Who pays when their dog attacks?

[MENTION=63321]chrisc[/MENTION], some food for thought...

I don't know what the bylaws are for CPT, but if her dog/s came out of her yard and attacked you, fairly certain that she will be liable for the damages caused. You might want to consider the possibility of using an attorne and claim for various bills and possibly even something for your suffering (I suppose it is the civil way of teaching her a lesson).

Consider doing a few house calls to her/their neighbours and find out if this has happened before. You never know if the dog/s are "serial offenders".

If she/they have personal insurance, they could claim for this from their personal liability insurance policy. I have heard of several claims that have run into the hundreds of thousands. Biggest I have heard of was around 6 or 7 million, but this was for a child that got mauled.

Her insurer will do their best to cut the frills out of the claim. An astute attorney will ensure you get your claim paid and a little more.

You could offer this to an attorney on a contingency basis, i.e they take a cut of your award and only get paid if the claim is successful.
 
The CT Metro Police tell me that some by-law has been broken by this person. I have to visit a Municipal office next and swear out an affidavit and take along invoices, with a full description of the incident.

The Metro Police also mentioned the houseowners insurance liability. The problem with that is you have to find out who the insurer is and she must submit a claim. I have already given her a letter of demand for the expenses portion. She took the envelope and tore it into two in front of me and told me not to bother her any more
 
chrisc said:
The CT Metro Police tell me that some by-law has been broken by this person. I have to visit a Municipal office next and swear out an affidavit and take along invoices, with a full description of the incident.

The Metro Police also mentioned the houseowners insurance liability. The problem with that is you have to find out who the insurer is and she must submit a claim. I have already given her a letter of demand for the expenses portion. She took the envelope and tore it into two in front of me and told me not to bother her any more
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Personal Liability would be the section in their policy. Regardless, your claim is submitted to the person not the insurer. Only if the insurer instructs you to deal with them is this a matter between you and her insurer.

Reading you post above, you are probably going to have to go the legal route to make her pay / teach her a lesson.
 
I also regularly have to deal with idiots and their "friendly" dogs, friendly until they start ripping a chunk off your leg and tearing your furry friend to pieces. I take pepper spray and don't let any big dog get close without action to keep them at bay, if the dog gets into close quarters and is aggressive the boot is ready as is the pepper spray. I don't take any chances, I've been bitten before and had a large dog bite another small dog on the neck which died on the spot. Dogs become like wild animals when they go into attack mode, you'd be a fool not to take them very seriously.

I would visit her one more time and politely request she cover what are nominal invoiced expenses relatively speaking, failing which you will get a contingency lawyer who will screw her for every last cent.
 
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Get a lawyer to send the letter of demand
 
Scooby_Doo said:
Maybe, but factor in the costs for going to normal court and this route will make sense.
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Or institute one claim for the medical expenses and another for the veterinary expenses? I haven't found anything on the site so far prohibiting that.
 
chrisc said:
She took the envelope and tore it into two in front of me and told me not to bother her any more
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She knows she dun goofed. She's hoping this intimidation gets you to back down. I think a lawyer's letter is the next step.
 
Just wondering :
Was there any witnesses to the incident ?
If so, did you ask them if they are prepared to give a statement ?
 
On public property an unleashed dog is 99.999% of the time going to mean the owner of that dog is liable for any damages caused. Simple as that

chrisc said:
The CT Metro Police tell me that some by-law has been broken by this person. I have to visit a Municipal office next and swear out an affidavit and take along invoices, with a full description of the incident.

The Metro Police also mentioned the houseowners insurance liability. The problem with that is you have to find out who the insurer is and she must submit a claim. I have already given her a letter of demand for the expenses portion. She took the envelope and tore it into two in front of me and told me not to bother her any more
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lol, get an attorney/lawyer involved and let her **** bricks instead. It's one thing to have made an honest mistake and then make a genuine effort to sort it out, but this sounds like she full well knows the issues the dog has and couldn't be bothered about being proactive in getting it sorted. So now she is in full offensive mode to try get you to back down.
 
Outside owner's premises. Off leash. Owner is 100% liable. It is ILLEGAL to have a dog unleashed outside your property. If you have the money, sue her for damages. It is what they call, a slam dunk case.
 
The CT Metro Police were incredibly useless. They went to this house. There is no dog and there have never been any dogs there, so says the owner. So I asked whether they looked inside or asked the neighbours whether there had been any dogs. They looked at me as if I was an imbecile

As I said, when I took around a letter, she snatched it out my hand, tore it in two and threw it through the bars of the gate

My lawyer said that there was little chance of success since, should it get to court, there is no actual proof that it was this person's dogs that caused the wounds

It is very quiet around there during the day and I was in a big hurry to get back home since my leg was bleeding badly and the dog was screaming

I drove past there today and stopped and whistled. The same dog came rushing up to the gate, so it is still there. The metro cops are simply not interested
 
chrisc said:
The CT Metro Police were incredibly useless. They went to this house. There is no dog and there have never been any dogs there, so says the owner. So I asked whether they looked inside or asked the neighbours whether there had been any dogs. They looked at me as if I was an imbecile

As I said, when I took around a letter, she snatched it out my hand, tore it in two and threw it through the bars of the gate

My lawyer said that there was little chance of success since, should it get to court, there is no actual proof that it was this person's dogs that caused the wounds

It is very quiet around there during the day and I was in a big hurry to get back home since my leg was bleeding badly and the dog was screaming

I drove past there today and stopped and whistled. The same dog came rushing up to the gate, so it is still there. The metro cops are simply not interested
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Then video it!
 
Yes proving anything without eye witnesses would be very tricky since it's your word against hers. Maybe give the Metro another go, offer to go show them the place and the dog, snap a pic of it while you are at it.
 
Lawyer up. She sounds like a piece of sht. Any decent human would admit it was their dog, their fault and pony up.
Also in future carry a knife.

Dog comes at my dog... stab. Simple as that.
 
ambroseg1 said:
Throw a brick through her car or house window if all else fails.
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Or burn the cows house down. Horrible person. That sounds a bit rought reading it back, but don't let this go. Tomorrow it happens again and then a kids gets mauled, you never know.
 
Your dog was on a leash, hers was not.

She is entirely at fault here.
 
I agree that some form of retribution is in order here. If the law is not going to help you, then find ways to even the score.
 
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