Neighbors dog killed ours.(long)sorry

[ajritter04]

What is the name of your state? New Mexico

Yesterday at 7am the neighbors rotty came into our yard then into our fenced in patio and killed my 11 yr old defenseless c ockerer spaniel. My dog was blind and had arthritis and was much smaller than the dog who attacked him. Two bad things resulted from this attack.

1.) My 5 yr old daughter saw the whole thing happen.
2.) My dog died from his injuries.

I sent my daughter to school with a note on why she was crying ( if she didn't go to school that day she couldn't go on a field trip today) later on I get a call from her school saying she just wont stop crying and is just upset. I asked if they got the note I sent with her and of course they didn't so I told them what happened.

My daughter still doesn't understand what has happened and is very upset cause her dog is gone. The attack was VERY violent and VERY bloody she kept asking me to make duddley better to stop his bleeding.

The neighbor informed me he isn't the owner of the dog he's just watching it for someone. The lady who owned the dog came over and apologized but that was it. At the that time I didn't even want to talk to her I was too upset.

I called the police right after it happened they told me this was an animal control issue but they wouldn't be able to do anything till 8am. I called at 8am told them what happened and that he was bleeding very badly ( I'm not close to any vet offices that were open either)
Animal control told me they would be there as soon as they can (9:15 am) All the time my dog was in pain crying and bleeding everywhere. By the time animal control had gotten there my dog had died. Also the owners of the dog that killed mine had taken the dog someplace else and was acting like they didn't know what was going on.

What actions can I take to make them responsible?

I have a couple of other neighbors who have seen the killer dog out and in their yards...without really getting them involved would it be wise to ask them to write down statements saying they have seen the dog out ?

 

[PghREA]

Press charges, the way I see it, the person who accepted the responsibility of watching the dog, accepted the responsibility for the dog.

 

[lizjimbo]

Check NM Animal Regulations

I live in Virginia where the State Leg. finally inacted some sort of animal control after a few Pit Bull maulings in which an elderly woman was slaughtered as well as a child being slaughtered by the "family pet". It is now a felony in Virginia for someone to allow a dangerous animal to roam at large, doesn't have to kill anything, just has to roam. A customer of my retail store won't be a customer for the next 3 years because she allowed her Pits to roam and while roaming they slaughtered an 83 year old woman. Allowing a dangerous animal to roam at large does not mean opening the gate to let them out, it means that your own neglect allowed them to roam. If your state does not have any kind of regulations yet, now is the time to get busy. You are fortunate in that it was your dog on the patio and not your young daughter. I'm sure your thread is going to get a lot of hysterical pit and rotty owners defnding their breed, but the simple truth as supported by the national facts are that pits and rottys do often attack and often kill. Some states have already banned these breeds from even living in the state. If people want to own these types of dogs, fine. They need to erect a barracade around the property so that the rest of us don't have to live or die with their misdeeds.

Check with local regulations. In Virginia you are allowed to kill any animal that poses a threat to your person or your animals if that animal is on your property. Far to often we wait to long to take action and someone, more often than not a child, is killed. Your daughter was in great pain, just imagine your own pain if it had been her that was attacked. At least get your State Rep working for you instead of some sleasy lobbiest.

 

[divona2000]

My two cents...

"All the time my dog was in pain crying and bleeding everywhere. By the time animal control had gotten there my dog had died" - quote from OP.

OK, as a woman who has owned dogs for over 40 years, I have got to say this...why did you let your dog suffer for over two hours --- until it died? Most vets have emergency numbers, and would have opened up to save your dogs life. Animal Control doesn't have anything to do with saving your dogs life, why did you wait for them? Unbelievable that you let the dog suffer, and don't be surprised if your lack of care counts against you in court.
If anybody doesn't like what I said, too bad...the thought of that poor dog slowly dying in horrible pain because no nearby vets were 'open yet' makes me sick. Thank God it wasn't the daughter!

 

[moburkes]

OP, how did the dog get inside your fenced in patio?

 

[ajritter04]

"All the time my dog was in pain crying and bleeding everywhere. By the time animal control had gotten there my dog had died" - quote from OP.

OK, as a woman who has owned dogs for over 40 years, I have got to say this...why did you let your dog suffer for over two hours --- until it died? Most vets have emergency numbers, and would have opened up to save your dogs life. Animal Control doesn't have anything to do with saving your dogs life, why did you wait for them? Unbelievable that you let the dog suffer, and don't be surprised if your lack of care counts against you in court.
If anybody doesn't like what I said, too bad...the thought of that poor dog slowly dying in horrible pain because no nearby vets were 'open yet' makes me sick. Thank God it wasn't the daughter!

First off We are a 1 car family I'm a stay at home mom while my husband works 1.5 hrs away..My husband has to be at work @ 6am...also I called several vet offices that are close by I kinda live in the boonies so we don't have access to alot where I am at. If it would have been my daughter 911 would have come into play.

It wasn't a pleasent thing for me to see my dog hurt and in pain and it did make it worse that I couldn't do anything. Until you are in my situation don't judge and act high and mighty. We dont have after hours anything here if I want anything that offers "after hours" I have to drive to the nearest city which is 1.5 hrs away.


The patio gate was open so the other dogs could come into the patio in case it rained. The dog still had to come into our back yard..jumping/or going under I don't know. Then come into the patio. Which is right off the back door our back yard.

 

[jypsy_rose_lee]

"All the time my dog was in pain crying and bleeding everywhere. By the time animal control had gotten there my dog had died" - quote from OP.

OK, as a woman who has owned dogs for over 40 years, I have got to say this...why did you let your dog suffer for over two hours --- until it died? Most vets have emergency numbers, and would have opened up to save your dogs life. Animal Control doesn't have anything to do with saving your dogs life, why did you wait for them? Unbelievable that you let the dog suffer, and don't be surprised if your lack of care counts against you in court.
If anybody doesn't like what I said, too bad...the thought of that poor dog slowly dying in horrible pain because no nearby vets were 'open yet' makes me sick. Thank God it wasn't the daughter!

I also I'm a dog lover, and have owned dogs for over 40 years. The statement you made concerning vets having emergency numbers, and would have opened up to save a dogs life is not always the case!
My Collie was having health problems. I took her to my vet, he basically just checked her blood, and said she had an infection. I was sent home with some antibiotics. A week laterI had came home from working a three to eleven shift, and went to see how my Collie was doing, I saw where she was passing alot of blood from her vaginal area, she was in horrible pain. I called the vet's office at 11:30pm, and was givin an emergency number to call. I called the number, the vet answered, and asked me what my dogs symptom's were. She then started naming off reasons why my dog could be having these problems, and at the sametime yawning, and acting rather hateful. I explained to her that I was in the office earlier in the week with her, and the events surrounding the visit. I told her that I felt that she needed to be seen be someone that night because she was suffering! I was then told by the vet that if she wasn't better in the morning to bring her in! I was mad, I then asked her what I could do to help her, and she in turn told me to just keep her comfortable. I chopped up an ibuprofen, and fed it to her in alittle food thinking that might help her pain. I kept warm wet cloths on her vaginal area, thinking that might help.
I then called other vets whom I had never been to before, and they in turn would give me another number to call. When I was able to get ahold of someone other then an answering machine, I was asked " have we seen your dog before"? When I told them "no", they told me to bring her into their office in the morning. I held my dogs head ALL night long, and at the sametime crying my eye's out everytime she cried! She didn't deserve to spend the last night of her life like that! She was a protector, I felt so much quilt because she needed help, and I couldn't find a vet who wanted to get out after going to bed, or because I wasn't a regular customer of theirs to help my collie! So, in the end, she died in the wee hours of the morning!
Before I took my collie in to be examined to find out just what was wrong with her to cause her to die, I called my regular vet. I asked them if there were any vets in town who made night calls. She said " we do" I said "really" I told her about calling the vet from her office, and what was said, and she told me to bring her right in! I told her it's too late she died this morning after suffering all night! " Oh, I'm so sorry." It wasn't an infection, it was cancer that she died from!
You see, just because a person is a vet, it doesn't always mean their heart is in the right place to be a vet! It's unbelievable THEIR lack of compassion!

 

[jypsy_rose_lee]

Neighbor's dog killed ours

There are situations when an animal is hit by a car, and the animal is still alive, that animal controll is called. If the animal is beyond being saved they will have it put to sleep. From what OP says it sounds like the dog bleed to death from it's injuries. Had animal controll arrived sooner they could have put the dog to sleep, and saved the dog from alot of pain, and suffering. If I had known my dogs illness was so bad that she was beyond being saved, and I couldn't get ahold of a vet, I would have called animal controll. Out of love for my dog, I would have had her put to sleep.

 

[nextwife]

A person should NOT need to fence the neighbor's dogs OUT for they, their dogs and family to be safe in their own yards.

It's totally ridiculous for a person to own a dog capable of that type of injury and not bother to properly train and socialize their dog so that they are not bringing a hazard into the community. Even if my dog DID go to the neighbor's yard, I have total confidence that he'd create no hazard to anyone.

It is not the size difference, because a PROPERLY socialized and bred dog would not take off and attack a neighbor's dog. The people across from us have a Golden, much bigger than our dog, and the two dogs get along very well. My little guy was best buds with a friend's lab and a friends collie. Socialized dogs don't just attack other dogs. Ever go to the dog park? Dogs of all sizes interact without problems. It is the owner';s responsibility to get their dog interacting well with neighbor dogs from puppyhood so they are not creating a danger.

Call your local Humane Society and ask if they know what laws your can use to remove vicious animals, and to take action against irresponsible pet owners. Next time this could be someone's toddler. Dogs like this must be removed from the owners and from communities. People like this have no business having a a dog.

 

[moburkes]

No one said that OP should have to fence the neighbor's dog out. If you were referring to my post, I was simply trying to figure out how the dog got inside the fence, since OP felt it important to mention that the patio is fenced in.

 

[FlyingRon]

Most likely a rotweiller has no problem getting over a fence that would keep a 5 year old and a ****er contained.

I don't believe in breed specific laws, but I do believe in strict owner responsibility. The owner is responsible for making sure that the dog is controlled (and finding competent people to care for it if they are not going to be around) and deal with the consequences of their negligence.

I'd take them to court for the maximum that small claims actions can be brought in your neighborhood as well as filing complaints with whatever passes for animal control in your area.

 

[LindaP777]

I'd take them to court for the maximum that small claims actions can be brought in your neighborhood as well as filing complaints with whatever passes for animal control in your area.

You would have to prove damages in small claims, and while they would get the cost of a replacement dog, maybe punitive damages, I doubt they would get much more (especially if the dog were not a pure breed), unless animal control charge for a house call.

The killer dog definitely needs to be dealt with. The neighbor is the best place to start. If he didn't own the dog, he knows who does and where the dog went. If you sue him, he will more than likely give up the owners name & address.

 

[lizjimbo]

Suing isn't going to save anyones life

They may be able to get the replacement value of the dog, but that is just about it. As in my earlier post, she needs to get started at the local then state level to get some meaningful dangerous animal at large legislation going. It is far to often that people look at a short term solution for a long term problem. What's the dollar value of someones child. If consequences aren't in place to severely punish those that refuse to control their dangerous dogs, then they won't control their dangerous dogs if all they have to worry about is offering an empty apology for the shredded 5 year old, after all he really is a good dog and never bit anyone before. Welcome to 21st Century Narcissistic America.

 

[jypsy_rose_lee]

They may be able to get the replacement value of the dog, but that is just about it. As in my earlier post, she needs to get started at the local then state level to get some meaningful dangerous animal at large legislation going. It is far to often that people look at a short term solution for a long term problem. What's the dollar value of someones child. If consequences aren't in place to severely punish those that refuse to control their dangerous dogs, then they won't control their dangerous dogs if all they have to worry about is offering an empty apology for the shredded 5 year old, after all he really is a good dog and never bit anyone before. Welcome to 21st Century Narcissistic America.

I agree! My ex daughter-in-law bought a pit bull puppy as a companion to watch over my two very young grandchildren. I told her that I wasn't trying to be mean, but I told her that breed of dog has been known to go off, and attack children. Well, she just doesn't think it will happen with her dog. Nothing I can do I quess, only pray they are not harmed.
The owners of these types of vicious dogs will hear over and over how they attack people, but still they will defend the breed. The owners need to face jail time if their dog visiously attacks a human or animal, otherwise they will go on being irresponsible dog owners.

 

[fairisfair]

I agree! My ex daughter-in-law bought a pit bull puppy as a companion to watch over my two very young grandchildren. I told her that I wasn't trying to be mean, but I told her that breed of dog has been known to go off, and attack children. Well, she just doesn't think it will happen with her dog. Nothing I can do I quess, only pray they are not harmed.
The owners of these types of vicious dogs will hear over and over how they attack people, but still they will defend the breed. The owners need to face jail time if their dog visiously attacks a human or animal, otherwise they will go on being irresponsible dog owners.

Neither you or Liz could possibly find any data to back up your broad, general, and totally incorrect statements. Rotties and Pits are no more likely to attack than any other breed. They simply cause more damage when they do. There are not bad dogs, there are bad owners. And uninformed others.