Need Advice- Loose dog. I was bitten! Going to Court

On Tuesday night when I was out walking Legend as usual, a Lab ran out from a yard. Not his though he belongs on the next street over. I heard his owner calling him but figured she was calling him in from their yard. Well I thought wrong...long story short I made sure Legend did not bite him by holding him up but still trying to protect him and the Lab snapped at him and ended up biting me in the thigh right above the knee. Ripping my jeans, leaving 2 puncture holes and bruising. I called the police had them do a report and went to the hospital. ACO came out and the dog is not up to date on his vaccines and unlicensed. The owner was cited and in about a month we go to court for it. Here's where I'm thinking I may need to take my lawyer... The ACO officer kept asking me how old Legend was after he found out he was a pitty! I'm wondering if I'm going to have to take all Legend's paperwork, pictures, and neighbor statements saying he's friendly w/ ppl and that I have control over him. I may even have to sue the owner b/c it seems as though she doesnt care about handling the situation with my medical expenses. Ughhhh...

 

You should be alright depending on the laws of county, township, or w.e it is.

people have sued for less and have had their dogs put down for less.

I would sue... they should be held accountable.

 

My man, i hope you realize an apbt doesnt abide by the norm. I dont car if your apbt just saved your life from 2 armed robbers, hes still got a big chance of having problems. I say good job to the OP by playing it safe.

 

Perhaps she cares more about keeping her dog alive and herself out of legal trouble that showing what a reckless dimwit she can be. All ACOs aren't yours, all situations aren't yours, and all dogs aren't yours. Frankly, some folks with real dogs who use them for their true and best purpose and who might be out exercising their animal and find themselves in that situation might also see the stupidity of letting a valuable animal get tangled up with some unkept mongrel with unknown parasites or diseases owned by a dumbass. You don't get paid, you don't get points, and even if you do help your dog kill the mutt, it ain't even considered OTC. So, what's the point besides a little ego stroking. So you help your dog kill a mutt,...whoo fuckin' hoo.

 

you sir are an idiot.

 

Stop looking at her getting bit (still horrible) hope you are OK. This has happened on several different occasions to people I know. CT, Dalmatians were at one time, record holders for the highest human bites in the US. What really sucks is that you controlled your dog, were a responsible owner and kept him out of harms way and the ACO still questioned you about your dog because it's an APBT. Now you have to go to court, I would personally sue them for hospital bills and anything else I had from the accident. What's bad is that stuff like that never airs on the news though. It's only pitbull, pitbull, pitbull. Hope your OK and you don't have any problems later on from this.

 

My man once again, you seriously think letting your apbt attack a stray dog aint gonna get you in trouble?

 

Poke 2 holes in your ankle and say he bit :eek:

 

Here are 2 links about dogs attacking pitbulls. Click on the link.
Police report details Friday pit bull attack

http://boardreader.com/thread/Owner_and_his_leashed_dog_attacked_by_of_sqkX23e7.html

 

I read both of them and it sounds to me like nothing is going to happen to the other dog owners, just the person who owns the apbt.

 

Make a copy of ALL ACO reports, police reports, medical reports and bills and put them in a folder and give them to the guy. Talk to him about the incident (you don't have to be nice, but don't be too bitchy either right off the bat). Explain that he needs to pay as you wouldn't be going through any of that if his dog hadn't been out running loose. If he refuses to do so, hurry and file in civil court. I'm not sure about the law where you live, but in most areas you only have a year from the date of the incident to file suit.

I was in a situation similar to the poster's except that I was pushing my 1-yr-old son in a jogging stroller and the 100 lb dog was headed straight for him. I yanked my dog, who was on the other side of me and unaware of what was going on, to the other side where she immediately saw the Lab mix. She didn't have time to prepare but she did get in between us. The dog hit her full speed and sent her on her back. But the fight was on. Numerous neighbors were all out and seeing what was going on. One came and grabbed my son and another one tried to help me get the dogs separated-me on the Lab, him on my dog as I knew my dog would not redirect (again, this is a 42 lb dog versus a 100 lb dog). The Lab redirected onto my leg leaving me with physical scars I will never be able to lose. But in doing so, my dog got the upper hand and got a leg/chest hold. We couldn't get her off. By that time the other dog's owner had come out, refused to help, ran back in his home, and then ran back out bearing a shotgun. Before any of us even had time to think, he put a bullet in to MY dog's chest. This was after I had begged and pleaded for his help in getting his own damn dog. That day, I watched my dog bleed out in the middle of the street. That day, I lost one of my best dogs I ever had and I lost my son's best friend (she had claimed my son as her own). That day, I had to fight AC to even take the other dog.....the fight to euthanize it got ugly as they initially said it would be returned to the owner.

At the end of all that, the other owner was charged with a felony firearm violation and felony animal cruelty. After his lying in court, he only got charged with the felony firearm violation (for discharging a gun into a crowd/in a neighborhood) and for misdemeanor animal cruelty. He got community service, had to pay my court costs and medical bills, and was told not to own another dog for 5 years. It took me winning a civil suit to see any money. And within a few months, they had a new dog and then finally moved away from our street.

I know this whole story may be irrelevant to a point, but I have to be honest when I say that I will do anything I can from now on to protect my dog first. If I have no choice, then I will allow my dog to defend against an attack. But I'll never forget that it's often times US "pit bull" owners that will always be the losers even when we did nothing wrong.

So I don't blame her one bit for how she handled her situation.

 

I definitely wouldn't have called the police. If you had let your dog protect you- you wouldn't have gotten bit. The rule is that if a man or beast threatens your life or the life of your dog, the dog can defend without consequence.

 

how bad are the injuries, is it really worth it to take this far as you can, and because you got an apbt its possible they will not exactly be partial to you, I hope you have good witnesses, because the first hing that comes to mind is that the other person will say you frequently walk your mean dog and intimidate people and other dogs by your dog barking and growling, and in fact this was a self defense mech for the other dog because of how you were letting your dog behave(unruley)might be a can of worms, if you dont have insurance or are really hurt and unable to work or if this unjury prevents you from living normally, than yes Id sue too, but if your just nicked and looking for a handout, you will be exposed, so prepare your case as best you can and come srtong with it, because yeah there are leash laws and the fact that this animal wasnt up to date, should make it relatively easy for a lawyer to collect, but expect the defendant to be as slippery and squirmy as possible.....what is your lawyer expecting to go for, what dollar amount and exactly what grounds?

 

A true APBT isn't going to just walk away form the fight when he/she realizes that his/her mommy is ok and it's time to leave. It's not that simple.

Sure, let your dog defend you. But you better be quite skilled at separating your dog and some snapping cur that has no problem redirecting onto you.....all the while making sure no one manages to see a single thing.

This, in most situations, is a lose-lose situation. I will never feel like I was wrong in my situation. I will never feel like I was right. I had no choice...I had to do what I had to do. And I paid a hefty price. My dog paid the ultimate price.....at the hands of a cruel moron.

Every situation is different. We are all different. All our dogs are different. Let's face it, just because someone owns a "pit bull" nowadays, it doesn't mean that that dog is willing to fight. In a utopian world, sure it would and it would always win. But there are many cold dogs and many curs and many dogs so watered down they wouldn't have any more instinct to fight than they would herd.

 

oh and you dont let your fukken dogs murder some dog in the street dummies, its not self defense its reckless endangerment and displaying that you dont have control of your animal, with a real game bred apbt typically you can expect severe blood loss and damage within 1 minute, it will appear that your dog just kicked ass and you conducted this and could not prevent it. bad idea all around and you would be surprised at how even your weakest foe will roll you up and downright get creative on you, especially over a dog or suit

 

1 minute? Are you serious? What do you call all those APBTs that went an hour or two hours in the pit? Fake ones?

 

One thing I wanna make clear is that I did NOT get between the two dogs. Legend was at a left side heel. Once I realized the Lab was growling and was going to run up to us instead of running around the corner back to his house I held Legend up by his collar. As I KNOW he would have bitten him. I moved around in a circle and yelled NO to both dogs. Legend was then on my right side as I stepped over him. B/c the Lab was all over the place he even went between my legs...I live in the burbs and have done the same walking routine w/ Legend since I've been here. Most of the neighbors have seen/talked to me at some point and know that Legend is well behaved. And that I can keep him under control even around aggressively barking dogs. The reason I did not allow Legend to defend himself is simple... He's a pitty and the other dog a Lab. Instant death for the Lab and setting myself up for legal trouble. I hope they take into consideration that their dog is unharmed and so is Legend. I'm a pretty low key person around here other than people seeing me walk Legend they don't see me. The only thing I would like is my medical bills paid and that's it.

 

People need to understand that pitbulls when bred properly are one of the least likely breeds to be human agressive. people are so freaking stupid cause if a dog that even resembled a pitbull bit this guy the media would have turned it into a circus.

 

im glad i live in the country, cause my dog would have freaked out and killed the hell out of that lab if it even got near me. i might would have tried to hold him back but dont know how well that would have went. lol

 

I also wanted to add there were no witnesses to this incident. No one came outside even though I was yelling as loud as I could(come get your dog, NO, get out of here, stop it, help me, etc). So this is going to be my word vs the other owners. She did ask me was I okay I told her "No I'm not your dog bit me!" Twice before limping back home..... And I'm going to be left w/ a similiar scar from this incident as another. Similar situation but I was at work and 2 female Labs(one I was walking) got into a fight. And the scar from that incident is almost in the same place just on the right thigh.