P
physedgirl
Guest
What is the name of your state? Florida
I am in Hillsborough County Florida. Last week, one of my two dogs got out and fought with the dog next door. I did not witness this incident, although I had been outside to feed the dogs approximately 5 minutes earlier. My dogs are well cared for, play with other dogs well and are even afraid of our cats! I have had the dogs for over 6 years and we have a little girl who just turned 6. I trust these dogs implicitly. Unfortunately, the dogs are American Staffordshire Terriers, a.k.a pit bulls.
Some background information: The dog nextdoor has been abused. I witnessed this on two occasions. The worst incident was where my neighbor PUNCHED the dog in the face (also a pitbull) and kicked him twice. He tried to kick him a third time, but my neighbor fell over on that attempt. I wanted to call animal services, but being friends with his mother, I chose to tell her what happened. She told me that he is an alcoholic and she was trying to get him in a mandatory detoxification program. There are also 2 other occasions when we could have filed criminal charges against this individual, but chose not to make waves with our friends and neighbors.
So when animal services showed up and gave us 3 tickets which totaled $720, we were surprised and hurt. We would have gladly paid any vet bill that occured as a result (even though we had no proof that our dog was out... he was in our yard when we went out there. The tickets were worded with "as per witness statement." We have done everything in our power to prevent our dog from getting out. We have even installed an invisible fence in addition to our regular fence to prevent the dogs from digging out.
I am sure that one of our dogs was at large, but I am equally sure that the other one remained in our yard. He still had his collar on that does not allow him to pass the barrier of the invisible fence. However the other dog's collar was broken, the device was no longer intact. The vet bill and the letter from our neighbor stated that the dog had been attacked by TWO DOGS. That is impossible. Our neighbor's mother lives about a block away and claims that our DOGS were trying to "get into her dog." It is physically impossible for me to feed my dogs, and in five minutes time, they run a block away, try to attack a dog there, and return to attack the dog next door.
I would really love to handle this outside of the courts, but my neighbors, FORMER FRIENDS are making this into a huge issue. Basically my question is, do I have a leg to stand on in court if I try to fight this? I love my dogs with all my heart; they are members of the family. I have a college degree, and am a decent person. My dogs are good dogs, despite the media attention give to dogs of this breed. My vet said even though my dog has a great disposition, I will lose just because of the breed of the dog. Please tell me this is not true.
Thanks for reading this far.
Kelly
I am in Hillsborough County Florida. Last week, one of my two dogs got out and fought with the dog next door. I did not witness this incident, although I had been outside to feed the dogs approximately 5 minutes earlier. My dogs are well cared for, play with other dogs well and are even afraid of our cats! I have had the dogs for over 6 years and we have a little girl who just turned 6. I trust these dogs implicitly. Unfortunately, the dogs are American Staffordshire Terriers, a.k.a pit bulls.
Some background information: The dog nextdoor has been abused. I witnessed this on two occasions. The worst incident was where my neighbor PUNCHED the dog in the face (also a pitbull) and kicked him twice. He tried to kick him a third time, but my neighbor fell over on that attempt. I wanted to call animal services, but being friends with his mother, I chose to tell her what happened. She told me that he is an alcoholic and she was trying to get him in a mandatory detoxification program. There are also 2 other occasions when we could have filed criminal charges against this individual, but chose not to make waves with our friends and neighbors.
So when animal services showed up and gave us 3 tickets which totaled $720, we were surprised and hurt. We would have gladly paid any vet bill that occured as a result (even though we had no proof that our dog was out... he was in our yard when we went out there. The tickets were worded with "as per witness statement." We have done everything in our power to prevent our dog from getting out. We have even installed an invisible fence in addition to our regular fence to prevent the dogs from digging out.
I am sure that one of our dogs was at large, but I am equally sure that the other one remained in our yard. He still had his collar on that does not allow him to pass the barrier of the invisible fence. However the other dog's collar was broken, the device was no longer intact. The vet bill and the letter from our neighbor stated that the dog had been attacked by TWO DOGS. That is impossible. Our neighbor's mother lives about a block away and claims that our DOGS were trying to "get into her dog." It is physically impossible for me to feed my dogs, and in five minutes time, they run a block away, try to attack a dog there, and return to attack the dog next door.
I would really love to handle this outside of the courts, but my neighbors, FORMER FRIENDS are making this into a huge issue. Basically my question is, do I have a leg to stand on in court if I try to fight this? I love my dogs with all my heart; they are members of the family. I have a college degree, and am a decent person. My dogs are good dogs, despite the media attention give to dogs of this breed. My vet said even though my dog has a great disposition, I will lose just because of the breed of the dog. Please tell me this is not true.
Thanks for reading this far.
Kelly