Girlfriend's Neighbors Dog Killed Her Dog in Her yard.... (Shepherd: for sale, how much)

[navi243]

Here is the situation:

The neighbor has two large sized mixed dogs. They bark agressively, but had never harmed anything to my knowledge.

Neighbors dogs had gotten into my yard as the fence posts were begining to fall. The posts are on my neighbors side of the fence. I requested that they fix this when that happend about 1.5 years ago. it never was fixed, and I thought nothing of it.

Neighbor has a coral set up in her back yard next to the privacy fence where her dogs normally are. Which is bad because that is why they were able to get into my gf's yard.

She had three dogs, 2 medium sized dogs, and one tiny dog (2-3 pounds).

Her dad took the 3 dogs to go outside in the morning while he was going to take a shower. When he got out of the shower he heard the dogs going nuts.

He went outside and foundd the neighbors dogs in his back yard with one of the mid size dogs on the ground in a corner with the two dogs attacking him. Theother medium sized dog was trying to get them off of the other dog.

He got the broom and got them away from his two dogs. When he got his two medium sized dogs in the house, he couldn't find thetiny dog. He look around and I see my dog on the ground bleeding.

My girlfriend grabed the tiny dog and rushed it to the doggie hospital and tried to save him but unfortunatley he didnt make it.

The neighbors paid the vet bill, and later that say the neighbor said byher own will that she would replace the tiny dog. Little did she know that replacing the dog would cost about $2,500.

My gf found a dog, and now the neighbor says she can't pay for the dog. Which is highly unlikely as she lives in a great neighborhood in town, and the neighbor just bought a brand new car two days after this happend.

We filed a police report, have the invoices from the vet, and have requested a letter from the vet stating what kind of damage was done to the dog.

The neighbor had to get the dogs out of my gfs yard, and anothwer neighbor was witness of what accurred.

4 people were present when she verbally agreed to replace my gfs dog.

What should we do now that the neighbor is saying she can,t pay for the dog?

[navi243]

1. The dogs broke through her fence, and it happend on my gfs property
2. She paid the medical bills immediatley, which I believe under the court would qualify as admitting guilt
3. She verbally agreed in front of 4 witnesses to repalce the dog, even an oral contract is legally enforceable
4. This would be a small claims court case

The biggest problem is what if she just simpley states she is unable to pay?

[wCat]

Originally Posted by navi243

1. The dogs broke through her fence, and it happend on my gfs property
2. She paid the medical bills immediatley, which I believe under the court would qualify as admitting guilt
3. She verbally agreed in front of 4 witnesses to repalce the dog, even an oral contract is legally enforceable
4. This would be a small claims court case

The biggest problem is what if she just simpley states she is unable to pay?

Actually....there are too many unexplained things in this story. The OP said it was his neighbor and he asked a year and a half ago for the neighbor to fix the fence.


Then he said it was his gf's yard and her three dogs.

Then then the gf's father was showering in his house? or her house? when the incident occurred.

The father looked around but the OP saw HIS tiny dog which the gf took to the vet where it sadly expired.

The neighbor...trying to do the right thing, pays for the vet bills and offers to replace the dog.

The gf replaces whoevers dog it is and now expects the neighbor to pay $2500 all because the neighbor lives in a nice neighborhood and just bought a car. If the neighbor lives in a nice neighborhood, then so does the gf/the OP/or the gf's father.

It was very nice of the neighbor to offer to replace the dog, but very unfair or the gf/OP/gf's father to not tell the neighbor how much to expect to pay before she went and found a replacement. If they live in the same very nice neighborhood, then they should be able to pay for the dog by the same assumption they are making about the very nice neighborhood where everyone apparently lives.

Lastly.... Did YOU ALL have to have a clone of the lost pup? There are so many dogs/puppies at the pound that need homes. This is a tragic situation, but it sounds like the real dog owner(???) is being a bit opportunist about a sad incident. Cut your losses on the expense of the new family member and ask the neighbor to fix her fence. I'm sure she will comply this time.

[Drzy]

Promises to make gifts are not enforceable. If you had a signed, written, notarized contract from someone that said they were going to give you $100 (or a new toaster, or whatever), it wouldn't matter. BUT, that may not matter here, since I don't think this is a "gift" situation. Others may think differently on that, I'm not sure.

You have a loss, and I assume the neighbor will be found legally liable for that loss and have to compensate you. If the midday court shows have taught me anything (they have cases on like this all the time), the plaintiff would win damages in the amount of the cost of the dog that was killed. Sentimental value of the dogs, unfortunately, has $0 value in the eyes of the courts.

Where did the $2500 amount comes from? Is that how much that dog costs? If you/the owner can produce papers that show that that's how much it originally cost, or maybe show how much it will cost to a buy a dog of similar breed / age / pedigree, I think that would be enough to win the case for that amount.

[rd2007]

OT, but oh well.. for anyone that would spend $2500 on a dog, get a dog from the shelter or a rescue instead and do us all a favor. I cannot for the life of me understand why people will pay huge sums of money for a dog when there are so many thrown away every day.

[TXtrkgrl]

Originally Posted by rd2007

OT, but oh well.. for anyone that would spend $2500 on a dog, get a dog from the shelter or a rescue instead and do us all a favor. I cannot for the life of me understand why people will pay huge sums of money for a dog when there are so many thrown away every day.

Totally agree!
If you have money like that, rescue a dog and donate the rest to the shelter. It's a tax write off too.
Everyone wins.

[scuba steve]

Originally Posted by navi243

Here is the situation:

The neighbor has two large sized mixed dogs. They bark agressively, but had never harmed anything to my knowledge.

Neighbors dogs had gotten into my yard as the fence posts were begining to fall. The posts are on my neighbors side of the fence. I requested that they fix this when that happend about 1.5 years ago. it never was fixed, and I thought nothing of it.

Neighbor has a coral set up in her back yard next to the privacy fence where her dogs normally are. Which is bad because that is why they were able to get into my gf's yard.

She had three dogs, 2 medium sized dogs, and one tiny dog (2-3 pounds).

Her dad took the 3 dogs to go outside in the morning while he was going to take a shower. When he got out of the shower he heard the dogs going nuts.

He went outside and foundd the neighbors dogs in his back yard with one of the mid size dogs on the ground in a corner with the two dogs attacking him. Theother medium sized dog was trying to get them off of the other dog.

He got the broom and got them away from his two dogs. When he got his two medium sized dogs in the house, he couldn't find thetiny dog. He look around and I see my dog on the ground bleeding.

My girlfriend grabed the tiny dog and rushed it to the doggie hospital and tried to save him but unfortunatley he didnt make it.

The neighbors paid the vet bill, and later that say the neighbor said byher own will that she would replace the tiny dog. Little did she know that replacing the dog would cost about $2,500.

My gf found a dog, and now the neighbor says she can't pay for the dog. Which is highly unlikely as she lives in a great neighborhood in town, and the neighbor just bought a brand new car two days after this happend.

We filed a police report, have the invoices from the vet, and have requested a letter from the vet stating what kind of damage was done to the dog.

The neighbor had to get the dogs out of my gfs yard, and anothwer neighbor was witness of what accurred.

4 people were present when she verbally agreed to replace my gfs dog.

What should we do now that the neighbor is saying she can,t pay for the dog?

I promise - no judgment on buying a 2,500 dollar dog will come from here.

By not controlling their dog(s), the neighbors are liable for whatever damages they cause. If you (she) takes them to small claims court this will be an easy win. If you need the assistance of a lawyer you will most likely be able to recover lawyer fees as well. How much you actually win in court will depend a lot on how well you can document the vet bills and be able to prove that the dog was actually worth as much as you claim. Similar dogs for sale + whatever kind of documentation there is for the purchase price of the dog will help here. This sort of thing seems to happen a lot, where someone's dog gets loose, causes damage and then the owners change their mind on remedying the damage caused when they find out just how much what little Rover did will cost to fix.

[navi243]

Well the dog will cost $2,500 to replace. The breeder we spoke to stated that a dog of the caliber of the one lost would cost $3,500 easily. The reason she does not have a receipt is because it was gift from her mother who recently passed away.

If it was up to my girlfriend she would adopt every dog at the pound, and have her teacup yorkie replaced. But that is not realistic. So thanks for the advice on adopting a dog, but as sympathetic as we are to animals, that is not what this post is about.

The promise made by the neighbor was not a promise of a gift. It was a promise to replace a dog, that her dogs were responsible for killing on my GFs property.

Finally, I originaly was writting the post as if I was her father only to simplify things. But I chose to re-write it with the facts, and accidentaly missed changing a few things.

Simple corrected recap...

The dog belonged to my GF. She lives at home with her father. Her father took the dog out to go to the bathroom while he showered. He heard the dogs going crazy, and found my GFs dog dead outside. He gave her the dog, and she rushed it to the vet. Neighbor's dogs broke through the fence and killed my Gfs dog on my GFs property.

[scuba steve]

GTK - it's still the neighbors' responsibility. Additionally, any documentation in writing if it exists informing them that the fence was ready to fall down would help. If it's their fence.

[catriona]

First of all, I'm so sorry for the loss of your GF's dog and the heartache it brought to her and her family.

Some comments:

If your GF knows who the breeder was, she could possibly get a receipt from them to prove the value of the little dog that was killed. Just because it is a pure bred dog doesn't mean that they all will cost the same. We have Australian Shepherds -- most Aussie pups cost in the $350-$500 range, but they can go well over $1200, depending on the breeder and the bloodline. You really would need the value of that dog, not just any tea cup yorkie. The breeder should be on the dog's registration papers, which your GF should have. If not, perhaps the breeder you spoke with could write a statement of the dog's value for you. Sad to say, but no price paid for a replacement dog will ever actually replace the doggie lost.

Dogs busting through fences to get at other dogs could be deemed viscous and be taken away and destroyed. Keep this in mind, should you pursue a law suit. Granted, some people may think the dogs should be destroyed anyway, but your GF will have to live next door to these people and deal with them. If it were my dog that had been killed, I would have no problem if the other dogs were to be put down, but your GF and her dad may. Just something to keep in mind. You don't want them retaliating against you, so try and come to an amicable agreement. I know they were in the wrong, but sometimes human nature doesn't always dictate the right path. I'm surprised the neighbor hasn't gotten rid of the dogs, if nothing else, to prevent prosecution and lawsuits... If the dogs attacked other dogs, they could easily attack humans.

The fence had problems -- granted it was on your neighbor's property, but that doesn't mean that (in a civil case) you may be held partially liable for not securing the fence on your side to prevent things like this from happening. It all depends on the evidence you provide vs what the neighbors provide. You may want to make sure that it is the neighbor's fence, meaning that sometimes people erect fences and the fence happens to be on the wrong side of the property line. If the previous owner of your GF's house erected the fence, then that may be an issue. Document everything and take photos if you still can.

The neighbor's purchasing of a new vehicle or living in a nice neighborhood doesn't reflect the ability to pay $2500 for the lost dog. Should they pay for it? Scuba Steve's right - they should pay for any damages incurred, including the cost of replacing the dog. Not just because they verbally said so, but because it is the moral thing to do. They did pay for the vet bills, but balked at the high price tag for the deceased dog. Since the dog was a gift, I don't know if you can recover the cost of the dog, but surely you should be due something for pain and suffering. Again, your best bet may be to hire a lawyer to make sure you get resolution. The important thing is to document everything. Good luck.