Dog bite - owner of dog moved

[dogbite7]

Ca

Appreciate your advice. I used the sheriff's service for a final attempt to serve defendant (owner of attacking dog), but the homeowner who rented defendant a room says defendant has moved 2 months ago thus, my claim has been cancelled. Thing is, I still see the dog running around every single day and the defendant's car. Is it possible homeowner is trying to deny and can he do that to a sheriff? Is there anything a sheriff can do to further his service? Ive been trying to call the sheriff everyday but to no avail. Ive been told by a claims adviser that I should hire a private investigator to help me further. Is this really all they could do? Help...

 

[sandyclaus]

Ca

Appreciate your advice. I used the sheriff's service for a final attempt to serve defendant (owner of attacking dog), but the homeowner who rented defendant a room says defendant has moved 2 months ago thus, my claim has been cancelled. Thing is, I still see the dog running around every single day and the defendant's car. Is it possible homeowner is trying to deny and can he do that to a sheriff? Is there anything a sheriff can do to further his service? Ive been trying to call the sheriff everyday but to no avail. Ive been told by a claims adviser that I should hire a private investigator to help me further. Is this really all they could do? Help...

The sheriff is only getting paid to serve the papers, NOT to investigate whether or not the person they need to serve actually lives there. It may very well be that the homeowner is protecting the person (maybe because they think THEY could be held responsible for the dog's actions).

My best suggestion is to hire a friend or a private process server. Be sure to provide them with a photo of the person they need to serve and have them try to serve the person at different days and times.

Since you say that the defendant's car still shows up at the place, you could have the server stake out the area and watch for the car to either arrive or leave so that they can catch the person, whether they live there or not.