Just this past December, a family member had taken my bull terrier (not a restricted dog or declared dangerous animal) for a walk on the dog beach. However, this beach was an off the leash zone. The family member decided it was best for him to keep my dog on the lead to maintain control as he can become frightened by unknown dogs.
This family member was minding their own business and was heading back to the car park when two dogs had approached my dog from behind... After they had stirred him up a little, my dog turned and bit one of their dogs on the lip. My family member had managed to keep my dog under control and went to speak to the owner of the dog whose lip had been bitten and the man had admitted that he should of had his dog under control, however, the partner of this man somehow thought it was a smart idea to approach this family member as they were trying to leave the beach with her four dogs and the two who had previously caused an incident (who were still off the leash at the time).
My dog still being agitated/frightened and feeling no sense of control of the situation had grabbed one of the dogs by the ear and used his body weight to keep the dog down (not thrashing or making any attempt to actually want to kill the animal). The dog he had grabbed then began to thrash therefore resulting in cuts to the ear.
The man who had also owned the other dogs decided to penetrate my dog with a ball thrower stick potentially causing internal bleeding which could lead to death. My family member was able to get my dog to let go and move away but in the process had been bitten by the other dog and had to get stitches.
The owner of the dog is now wanting me to reimburse her for after hours vet bill which I refuse to pay as I believe she had instigated the situation and had no control of the dogs when my dog had been. she is threatening legal action even though the local council has investigated and determined that they will not be pursuing the incident as they believe the owners of the dogs were at fault.
If she takes legal action it will be civil but will she have any chance of getting something out from me?
This family member was minding their own business and was heading back to the car park when two dogs had approached my dog from behind... After they had stirred him up a little, my dog turned and bit one of their dogs on the lip. My family member had managed to keep my dog under control and went to speak to the owner of the dog whose lip had been bitten and the man had admitted that he should of had his dog under control, however, the partner of this man somehow thought it was a smart idea to approach this family member as they were trying to leave the beach with her four dogs and the two who had previously caused an incident (who were still off the leash at the time).
My dog still being agitated/frightened and feeling no sense of control of the situation had grabbed one of the dogs by the ear and used his body weight to keep the dog down (not thrashing or making any attempt to actually want to kill the animal). The dog he had grabbed then began to thrash therefore resulting in cuts to the ear.
The man who had also owned the other dogs decided to penetrate my dog with a ball thrower stick potentially causing internal bleeding which could lead to death. My family member was able to get my dog to let go and move away but in the process had been bitten by the other dog and had to get stitches.
The owner of the dog is now wanting me to reimburse her for after hours vet bill which I refuse to pay as I believe she had instigated the situation and had no control of the dogs when my dog had been. she is threatening legal action even though the local council has investigated and determined that they will not be pursuing the incident as they believe the owners of the dogs were at fault.
If she takes legal action it will be civil but will she have any chance of getting something out from me?