Watson's Ordeal

Court wasn't so bad.. not the first time I've had to testify :wink2:

The DCO was pretty surprised when I showed up with a packet of nice glossy 8x10s showing the attack location, attack dog's home in relation to the attack site, a tuft of hair that was ripped out of Watson showing where it happened, and of course- the wounds, a good one of him looking a bit shocky, and the tinkling drain picture.

I have an education background in biology, work background in animal pathology, so the vet talks to me like I have the ability to understand what exactly happened with the wounds and what is going on with the healing... even if I don't know the medical part of actually TREATING them- I can understand why they are doing what they are. And I as able to convey that to the judge.

He called the owner up and asked her how she thought he was going to rule... her answer? "I dunno." The judge said he thought it was pretty clear to him that the dog was dangerous, and ruled as such and set forth control and confinement requirements, along with spaying and microchipping-- all that was also ordered for the other dog, none of it has been done yet.

Neither dog is to be outdoors without being on a hand help leash under the control of an individual over 21yoa or in a secured fence build to the specs of the DCO.

We went back to his brother's house for lunch. Not hours after court, the second dog was found to be outside, unsupervised on the same tie-out the other one broke free from. The entire neighborhood knows about this and one of the gals across the street who saw the whole thing actually came to court and testified for us... she called the DCO and he came by and gave her... wait for it... A WARNING!!! :mad::mad::mad::mad:

The judge said the restrictions he would order would be those that a responsible dog owner would already do. It's pretty obvious to me that she doesn't care about the judge's order or public safety.

ETA: The judge asked her if anyone ever told her that she might not be someone who should be a dog owner.. her answer was obviously "no." To which he repsonded "well, I am doing exactly that right now."
 
How frustrating is that!!! Really, enforcement is a necessary element to making a court order meaningful. :no:

Kudos to you for being so well prepared.
 
Call the police/animal control every.single.time that dog is tied out like that. Don't even wait for the dog to be loose. Be prepared to show the court docs stating the restrictions on BOTH dogs to whomever responds. Build that paper trail.

Then I'd see what you could do to ensure that the owner has another court date. Provide documentation. If they still will not seize the dogs, then I would go to the news station.

This woman has no business owning this type of dog. Period.
 
It is ridiculous and maddening to read about situations like this! Both of those dogs should have been taken away from such an irresponsible owner. I don't like saying that they should be euthanized, but after dealing so much damage to another animal they need to be completely rehabilitated and properly trained as a minimum.

Ugh, he should have made her pay the court the money for spaying the animals and sent them straight to a vet to be snipped before she was allowed to have them back.

Again, I'm heartened to hear Watson is recovering well. And I hope a miracle happens and your neighbor starts taking her responsibilities to those dogs and everyone living near her seriously.
 
That is unbelievable!!!! :( Does someone or someone's beloved pet have to die before the powers that be take this seriously and accept that these dogs present an unacceptable level of danger to the community and the owner obviously is not going to do anything about it? You must be beyond frustrated at this point. I am so sorry you didn't get better support than this.

I agree that every single time the orders given to this owner are not followed a call to the police is needed...hopefully if they get enough complaint calls the judge will finally do something responsible about this situation...right now I can't see that he is demonstrating much more responsibility than the owner of the dogs.

Trini
 
I am so glad Watson is recovering so well both mentally and physically!

Reading all the stories of unprovoked attacks makes me feel sick. Then for the dog to be chained outside again? :mad: What is wrong with these people??
I hope for your peace of mind those dogs are gone, one way or another, very soon. And that they are paying for all your medical expenses.
 
Just read your thread about the attack and it brought back some bitter, sad memories of my first George who was attacked by a pit bull. Since that time, and with our two shelties now, my husband never takes them for a walk without a knife in a holder on his belt--he almost broke his hand and got bit when he tried desperately to get the pit bull off of George. Totally unprovoked attack on the walking trail near our house.
Poor George almost died two times in the days right after the attack and only our vet's wonderful care got him through, but he suffered from the puncture wounds for months as they seeped from his large area in his upper back, ruff area where there was a large area of bare skin- never did grow hair back there. Eventually we found that the attack had caused his trachea to collapse and we had to let him go as he was suffocating slowly. I cried for weeks over my sweet (and first) sheltie being so horribly hurt.
I have you in my prayers and my heart and hope that your sweet fur baby heals well and has a good long life left! Sorry to say it, but that dog that attacked needs to be put down or put into a situation away from people--what if that had been a small child?
 
I just read this story!

I am so very sorry that this happened to you all. How traumatic. I am always so fearful of something like that happening while we are out with our dogs. We take them for walks all the time, and I am petrified of getting attacked.

I am glad that Watson is healing, and hopefully he will not have any long time effects.
 
Georgie'sMom said:
Just read your thread about the attack and it brought back some bitter, sad memories of my first George who was attacked by a pit bull. Since that time, and with our two shelties now, my husband never takes them for a walk without a knife in a holder on his belt--he almost broke his hand and got bit when he tried desperately to get the pit bull off of George. Totally unprovoked attack on the walking trail near our house.
Poor George almost died two times in the days right after the attack and only our vet's wonderful care got him through, but he suffered from the puncture wounds for months as they seeped from his large area in his upper back, ruff area where there was a large area of bare skin- never did grow hair back there. Eventually we found that the attack had caused his trachea to collapse and we had to let him go as he was suffocating slowly. I cried for weeks over my sweet (and first) sheltie being so horribly hurt.
I have you in my prayers and my heart and hope that your sweet fur baby heals well and has a good long life left! Sorry to say it, but that dog that attacked needs to be put down or put into a situation away from people--what if that had been a small child?
Click to expand...

I'm so sorry to hear about George :(. It sounds all too familiar right now with our vet figuring that it's going to take at least a good two months for him to heal. Each story I read I realize how very fortunate we were. Fortunate that it was my boyfriend, not me or one of our young nieces or nephews taking him for his potty break. Fortunate the attack was completely from the back- no windpipe or esophagus involved. Fortunate for no broken ribs. And fortunate for the random passerby who stopped to help.

So far he doesn't have any areas on his back where the hair is gone... I'm sure where the puncture wounds are, won't grow back over the scars, hopefully the rest of his coat is long enough to cover it up... if it doesn't, people will be sure to ask what happened... I will always be sure to tell them his story and hopefully somehow spread the word about responsible dog ownership... I feel like I owe him that.

He isn't oozing too badly today and yesterday I barely got anything out of the wounds- some, but not as much as I as expecting. We will do another course of antibiotics starting Tuesday but I am hopeful that his progress continues to please the vet... the last attack victim she healed out had his brisket turned to hamburger... it took a while, but it came together.

Like your husband, my boyfriends is more than apprehensive about taking him for walks in public now. And that saddens me- Watson has always gone everywhere with us because I think it has been really good for him to see new things and people. I think in a way he feels responsible. We were at his brother's yesterday before court, and Watson has pawing at the front of his crate to come out and do his business-- he didn't want me to get him out and when I did he wanted no part of it because "he had him the last time it happened."

I will probably start carrying a pocket knife when we are out on walks in some areas. I've already talked with our trainer and arranged visiting some of her obedience classes once he is healed more just to see how his reaction is to other dogs. So far at least, it seems to have been fine. I want to be able to take him back to the dog park and watch him running and trying to keep up with the other dogs.

I'm sorry for all the long posts.... it's helping me think through all of this and continue to process what happened and the more I can read in black and white about his progress the easier time I have convincing myself that he's gonna be ok.
 
Darci, no need to apologize for the long posts...everyone of us who has been through one of these attacks struggles with all the same emotions you have. It is hard to ever see life quite the same way when the reality of what happened is part of our memory bank and until something is done to enforce responsible care of potentially aggressive dogs (and I honestly don't know what can be done when owners and the courts don't step up and take charge) we know there is always the chance of facing this horrific situation again. The hardest part is how sudden and unprovoked these attacks are...there is little to no time to realize what is coming and defend yourself and your little one.

There are streets where we live that I never walk anymore with my dogs, knowing that a couple of houses have aggressive dogs who are not contained (even though there is a leash/containment law in our town it is not enforced..esp if you are one of the "good old boys" and chummy with the dog control officer), but I know the possibility that these dogs can roam and be on streets that I do walk is real and although I don't dwell on it and we still enjoy our walks...that possibility is always lurking at the edges of my thoughts.

We are blessed that we have 6 acres and with multiple dogs we don't need to go to dog parks for them to have buddies to play with...but I still like to get them out and about for walks so they don't become scared of the big world out there.

It sounds like Watson is healing physically as well as can be expected...and when he regrows his beautiful coat it will completely hide any scars. And emotionally he seems to have come through well. But it is so unfair that a sweet dog gets put through something like this...and for you and your boyfriend too. I am just so very sorry.

Trini
 
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