Our dog bit another dog now the owner is saying they want vets bill paid?
Our normally extremely docile Bull Mastiff was in the garden with our border collie and tibetan terrier puppy. Our garden has 6ft Iron gates which go out on to the road and a footpath opposite. My husband opened the gate to go out and the puppy slipped out, he made a run for the puppy and the Bull Mastiff followed. The Mastiff then spotted a Staffordshire Bull Terrier on the other side of the road on a lead with owner. For some reason he lunged at the dog it was all over in a few seconds my husband pulled him off and with a bit of abuse from the owner and an apology from my husband the owner went on his way. That was over a week ago. The owner has now knocked the door saying that the Staff had to go to the vets and paid a bill of £120.00 my husband had a look at the dog and said there was a puncture mark on the dog but it didnt look bad, and asked him why it had took a week for him to come back. He said that he was too upset about it. Apparently they have pet insurance which will pay for the vet, but they will persue us for the money so he wants us to pay the bill. We dont know what to do. I think our dog was protecting the puppy from what he thought was danger, almost on our territory. I know the dog was in the wrong but should we tell the owner to go through the insurance or just pay up??
15 Comments on “Our dog bit another dog now the owner is saying they want vets bill paid?”
from your description, your dog got out and bit another dog … it is irrelevant what warm fuzzy stories about protecting the puppy you want to tell, your dog was loose and bit another dog … pay up … and offensive you don’t even take responsibility !!! bad dog owners give good dog owners the same bad name …
If your dog got loose and attacked another dog, and they have vet bills of that amount…whether they go through insurance or not is not your concern. You have to pay up. Sorry, but you got no defense here. Puncture wounds often need to be stitched, flushed, antibiotics, everything. Bill sounds reasonable.
These people want you to pay up, AND make a claim on their insurance policy? Hum
However, as your dog caused the injury, I’m afraid you are probably liable to pay for any resulting vet treatment. Make sure you see the bill from the vet, to confirm the exact amount and exactly what it was for. Perhaps you can claim from your 3rd party insurance?
Edit – And I agree, £120 doesn’t sound excessive – I’ve just paid almost £145. for treatment for a sickness bug one of mine went down with yesterday!!
Add – Oh RATS. Yes, this is a repeat question, from a year ago.
No, your dog was loose, at large, and attacked another dog unprovoked. You should pay for the vet bills of the dog your dog bit. YOU are responsible for YOUR dogs.
You need to pay the Vet bills for that dog.
When your dog gets lose it’s YOUR fault no matter what. That’s part of being a responsible pet owner like it or not. You should be thankful they are only asking you to pay the vet bill. They’d be within their rights to go after you for a lot more. If I were you’d I’d pay it, be gracious, thankful, helpful, admit you were in the wrong and show that you’re making changes that it will never happen again. To only have to pay the vet bill………..you got off VERY lucky-they must be very nice people.
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DUDE ——- this was a year ago and it was not your dog.
http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AvCgub1YIII_qGtGuxgqOUfpFQx.;_ylv=3?qid=20100222101751AAOoawC
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At the end of the day, you had a dog off lead out of your control (what ever reasoning was behind it) so you are responsible.
Personally I’d ask to see the vet bill (+ring the vet) and be obliged to pay it if the £120 was all for the puncture wound (but we payed less than than for a ruptured anal gland 2 years ago).
My guess is if he went through his insurance he’d be paying half that amount or more in the excess so it wouldn’t be worth it for him.
You are technically at fault for the attack occurring in the first place. I see situations like this at work ALL the time. You should man up and pay for the injuries that your dog caused. Either that or they can take you to court.
No matter whether this is an old question, accidents will happen. Yes you should pay, but more than that, you will definitely need better training for your dogs, because they are big fighting dogs that if they get out of control again could get run over, cause an accident or be bitten themselves. worst case is that the council will order them to be put down.
Money wise, the fee was very small compared to most vet bills. You were very lucky. yes you can ask to see the vet bill, but then you should only do so if you are going to do the right thing. Insurance or not, their premium will go up if they pay for it, and since it wasn’t their fault, why should they pay?
I think as your dogs were not harmed, you got off very lightly and really need to make sure you are always in control of such big dogs in the future. Imagine losing one forever?
You was in the wrong for not having your dog properly under control. Rather then have the neighbor take you to court in a law suite, Pay them the vet bill.
You are completely in the wrong. Pay up and grow up.
You’ve got to pay. The insurance has a yearly limit, and why should they use that up for something that was YOUR fault?
Pay up and thank your lucky stars nothing worse happened.
A dog owner is responsible for ensuring that their dog is securely contained on their property & under their control at all times when walked, so its behavior is never allowed to be a nuisance or threat to other dogs.
Clearly this was not the case, as your dog attacked a dog that was being walked on a lead.
You cannot expect to automatically benefit from the fact that the dog owner has an insurance policy.
It is a fact that EVERY policy requires the policy holder to pay an excess {their contribution towards the entire bill} so you should be liable for that.
It is also a fact that many policies have a maximum claim amount in any year & some have a maximum claim amount per condition. You were at fault because your Mastiff was not under your control & bit the other dog. It is therefore not reasonable to expect the owner of the injured dog to suffer a financial loss & have their total claim amount for the year reduced.
My advice is to pay for the veterinary treatment, acknowledge responsibility & assure the owner that it will not happen again.
If the incident happened on a public footpath, the dog could be held to have been out of control in a public place, which is a prima facie offence under the Dangerous Dogs Act…..much worse than simply paying a bill.
Edit: A repeat question merits a copy & paste repeat answer [mine]
Your dog was at fault- you pay. You should have offered to begin with.
pay up.
It doesnt matter that you think your dog was "protecting" the pup.
Your dog was not fenced or leashed, and attacked a dog that was leashed. The other owner was obeying leash laws, his dog was under control, yours was not.
Pay up.. the other owner has every right to take you to court over it, and then you’d have to pay the vet bill AND legal fees.