Dog bite advise

[firechkn]

I am looking for some friendly advise so please don't flame me.

Some background; a few months ago while walking my dog a large dog charged us from a near by house and attacked my dog, leaving a puncture wound near its stomach. I called animal control and they ordered a muzzel be on that dog at all times while outside.

Fast forward to now. While I was preparing to take my dog out for a walk this morning, in the midst of attaching the leash, my dog suddenly bolted out to the street. I ran after it but it must of sense that other dog and they started fighting. From what I can tell the other dog is not injured, my dog seem to have suffered a bite or cut to it's rear leg. The owner while trying to separate the fight got his finger bitten. Not sure which dog bit him. The large dog did not have a muzzle on, owner claims it's a different dog the brother of the first dog.

I take responsibility for not having a firm hold on my dog. What kind of charges can be laid upon me? I assume he will call animal control or the police for his wound.

I feel lousy for letting this happen

[CSK'sMom]

It really depends. At the very least expect that your dog will be under a quarantine order (house arrest) for 10 days due to a human bite. Anything else will be up to the animal control officer.

[mkerian]

Let us know what happens.

[rehearser]

Do you have pics of your dog?

[firechkn]

From what I understand the owner of the attacking dog that draws blood (me) is usually at fault. Since these dogs have a history already and it's not clear who bit the finger I'm hoping we have a case.

I know I'm at fault but I just hope the animal control officer has some understanding.

[firechkn]

Do you have pics of your dog?

What for? My dog is a small American Eskimo about 20 lbs. The german sheppard is probably close to 100 lbs.

[mkerian]

From what I understand the owner of the attacking dog that draws blood (me) is usually at fault. Since these dogs have a history already and it's not clear who bit the finger I'm hoping we have a case.

I know I'm at fault but I just hope the animal control officer has some understanding.

Couldn't you argue that your dog was bite on the leg and that it was just trying to defend itself???

Or, that since your dog was actually bitten, than it stands to reason that the other dog also bit its owner in the frenzy??

[win-star]

sorry that that happened to you. With my little Chihuahua, everytime I see or hear a larger dog in site, I usually pick up my dog and carry her until i see it's safe to let her down again.

[UrbanPoet]

Couldn't you argue that your dog was bite on the leg and that it was just trying to defend itself???

Or, that since your dog was actually bitten, than it stands to reason that the other dog also bit its owner in the frenzy??

seems like the dog went back for revenge the second time around!!!

[Kenny Blankenship]

What for? My dog is a small American Eskimo about 20 lbs. The german sheppard is probably close to 100 lbs.

But there are pics of the poster who asked you

[firechkn]

Couldn't you argue that your dog was bite on the leg and that it was just trying to defend itself???

Or, that since your dog was actually bitten, than it stands to reason that the other dog also bit its owner in the frenzy??

I will try that defense, but the fact remains my dog charge his and broke from my grasp.

[firechkn]

seems like the dog went back for revenge the second time around!!!

It's no lie, these dogs hate each other. My dog goes berserk whenever it comes towards our house, his does the exact same.

[pintobean]

There is a ton of room in this situation for "he said, she said", and since the other owner already has a black mark on his record from the previous altercation, I think you just might get off ok.

If the other dog owner decides to pursue this, he is going to say that your dog charged him and provoked the attack and he got bitten by your dog as a result of breaking up the fight.

At this point, you would need to say that there is no way to prove that your dog was the one that bit the other owner. You would also point out that his dog is the one with the history of biting, and then you would bring up the previous altercation. Now the other owner is going to say that today's dog was not the same as the one involved in the previous incident, and claim that it was the brother, but that not only sounds like a lie, it also makes the owner seem doubly irresponsible. I mean he knows from experience that his dogs can act aggressively, so he should have had his dog muzzled today, regardless of whether there was an order to muzzle it or not.

To an outsider, it could easily be made to look like the other guy was equally at fault here, so I doubt that you're going to get the entire blame for this incident. In future, you probably want to leash your dog before you open your door.

[mkerian]

It's no lie, these dogs hate each other. My dog goes berserk whenever it comes towards our house, his does the exact same.

Why don't you AVOID each other's house?

[firechkn]

Why don't you AVOID each other's house?

He lives a few houses over and I do, I always walk across the street from his house, he obviously doesn't