Dog bites another dog, both on leashes, who pays bill? (how much, poodle)
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Two people are walking their leashed dogs on the public sidwalk, both agree to let their dogs greet, there's a non-agressive, "woof, woof", the dogs are casually pulled apart, the two people continue to talk while the dogs are sitting quietly by their individual owner. An hour later Person A calls Person B stating that Person B's dog bit Person A's dog. Person B, who didn't see this "bite" and is truly aurprised, offers to split the bill since Person A is a friend and has no reason to think she's is not being truthful. Person A thinks Person B should pay the entire bill. Legally, who is responsible for the bill. Person A also called Animal Control and according to the officer who paid Person B a visit, reproted that Person A claims Person B's dog viciously attacked her dog.
lampshade -- i can give you a similar situation and tell you what my expectations would have been if my dog had been hurt...
a couple of years ago, my dog and i were walking down the street. we met an elderly neighbor who had an elderly poodle. i asked, is she friendly? answer, yes.
as we approach, the elderly gentleman is talking about the dog, and looking down the street, not at the dogs. i am listening to him but watching the dogs closely (because i am a hover mother).
the poodle sniffs barnaby, and everything seems fine. barnaby starts to sniff the poodle, and she, without a snarl or growl, goes straight for his front leg, sinking her teeth into his fur.
he yelps, i yelp, and i snatch him back by the leash attached to his halter.
the elderly man never sees it happen. i am first saying, and then yelling, your dog bit him. YOUR DOG BIT HIM.
i examine barnaby closely and see that he's fine...for once all that fur on his leg worked in our favor...the other dog got a mouth full of hair.
the point to all this?
the elderly gentleman stands there swearing up and down nothing happened...that his dog didn't bite mine.
in summary:
this situation isn't exactly the same as the one you describe, but my point is that it is possible for two people to be side by side and one of them not see a dog bit another one.
my second point is that in this situation had barnaby been hurt, i would have reported it to animal control (i maybe should have anyway) and i would have expected the other party to pay his vet bills.
just my 2 cents.
sorry this post is so long! i hope you're able to work this out to your satisfaction! good luck!
Last edited by barndog; 03-31-2009 at 06:29 PM..
Reason: edited for brevity and clarity
Two people are walking their leashed dogs on the public sidwalk, both agree to let their dogs greet, there's a non-agressive, "woof, woof", the dogs are casually pulled apart, the two people continue to talk while the dogs are sitting quietly by their individual owner. An hour later Person A calls Person B stating that Person B's dog bit Person A's dog. Person B, who didn't see this "bite" and is truly aurprised, offers to split the bill since Person A is a friend and has no reason to think she's is not being truthful. Person A thinks Person B should pay the entire bill. Legally, who is responsible for the bill. Person A also called Animal Control and according to the officer who paid Person B a visit, reproted that Person A claims Person B's dog viciously attacked her dog.
If it's a non-aggressive "woof woof" then how did one dog get bit?
And if the encounter was really that friendly and you are certain nothing happened, why would you even offer to split the bill?
It sounds to me like the dogs got in a fight and some of the finer details of this story are being downplayed.
Last edited by Woof Woof Woof!; 03-31-2009 at 05:49 PM..
How bad is this bite? I would think that I'd want to make sure that the bite marks on Person A's dog match the dental structure of Person B's dog. What if Person B's dog got hurt in some other manner? If it was such a unnoticeable bite in the first place (no blood dripping as they were talking), how much could this vet bill be? And does Person A's dog have any history of prior dog aggression?
Seeing as how person A has turned this into a confrontation by contacting animal control and making a report, were I person A, I would talk with Animal control, and probably let them take me to court since neither person saw anything at the time. There has to be more to the story. I think I would get CGC or Temperament Test paperwork and any affidavits about the dog's temperament as well.
Now, to add complexity In about 30 adult years of owning dogs, I had one "incident' where I was walking my dog and an old man swung his arm into my dog's face. The skin tore on the top of the hand but there was not a mark on the bottom. Neither one of us realized anything happened until the man was about 25 feet away and said "I think your dog bit me"
He was nice and I was nice and I paid his medical bill [were he not old it would probably have not even been a doctor trip, but he was diabetic and it was hard for him to heal]. When animal control came out they said, this guy swore up and down at the doctor's office that my dog did not bite him but we have to quarantine him [even with rabies documents and tag] so I wound up paying for 10 days at a private kennel because I did not want the dog at animal control.
So was I responsible? Well, I figured even though he was the one who swung his arm into my dogs face, it was my dog's teeth and how do I know my dog did not swing his head over at the wrong time so I figured I was accountable.
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