As promised, this is part III of a series about dogs and their owners, one of the owners being me.
As I mentioned in Part I, my dog was bitten in the face by an off-leash dog in a state park not far from where I live. Our shepherd-chow mix had three puncture wounds, two of which had to be repaired with staples. I wrote a column in our area newspaper, discussing the many dangers of having a dog run off-leash—dangers to dogs and people, including children, who may be in the vicinity.
Then there's the liability of dog bites. As I mentioned in Part II, jury awards for dog bite victims average around $24,000. There is a lot of sympathy from jurors, because those bitten by dogs often are children.
I was intrigued by a response to my column, which was originally published in our area newspaper. Printed in the paper a few days later, the writer stated that people who walk in public parks with their dogs off leash fall into two categories: they are either arrogant or ignorant. Some are arrogant, thinking that the laws do not apply to them, others are ignorant of what could happen and the damage and liability that could ensue.
So as promised, here's the update on our situation. After requesting a copy of the NY State Park Police report, we learned that the officer covering the incident went by the woman's house (which we had correctly identified after questioning neighbors). She admitted that her dog, off leash, had bitten our dog. She was issued a ticket by the police and was fined $135, we later learned .
Since I had the woman's name and phone number from the police report, I called her about restitution for our vet bill, which was more than $400. She seemed surprised that we had taken our dog to the vet at all. Her dog, she said, had also sustained an injury but she didn't take him. When I asked why, she said "Because he's a dog. They heal."
We agreed to a settlement on the bill, I received a check a week later and I'm glad to report that the ordeal is over. Our dog seems fine now and shows no visible scars.
Christine Mancini, CEO of Captive.com, also a dog owner who is crazy about her dogs, commented in an e-mail that she worries that something like this could happen to one of her dogs.
"Not only would we owners have to deal with a possibly severe injury, should our dog be on the receiving end of a bite from an aggressive dog that is 'running free as the wind,'" she said, but "a secondary consequence is that an attack like this—caused wholly by the owner's irresponsible behavior, not that of the attacking dog—can permanently ruin the previously-sweet, trusting temperament of the victimized dog, making HIM a potentially loaded gun in the presence of other dogs from that day forward."
Chris noted that one of her dogs in particular, which are Bouviers, would have a "pretty good crack at avoiding an attack, purely due to his hard-wired herding dog maneuverability (the 'Bouvier bounce' has a strong basis in reality!)." However, she said, "if successfully bitten by an aggressive dog, I can assure you that he would NEVER forget it."
She added, "I'm glad you are calling attention to this issue."
An irresponsible dog owner's actions can have many ripple effects, such as in my case. Happily my dog seems like his old self. I do suspect, however, that he will be much more on guard the next time we take him on a trail and another dog passes by—on or off of its leash. As Chris says, dogs can be traumatized and don't always get over it so easily.
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