MikeGearin
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
Connecticut
My wife and I have 5 kids, 13, 10, twins that are 8 and a 5 year old. We have two dogs. A 2 year old English mastiff, and a 7 month old Tea-Cup Chiawa. About 3 months ago My 13 year old daughter’s friend had a friend of hers come over the house to get something in her room. Now this girl lives right up the street and is not a regular visitor of our house. I wasn’t home at the time but my understanding how things went down are this. She came in the house and my two dogs came to the door barking as normal. The large dog usually barks and then backs off as she is rather skidish of just about everyone. The chiawa will continue to bark but never touches anyone. She went up to my daughters room and came down about an hour later with the Chicawa in her hands. At that point she walked home by herself. Approximately 1-2 weeks later my daughter cam down the stairs and asked me if our Chiawa had his rabies shot. I said no, why? She said her friend was texting her asking for the paper work as she claims to have been bitten by him. I told her to have her father call me which he did. We spoke about it and he said, the dog bit her in the leg 1-2 weeks ago. He asked me why the dog didn’t have his rabies shot (Keeping in mind this is strictly and inside dog which we have had since birth) I told him that when we took him to the vet when we got him they said he was too young to get them and we hadn’t got him back there yet. I asked him why he waited so long to say something and he said that the bite was noticed by the doctor when she was taken for a flu shot. I said obviously it wasn’t anything too bad or it would have been addressed earlier then 2 weeks later. It started getting heated and I asked him how he could be so sure that it happened at my house since nothing was said for 1-2 weeks, in addition she said nothing to anyone when she was at my house and nothing when she got home to her house. He said he just knew. In addition she has 3 or 4 very active dogs of her own.
About an hour after the phone call the dog warden came to our house. He explained how she complained that she got bit once in the leg and that he didn’t go and look at it but we were to keep the dog under quarantine for I believe it was 3 weeks. Already being 1-2 weeks after the alleged incident we only had one week left which we followed. The week he was out of quarantine my daughter was taking him for a walk. Apparently the girl’s father tracked down the dog warden at a job he was on and complained how the dog was out. He informed him that the dog was out of quarantine and nothing could be done. He didn’t like that answer and went home. The next day when my daughter walked him again, the girl’s father again went to the dog wardens and complained. He was reminded about the dog being off of quarantine but he again didn’t like the answer and said he would do whatever nessacary to protect his daughter if he sees the chiwawa again.
Since then we received a letter from an attorney representing the girl indicating of the possible law suit and we were to send the information to the insurance company. Now at that point I understand how it works and if this information was giving to my home owners insurance company they would just settle the case without even investigating it as it would be a good financial decision, especially if they settle for a very low amount. I didn’t pass it to the insurance company, instead I called the attorney and explained the case and proceeded to tell them that I would not be reporting this. We heard nothing for about a month. Then last week we were served papers from a marshal which explained they were suing us for the incident for no less than $15,000.00. My concerns are as follows.
1. My understanding is if I file pro sae and fight this myself or even hire my own attorney and loose, my home owners insurance will not cover the suit.
2. If I give this information to my insurance company they will offer a settlement. I’m sure will be a very small fraction of the $15,000.00 probably below $2000.00 but my thoughts are that this is the bluff from her attorney in hopes to get paid without going to court.
Connecticut
My wife and I have 5 kids, 13, 10, twins that are 8 and a 5 year old. We have two dogs. A 2 year old English mastiff, and a 7 month old Tea-Cup Chiawa. About 3 months ago My 13 year old daughter’s friend had a friend of hers come over the house to get something in her room. Now this girl lives right up the street and is not a regular visitor of our house. I wasn’t home at the time but my understanding how things went down are this. She came in the house and my two dogs came to the door barking as normal. The large dog usually barks and then backs off as she is rather skidish of just about everyone. The chiawa will continue to bark but never touches anyone. She went up to my daughters room and came down about an hour later with the Chicawa in her hands. At that point she walked home by herself. Approximately 1-2 weeks later my daughter cam down the stairs and asked me if our Chiawa had his rabies shot. I said no, why? She said her friend was texting her asking for the paper work as she claims to have been bitten by him. I told her to have her father call me which he did. We spoke about it and he said, the dog bit her in the leg 1-2 weeks ago. He asked me why the dog didn’t have his rabies shot (Keeping in mind this is strictly and inside dog which we have had since birth) I told him that when we took him to the vet when we got him they said he was too young to get them and we hadn’t got him back there yet. I asked him why he waited so long to say something and he said that the bite was noticed by the doctor when she was taken for a flu shot. I said obviously it wasn’t anything too bad or it would have been addressed earlier then 2 weeks later. It started getting heated and I asked him how he could be so sure that it happened at my house since nothing was said for 1-2 weeks, in addition she said nothing to anyone when she was at my house and nothing when she got home to her house. He said he just knew. In addition she has 3 or 4 very active dogs of her own.
About an hour after the phone call the dog warden came to our house. He explained how she complained that she got bit once in the leg and that he didn’t go and look at it but we were to keep the dog under quarantine for I believe it was 3 weeks. Already being 1-2 weeks after the alleged incident we only had one week left which we followed. The week he was out of quarantine my daughter was taking him for a walk. Apparently the girl’s father tracked down the dog warden at a job he was on and complained how the dog was out. He informed him that the dog was out of quarantine and nothing could be done. He didn’t like that answer and went home. The next day when my daughter walked him again, the girl’s father again went to the dog wardens and complained. He was reminded about the dog being off of quarantine but he again didn’t like the answer and said he would do whatever nessacary to protect his daughter if he sees the chiwawa again.
Since then we received a letter from an attorney representing the girl indicating of the possible law suit and we were to send the information to the insurance company. Now at that point I understand how it works and if this information was giving to my home owners insurance company they would just settle the case without even investigating it as it would be a good financial decision, especially if they settle for a very low amount. I didn’t pass it to the insurance company, instead I called the attorney and explained the case and proceeded to tell them that I would not be reporting this. We heard nothing for about a month. Then last week we were served papers from a marshal which explained they were suing us for the incident for no less than $15,000.00. My concerns are as follows.
1. My understanding is if I file pro sae and fight this myself or even hire my own attorney and loose, my home owners insurance will not cover the suit.
2. If I give this information to my insurance company they will offer a settlement. I’m sure will be a very small fraction of the $15,000.00 probably below $2000.00 but my thoughts are that this is the bluff from her attorney in hopes to get paid without going to court.
