Dog attacks

multiweb (Marc) · #1 20-11-2010, 08:12 AM

Friday morning bitten in my own backyard

One of my pet duck got mauled pretty bad. Surprised he's still alive. Ducks are pretty resiliant according to the vet. Just making little lies at the moment as my 11yr old daughter is balling her eyes out and I don't have the heart to tell her yet or her to see him. Time will tell.

Went to lodge a police report obviously as I had to get to the emergency pronto and get a shot + IV + antibiotics. Now they took a deposition and told me to contact the council. I know where the dogs live. Found out the house number this morning 5 houses down the block. Not errant dogs, looked after but obviously not that well fed and roaming around.

They tried to come for seconds this morning but I had fenced it all. They're two Chinese pomeranians. Nasty little things so they fitted between the gate's gaps.

Where to go from here? Would love to hear if anyone has had bad experiences of the sort and what they did. I love pets, cats, dogs but this just not on. Thanks heaps.

Lee · #2 20-11-2010, 08:17 AM

Start by handing the owners the vet bill. Then buy a rottweiler....

gmbfilter (Geoff) · #3 20-11-2010, 08:42 AM

No, sorry I haven't seen your dogs.
Would they have run away?

Hagar (Doug) · #4 20-11-2010, 08:48 AM

Sorry to hear this Marc. Unfortunately it is a dificult situation for your family and the dogs. Depending on your local council and it's bylaws you may well have some comeback on having the irresponsible owners fined or some restrictions placed on them and their dogs. You may also find the council do absolutely nothing whichndoes seem to be the normal approach for a first offence.
To take it any further and attempt to recoupe any expences falls back to taking civil action which is usually prohibitively expensive.

The fact that you have been bitten usually renders some action by your local council a fore gone conclusion. There is a lot of rules regarding dog attacks on humans and you should be able to use these to your benifit. I got bitten several years ago while walking my dog and the only avenue was civil action but now there is quite a few upgrades in the dogs at large regulations and bylaws which require some actions by council.

I hope all goes well.

AdrianF (Adrian) · #5 20-11-2010, 08:52 AM

Police or council are not interested in things like that in this area. One of my students was attacked by a dog on the the way to college, police called no action call the council no action.

Adrian

hotspur (Chris) · #6 20-11-2010, 09:32 AM

A very unfortunate thing to happen.

As usual with councils,they take a while to get going on matters like this.Always go to the chambers with pieces of paper-doctors bill,vet bill etc-they will photocopy them-this is a good sign.

Ask the council about who does vermin control,dog catching issues and similar.The fact that this has happened on your property-not just one incident but two of a serious nature,will get some sort of action.

Ask council if they supply box traps,they usually do not work well.But go through every protocol related to such an event,Make sure you write everything down as it happens,every meeting with council official.

Remuneration and justice is can sometimes take a while,sometimes its a case of the 'squeeky wheel gets the oil'-make a appointment with local councillor,remember to take all that paper work,and photos too-your wound-the duck etc.

If all else fails-go to 'today tonight' on channel 7 or similar,you will have all the paper work,and a list of sequence of events and what happened at every event.Sounds a little odd,but it usually makes things happen-quickly!

Barrykgerdes · #7 20-11-2010, 09:40 AM

Don't call the police or council. Most of them know the rules and assume you don't and can be easily fobbed off. They won't do anything without the correct "threats". Call your Lawyer. That worries them.

Barry

multiweb (Marc) · #8 20-11-2010, 10:36 AM

Bit of mixed feedback here. Sounds like it's a grey area depending on which councils. Went to the LCC website and thankfully they're pretty tough on this kind of stuff. Fines are heavy and accumulate. By the books those guys are out for a cool G in fines. The ranger called me back within 2min of my phone call to the council after hours line service. I have all photos and documentations. Will take it from there and report later on how it went. He's coming Monday, we had a long chat, he wasn't impressed to say the least. Here's hoping.

No news from the surgery yet so I assume the duck made it overnight. If he hangs in there another 48h all will be good. My hand's better, no sign of infection so I'd say he'll be good to go too. Risk of infection is the major problem. They are probably pumping more anti-biotics in him than they did in me.

Man, I am sooo over pets. I tried cats (3), ducks(2). What's next? Pick up a bullet proof freakin' wombat on the next trip to Ilford?

CraigS · #9 20-11-2010, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by multiweb

What's next? Pick up a bullet proof freakin' wombat on the next trip to Ilford?

Hi Marc;
Not pleasant.
I feel for your 11 year old !! (Oh yeah .. and you, too ..)

If you do get a wombat .. better make sure it ain't one like this …

.. but there again, it might solve the dog problem !
… it seems that wombats may be above the law .!!.

Quote:

Mr McClure said it is illegal to kill wildlife in some cases and the department may investigate.

Sick 'em Rex-the-wombat !!

Cheers

bert (Brett) · #10 20-11-2010, 12:56 PM

Hey Marc,

Are you not digging a hole for a pier?

Brett

marki · #11 20-11-2010, 01:07 PM

Best thing to do is trap them then call the dog pound. Make sure they know the dogs have bitten you and they will get put down. Sounds heartless I know but it may be your kids next time and it's just not worth the risk.

Mark

Waxing_Gibbous (Peter) · #12 20-11-2010, 01:11 PM

I will hold good thoughts for your duck.
We had a similar experience, except with wedge-tails. Our cat saw them off!

Insane cat!
While I like MOST dogs, Pomeranians, Shi-tzus, Maltese Terriers etc. are natively quite vicious dogs - its a good thing they aren't the size of Rotweillers - and I find them objectionable. More people are seriouslly bitten and pets mauled by these aggresive little fur-balls than all the pit-bulls, dobermans and rottweilers combined (RSPCA figures 2007).
I hope you get satisfaction from the owners / council, but apart from that good solid fencing and perhaps a dog of your own are really the only defence. A sound Staffy ***** makes an excellent guard dog; good with kids, easy to train to keep away from other pets, and pretty uncompromising of invading canines. I mean you could shoot the offenders, but you don't strike me as a dog-killer.
Good luck and you can always borrow my Jack Russel if push comes to shove. He IS nuts!

taminga16 (Greg) · #13 20-11-2010, 01:15 PM

Have you spoken with the dogs owners?

Octane (Humayun) · #14 20-11-2010, 01:16 PM

Poor duck. : (

o< quack.

H

casstony · #15 20-11-2010, 03:48 PM

Talk to the owners - if they apologise profusely and bend over backwards to make everything right, including covering costs and making their yard more secure, maybe give them a second chance. If not I imagine you should legally be able to get the dogs put down.

We let some neighbors off the hook after their blue heeler bit my wife on the footpath 12 days after a spinal fusion - they apologised, brought flowers to the house and their dog never got out of the yard again. I think it was worth giving them a second chance because of their responsible attitude.

TrevorW · #16 20-11-2010, 06:05 PM

Sorry I agree with Marki, IMO if they attack another animal they are probably underfed agressive and maltreated and will do it again given the opportunity

Dennis · #17 20-11-2010, 10:00 PM

So sorry to hear of your experience Marc – I hope that you are well and make a full recovery and that ducky survives the attack.

Cheers

Dennis

OneOfOne (Trevor) · #18 22-11-2010, 08:04 AM

If they are not properly fed...just chuck 'em a sausage one day, it may be the last you see of them.

Jeffkop (Jeff) · #19 22-11-2010, 11:06 AM

Most times people have to come to confrontation with animals, they want to sort it out but they DONT want to hurt the animals ... This process is defensive and so the aggressor doesnt really get intimidated at all. Two things happen .. you get bitten, they come back.

I would be approaching the owners calmly and tell them about your experience. If they are reasonable people they will do everything possible to make ammends. If they are not ... then you just tell them where to come and find their dogs if they dont return home after a period of time.
Its your duck or their dog .. simple. Or .. you just dispose of the dog quietly and plead total ignorance.

I have ducks too so I am really replying from a very bias stand point.

PS ... I will have new ducklings in 15 days. If you need one or two .. yell out, then we have to work the logistics

multiweb (Marc) · #20 22-11-2010, 11:37 AM

Well the ranger dropped by this morning, took the deposition and it's moving forward. Problem is that both potential addresses have about 4 dogs each in their backyard and I couldn't recognise any of them. Ironicaly I keep seeing those two dogs walking around the neighbourhood and my wife saw them disappear in one of those houses backyard last Saturday. So I guess I have to find them first. Just a matter of time now. The duck (half of it) is surprisingly getting better, still soldering on so that's good news. Not out of danger yet but everyday's better than the previous so it's looking up. Hopefully they can clean it up and make it look presentable so I can take my daughter to see him as she's been bugging me ever since to go visit.