Dogs and lack of a "leash law"

Gecko, unfortunately, until one of those dogs does bite a child, animal control probably isn't going to get involved in this situation. Once that happens, it'll be on.

I've been doing a ton of research on this issue because my son was bitten two weeks ago by a boxer who practically tore his bottom lip off, and we've had to hire an attorney to get the dog's owners to pay for my son's medical bills, since they don't believe they're responsible for their dog's actions.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Well, it's a long story but I'll summarize.

Dane (my son) was spending the night with a friend (Eric). Eric's little sister was housesitting for some people who were out of town on vacation (these people are Eric's aunt and uncle). She called and asked her mom to run her phone charger over, because her phone battery was dead. The mom drove them over and Dane and Eric went in to give her the phone charger. Dane had been there before, and the dog was somewhat familiar with him. What Dane didn't know at the time was that the dog has cancer and had just had surgery on its legs. He gave it a doggie biscuit, and then patted it on the top of the head. It lunged up and bit his lip. Didn't bark or growl or anything...just lunged up, bit him and sat back down. Eric and his little sister corroborated this story when I talked to them in the emergency room.

At the risk of having Face tell me I'm a sicko again for posting these pictures, here's a couple of them from the night he was bitten - before and after almost 50 stitches (WARNING - VERY GRAPHIC!):

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

I have tried to be very fair, but these people won't cooperate. I pleaded with animal control not to take the dog, since it's sick and this is his first bite offense, and they didn't take him. I have no desire to see this dog get put to sleep. I just want these people to pay for my son's face. We'll have to wait and see what happens. According to my lawyer, since the daughter was acting as an agent for them at the time and allowed Dane to come into the house, and also because she didn't tell him that the dog was sick, we have a good case.

It also helped me make my decision about the dog when the plastic surgeon told me that he sees dog bite cases all the time, but this was the first he had ever heard of a boxer biting anyone. He told me that by far he sees more pit bull cases than any other ones, followed by chow and cocker spaniel bites.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Well, I really don't think this is a vicious dog. He was up-to-date on all his shots and there had never been any complaints against him before (he's 7-years-old). I think he just felt sick and that made him act unpredictably. Although I do feel like these people need to be extra-careful about allowing him around people in the future, since he has demonstrated that he's capable of biting.

FYI - Animal control questioned me repeatedly before the identification was made on this dog as to whether or not he might be a pit bull. I later found out that if this dog had been a pit bull, nothing I or anyone else could have said would have stopped them from putting him to sleep.

Oh, and the plastic surgeon doesn't think Dane's scar is going to be very noticeable, if you can believe that.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

vemp, is that a true story? If so, just...wow.

julia, Dane's stitches came out on Thursday and he looks a lot better now. And yes, I believe any dog will bite when they're sick or injured. That's why I had even a shred of compassion for this one.

How ya doing, buddy?

Well, I am no expert on dog behavior, but I think that since he's bitten someone now, he has shown that he's capable of doing so again. But what do I know? All dogs are unpredictable...they're dogs, not humans. They aren't capable of rational thought. People tend to forget that, I think.

I was speaking idiomatically.