I was just approaching my house whenI see some officers walking into my yard. also got a fire truck and ambulance. about a million things go through my head.
I get there and se the dog catcher truck.

Fuck my dogs are out.

I get out of my truck and the officer asks if I have two Dalmations. Uh Oh what they do?
Sir they bit two people. We are trying to catch them in your back yard.

What? I go back there and the to dogs are giving the guy fits. Musta been the big stick with a noose.

The Male 55 pounds and stone deaf is pretty pissed. and his sister 35 pounds is making life difficult to catch also.

I walk into view and point my finger and yell at the female. They stop in thier tracks and sit at attention.

I offer to walk the dogs out to the catcher truck but the officer nooses the male and he come un-glued. Very strong dog was whipping him pretty good.
I picked up the female and carried her while she licked my face.

OK so what do I do? legally. I am not worried about the dogs just getting my ass sued by the victims.

Wife and I pretty much decided the dogs are going to have to go, so that's that.

We are searching the insurance policies to make sure we are covered.

One lady is cool about it and has already said not to worry about it. But .....

The other lady is still in the hospital with big bites on the arm.

I don't know what the laws are in Mississippi, but if you lived in California you would need to prepare yourself to 1: Say good bye to the dogs and 2: get a really good lawyer.

I had a Dalmation once and she seemed like a very docile loving dog.

Not a lawyer, but I have had the same thing happen. 1. do you have to post a beware of dog sign, 2. did it happen on your property, 3. Is your property fenced.

It would be wise to consult a lawyer in this, but you may want to contact the person who was bit. My lawyer said not to contact them but I did anyway. We resalved it on our own and my dog lived. All I had to do was pay the hospital bills.

Sorry to hear you have to go through this.

Jon

you can tell the "victims" they should have stayed away from your dogs, and thats that... just kidding..I hope everything turns out OK -JON

Send flowers to the hospital, lots, big ones, now
My dog has bit 2 people, kinda, but both in the face. Both were clear instances of my dog being tied up and they approached a strange dog too quickly and were met with a head-on collision+teeth.
Both "victims" had a real change of heart when I apologized, scolded the dog in front of them x 10, offered to pay, gave my phone #, etc....2 minutes later the dog is licking them and OK because I was there in control.
It's the ganstas with a bad attitude that are found with trained fighting dogs that really end up in a bad situation. In your case, you have a loud ass 914 and have probably pissed off you neighbors every weekend at 6am leaving for a race...
Good luck

Sorry to hear this Joe... My advice is get a Golden Retriever. Mine loves you already and doesn't even know you exist...

Read your homeowner's policy very closely, and understand it well, BEFORE you report the incident to your insurance company.

With both people, if you reach a settlement, be sure to get an enforceable general written release from them before you turn over a penny.

getting rid of the dogs is a good decision, although you may not have had any choice anyways.

That sucks, and they are probably going to put your dogs down.

Why were your dogs out? And why have you decided that they pretty much have to go?

Granted, none of us here have all of the information, but almost all instances of dogs biting others falls back to the owners.

Zach

They got out because my Knuckle head 21 yr old son did not put the gate back up right. (lazy).

Deaf dogs can be a touchy animal. He relied on his sister to do all the hearing. They are allowed in the front yard with me all the time. They know all the nieghbors.
Dalmations are fun loving and like to run ALOT. Their usual routine is to run the front yard wide open sniffing the mail box, tree and the nieghbors mail box which boarders "thier yard". It is typical for them to run up and sniff and hope to get a neck scratch.

I suspect one of the old ladies tried to swat at one of them to shoo the dogs away. Doggy self defense but there were no other witnesses. The male can't hear but would not hesitate to protect himself or his sister or any of our family from harm.

bad news. my toddler son and i where *almost* on the recieving end once, it was scary. the only thing that saved me was my alpha posture. the rot was sure i was going to kill him if he took another step.

i'm sorry for you, joe, and relieved the ladies injuries where not severe.

good luck.

paul

That's tough Joe. Pets become part of the family.

Personally I can't have a dog that bites, regardless. We have an 8 yr old and a 6 yr old, Cub scouts come here, kids are over here all the time.

We had a problem with a dog biting and we had no choice but to put him down. Not a fun decision, but we couldn't wait to see who he would get next.

I don't envy you Joe.

make sure your son is forced to watch your loving dogs be put down if he is the one responsible for their release. i'd be hot enough to...well, i'd be hot. we'll leave it at that.

prob 10 days in quarentine (they'll send the bill) and then distruction. one of my sons would be looking for a new place to live if they pulled this stunt.

k

AND I think it FKin SUCKS, I have two huskies and had my EX's 15 yr old leave a gate open once.......needless to say we got them back, and huskies are as non aggressive as a dog can get (unless ur a fury small critter)...I hope you don't lose them both.

Josh

Sorry to hear this Joe.

Biting dogs are most definitely owners responsibility. Sounds like a very scary situation for those two ladies. What have you done for them?

I have been attacked twice by poorly trained dogs. Once bad enough to draw blood where dog bit me and trip to the doctors office. No police and no lawsuits, but then I live in the California mountains where people are a bit different.

Best of luck to you I know this is a tough situation and hope the lady in the hospital is ok.

Gonna lose them, My decision.
Not sure how the 10 day quarrantine thing goes. they are at the county animal shelter. Not a nice place. If they have to hag around for 10 days I will have them sent to my vet for boarding.

I would send your son over to the persons home to sincerely apologize and offer to make amends in any fashion they desire.


This way some good may come of a bad thing.
Your "knuckle head" son might learn a lesson about taking personal responsibility for his actions.
The little old lady might realize it wasn't your fault but a young persons fault and give you and your son a break.
You may not have to put your dogs down.

Just my personal thoughts.

I say we go ahead and start a "save Joe" fund..... Knowing the kind of worthless bastards that are in todays world that want theings HONEST PEOPLE have and would rather legally STEAL it than work for it the odds are not in his favor...

Makes you wish it was the 1800s again, dog bites someone, dog gets a 45 long Colt round to the head, no one loses their house. this is what happened as a worst case scenario..

But thats when life was simple, before everyone had tender feelings and a bleeding pussy.

as we speak I have a hundred+ pound Rottweiler sitting right next to me in my office, she goes everywhere I go and she watches my shop like she was born inside it. She isn't mean but she is very loyal to me and "her property". I never see customers here and no one bothers us so all is well, but she is here to do a job and she does it well.

Sorry to hear about your problems. From past personal experience Your home owners insurance should be there to cover you and write several checks to your neighbors and fof all of their medical bills. My 5yr old daughter was bitten in the face by a relatives dog while we were on vacation visiting them. Of course we were not going to sue but the Ins Co paid all of the emergency room bills, plastic surgeon, air line tickets for a follow up visit, second doctor when we came home and then a check at the beginning of each year of college.

Neighbors dog bit a friends son in our front yard. Again their home owners insurance paid all of the medical bills and a fairly large settlement for the child and even an additional one for his brother who " was traumatized by seeing the incident"

Both dogs did survive as we did not report the first incident to other than the insurance co while in Hawaii and Colorado seems to have a first bite rule which saved my neighbors dog, so you may not have to put them down. It may go easier on you since these were adults, we tend to get more excited when something attacks our children.

his brother who " was traumatized by seeing the incident"



Damn, no wonder people are growing up to be such pansies these days!

He probably got tampons in his Christmas stocking too!

OMG Jake



Awesome!

Well If it was me in the 1800's they would be dead already.
But the law is protecting the freaking dogs for the 10 days of quarranteen. Yet I can't see them and the place they are being held is run by the county. I am sure if I choose to keep the dogs I will be facing several vet bills to get them back to health.

If I could have witnessed the incident I would have taken the dogs out back and knocked them both in the head and finished the filling in of the pool.

IMHO...

Sad story to be sure, but don't make it worse by trying to fix it yourself. The authorities will do what they have to, a personal apology to the victims by you and your son, but notify your insurance company right away. They have the lawyers on the payroll already, and it's better than you getting into any disagreements with your neighbors.

Oh damn the voice of reason.

Crap Jake, I just about spit coffee out my nose

Thanks Howard.
I have done exactly that. called my insurance co. and got the process to use if things go that way which I am sure they will.

the 10 days is for rabies. or should be. do you proof of a current vacination?

that's why we pay for liability on our homeowners.

k

Most states do. If you had no reason to know they were a risk to others, often the dogs get one pass. I would apologize until I was blue in the face, and try to explain the "deaf dog / dumbass son" factor. Old girls can be pretty understanding when it comes to pets and kids.

Good luck

Joe, put the kid down and get the dogs back....

I'll call you later...

-- Rob

You mean kick him out?
He has been avoiding me.

Every county is different in their animal control ordinance, but a ten day quarantine period is pretty standard if the dog's are not current on their rabies vaccination around here. That period is only to protect the person that was bitten, so they hopefully do not have to go through post exposure rabies treatment (very expensive and painful).

Deaf dalmations can be a problem, and it's quite possible that the dog was only startled by the person's actions. Nevertheless, you have to follow the ordinance in your area. The local animal control can tell you the procedures, hopefully they're good people and will let you keep the dogs if this was a first bite situation. Homeowner's insurance should cover you this time, but don't be surprised if your not allowed to renew it when it comes due again. Unfortunately, the insurance companies are getting bad when it comes to dog bites. Too many people playing liability lottery in our courts.

Hang in there, it can be tough if you have to put an animal (and friend) down. I've been a veterinarian for the past 28 years, and have had to be the bad guy pushing the euthanasia solution in situations like this before, it's heartbreaking for everyone concerned.

Look carefully at breeds before getting another dog, the insurance carriers have lists of breeds that they don't want to insure (PitBulls, Rotts, etc.). It's pretty much like the old muscle cars in the 70s - they're the ones calling the shots.