dog bite

[loubob]

What is the name of your state? Florida

Today our dog was quarantined for biting a woman that stuck her head into our rear window of our car. Our dog was on a leash contained inside and all the window were up to the point he couldn't reach out. Our sun roof was open.

My husband went into the store for dog food, took two minutes. The lady bagging our dog food wanted to see our dog. My husband told her inside the store they he did not want her to come to the car to help with the dog food. Her excuse was she had to retreive the cart. He still insisted he did not need help. She walked out with him anyway.

He said to her again not to put anything in the car. As he opened the rear window to load the food this woman stuck her head into the rear window. Our dog which was leashed to the front seat head rest saw her and licked her face, she put her hand up and then he nipped her nose. No way could he have reached outside of the car. I think he was fearful of her.

My husband saw the wound and said it was not bleeding much but was deep . She went to the hospital and they called animal control.

The Animal Control person that came to our house today acted like the dog bite the tip of this ladies nose off. I agree that this is terrible for a dog to do but I do not understand after we told her two to three times we did not want her help or to go near our car she did anyway and we ended up being finded two tickets we now have to deal with in court.

Could this be concidered her fault? Or is it always the pet owners fault when a dog bites?

Our dog is in quarantine for 10 days and this lady is mad at us. Seems to me she should have gotten the tickets for being stupid and not us.

[moburkes]

Your explanation is confusing. Where was your husband when he was opening the rear window? Is this the rear window, like in an SUV? Or a side window? If the dog was near the window where the woman was, and you didn't want her touching your dog, why didn't your husband open a different window instead?

[loubob]

My husband was opening the rear window of a Ford Expedition to load the bag of food. The lady was standing away from the car, she had been warned we had a dog. My husband opened the rear window and started to loading the food. Our dog came near to the rear window ( he was leashed ) to greet my husband. When the lady saw our dog she approached the rear window rather quickly, my husband was busy with the loading from this same window. She stuck her head into the rear window to see the dog. Our dog gave her a lick and she raised her hand upwards and this is when the dog grabbed her nose and bit. This happened so fast my husband had no time to react to her walking up and sticking her head into the window.

[fairisfair]

First of all, what was the dog doing inside the closed car when your husband was in a store shopping? And, boy, that is one persistant woman, has she never seen a dog before?? Your story really doesn't make sense, first you say the lady was inside the store, and wanted to see the dog, then you say the woman "had been warned that you had a dog".....

[moburkes]

Good point, fair. She did say, though, that the sun roof was open, and the windows were cracked as well. What's the temp in FL, right now? Its over 90 degrees, here.

[fairisfair]

I'd say overall, around 90 degree with 60% humidity, that would be enough to make ME bite someone!!

"Every year, companion animals, especially dogs, lose their lives due to extreme temperatures that arise while the animals are left unattended in parked vehicles. The tragic deaths are entirely preventable. Most people simply don_t realize how quickly closed unattended cars or trucks can become stifling death traps. When it_s 85 degrees out, the temperature inside a car, even with the windows left slightly open, can soar to 102 degrees in 10 minutes, and can reach 120 in just half an hour"

[loubob]

OK, yes he was inside the car. We are very responsiable dog owners and would never leave him inside a car for any length of time if we knew he would suffer. This was a walk into the store get the food which was sitting at the check out waiting for us ( special order)and out the door again. The sun roof was open with every window in the car down only enough so he couldn't get his head out. The inside was fine. Not hot at all. Plus the car was in the shade.

The lady bagging was the one who wanted to see the dog. He told her "no" three time or more and she still followed my husband outside walking behind him.

What is he suppose to do when someone walks up and gets into the dogs face? I think we covered all of our responsibilies as being good pet owners.

[moburkes]

Maybe you all aren't 100% liable, so she may have to bear a portion of the medical bills herself. I guess your husband had the option of waiting until she left, before opening the window. Your homeowner's insurance can help you.

[loubob]

Yes, after the fact it is easy to say he should have. I do not have control of what he does just like he can't control this lady. The stores policy is to walk each customer out to the car with the cart. This was her job. I feel this is wrong especially when the customer insists on having them NOT do this. He should have waited until she left but he did not anticipate our dog biting this woman either. Our dog is friendly with people he knows. It is the nature of dogs to sniff a person first to get to know them. I was taught never to approach a dog and especially not with your face.

[seniorjudge]

Originally Posted by moburkes

Maybe you all aren't 100% liable, so she may have to bear a portion of the medical bills herself. I guess your husband had the option of waiting until she left, before opening the window. Your homeowner's insurance can help you.

Most homeowner's policies will not cover dog bites. (This thread is one example why.)

[moburkes]

Yeah, they will. However, if the dog was a vicious dog, and there was already an exclusion in place, OR if they didn't tell the company about the dog in the first place...

I've written plenty HO policies. Even written some expensive ones because the homeowners refused to get rid of the vicious dogs.

[seniorjudge]

Originally Posted by moburkes

Yeah, they will. However, if the dog was a vicious dog, and there was already an exclusion in place, OR if they didn't tell the company about the dog in the first place...

I've written plenty HO policies. Even written some expensive ones because the homeowners refused to get rid of the vicious dogs.

Cool...good for the old commission check!

[moburkes]

Yep, gotta pay!

[fairisfair]

this may answer any additional questions that you might have.

[url]http://www.dogbitelaw.com/PAGES/Florida.html[/url]

and really, leave the dog at home if you have to leave him unattended in the car.