contribute what you can afford and you would probably be smart to do whatever you can to keep yourself from getting sued.
Just wondering if anyone could give me some advice on this situation. My dog (Siberian Husky) was outside with out a leash on our town home property, the neighbor lets out her three dogs without leashes and they wonder over to the side of our house where my dog is. My dog sees their smallest dog (extremely tiny with no hair) and thinks it's some kind of squirrel, so she runs at it and grabs it in her mouth. My dog is not a vicious animal, but it was just her instinct.
I have no insight as to fault, etc. with respect to the laws of your municipality. I agree with the others that you need to consult a lawyer, perhaps, or at least try some internet digging into your county's statutes.
But I have to admit that I'm left scratching my head over the information you disclosed. It's just that I'm a Sibe owner also, and if there's one thing that you learn about Sibes very quickly -- either through reading literature about the breed or by simply observing their natures -- it's that they have a tremendously high prey drive. They're great with kids and bigger dogs and people, but small animals -- whether they are dogs or not -- trigger the Sibe's natural instinct to chase and capture. As you said in your post, it was your dog's instinct to dart after the smallest dog and grab it in her mouth. You know this about your dog.
I'd really caution that in the future you keep your Sibe confined when outdoors -- either on a leash or behind a fence -- for precisely the reasons you described in your post. I believe you completely when you say your dog is not vicious. Sibes generally aren't. They're good-natured, friendly dogs. But as you've seen, you can't always control who or what is coming into your yard when your Sibe is out there, minding her own business. Better to err on the side of caution in the future.
If it were me in that situation that you described above, I would feel that I was at least equally responsible for what happened, because I KNOW what the Sibe nature is, and if my dog is outside, unconfined, then I'd be guilty of willful negligence. I don't know if that's how a criminal or civil court would look at it, but that's certainly how I would look at it.
Agreed. i also forgot to mention, that since both dogs were off leash, if it is in fact a common area, both owners were breaking the law and both would be equally at fault.
This is why I can't wait to get my fence up! Everyone around here has larger dogs (I have a Westie and Yorkie) and underground fences. I must say that the dogs with the underground fences do stay in their yard; I was impressed.
My house also came with an underground fence but the owner put it in himself and told me that he had his dog's collar set as high as they could get it to keep him in.
I can't see doing that to my tiny Yorkie and I'm afraid Ringo would just break the shock and go for it. My neighbors are really nice but have warned me that if my little one got in their yard, they are not sure what their one dog would do. So we make sure that never happens. Until that fence gets up - both my dogs are taken out on their lead and we are with them.
I got the idea that my neighbors on either side are not crazy about me getting a fence but, as I see it, I have no other choice. When I start back to the office - my 88 year old father (who is moving in with us) will not be able to bend over, leash them up; then walk them around my property.
OP, if my little dog ran into your yard, I'm not sure I would feel that I could blame you. Regardless of what the laws are, I would feel that I should have not allowed that to happen.
That said, I would feel a wee bit guilty if my big dog seriously injured another. However, even if you had an underground fence (as all my neighbors do); it would not have prevented this scenario from happening.
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