Hmmmm

I have a cautionary tale for you all this evening, please enjoy at my expense! (some advice also would be much appreciated).

Was walking all three dogs, down a back alley/path that goes down the side of some houses. Abby and Rocky were off lead, as this is a place where ive NEVER seen another dog or a cat, there is no traffic, etc etc.  Anyway.. as we get level with a 4ft wall, the boundary of some houses, Rocky spies a cat! Zoom, he is gone.......

Over the wall and into the front lawns/car parking area for a row of four houses. The other boundary is walled as well, with a big metal gate on it. I cant get through to him from myside, the gate is locked, and by now he has gone over the second wall and is in a small access lane for the other houses.

I try and grab Abby, but miss her tail as she too leaps over the wall, and takes off across the courtyard to follow Rocky, who has by now treed this cat.
Then, horror of horrors, both dogs jump up, and over a third wall, and down into a walled driveway. The cat must have vanished, as Abby reappears quite quickly, see's me calling and yelling and Dill is screaming his head off cos he wants to join in the fun....... jumps back over the middle of the three walls...... and lands on the bonnet of a jeep.... skids across it scratching the paintwork.

Then the owner of the jeep appears from his house, goes all red in the face, jumps around a lot and swears at me. I recapture Abby and come over to discuss what i can do about the damage to his car. Before i can do this though, i need to retrieve Rocky, and since Mr Annoyed Car Owner is still squawking at me and using more swear words than i knew existed, i ignore him and go and fetch Rocky, who has, i heavily suspect, attempted to leap out of the driveway, using the bonnet of a Mercedes as a spring board and put a dent in that (i dont know for certain, as i didnt see him do it, and dont know if this car had a dent to start off).

Fortunately i get him out via a gap in the gate, and dont have to present myself to the Merc owners.......

I do, however have to return to Mr Stroppy Knickers, who is STILL red in the face and jumping up and down.

He blathers on at me, calling me every name under the sun (ok, maybe having the dogs on a lead would have been a better idea, but no one could forsee Abby using this guys car as  a landing pad!) and threatening to call the police.

Since my offer of buying him some T-Cut and polishing the scratches out doesnt seem to appease him, i lose the plot and say 'Call the f'ing police then'..... he does, and gets even MORE p'd off when they say its nowt to do with them and to sort it with me...

He then decides that maybe me buying some T-Cut or similar scratch removal substance will suffice, and takes my address and finally lets me go home.

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

So the question is, what should i do now?

Mr Annoyed Car Owner has expressed his view that i will not reappear and sort it out..... therefore 'nothing' is obviously not an option.
However, if i go and try and remove the scratch, as agreed by both of us, and do further damage to his car, then i stand to lose out further if he chooses to do something about it.
I have contacted the police, and they told me, as they told him, that it is a civil matter, but i could really do without it going any further.

My other option, is to write him a letter explaining why im not prepared to touch his car, and give him that with a bottle of scratch remover.

Any ideas (and yes, not walking past there again, and keeping dogs on leads is so obvious even I have thought of it!)

This guy does have my address and phone number, however although i know where he lives i dont have his details.

Would the agreement for me to repair the damage be taken as a contract and that should further damage occur whilst im repairing the original damage, would that be his liability or mine?

Em. (veyr confused)

Not very helpful Em but would your insurance not cover repairs under 3rd party damage? I had an OES years ago who ran into a car and took the front bumper and grill off, Insurance paid for repairs as 3rd party damage.

Kay

Em...   the main thing is Abby and Rocky weren't hurt blow the cars ,do you have dog insurance? Some cover this sort of thing..if you don't perhaps you can say it was an act of god ? If all else fails go round and cry, one of my girls told me when we were discussing her excess baggage before flying that she always gets her luggage through, she just cries and makes sure the tears roll down her cheeks and it works every time!!

hehe, yeah glad the dogs werent hurt (though i could cheerfully throttle the pair of them)......

Hopefully, as bad as this is of me, no one will tell the Mercedes owner....... so they will have to claim it was an act of god! Either that or they will think a very very fat cat landed on their car!

In all seriousness though, *I* didnt see Rocky or abby damage the Merc, THEY didnt see it either, so really what else can i do, and im afriad i am so skint that im not gonna put my hand up and say it was my dog wot did it, if it might not have been!

I suppose things could have been far worse........ the merc could have been a soft top, and one or other dogs could have gone through the roof..... the cat they were chasing could have ended up as a snack........... ah well.......

Em

I think that you DO know that your dog caused the damage...or you wouldnt have posted on here.
I felt very upset when i read your post.........I will explain why.  I understand that you may not have too much money, neither have I. Unfortunately only this week someone damaged my car in the works car park and didnt admit it. I could claim on my insurance, but i have a £100 excess. Due to this persons dishonesty ( funnily enough they also claim "the damage may have been there already" ) I will have to pay that £100. I cant leave it unrepaired as it means i cant lock the boot. I havent seen my elderly parents for 3 months as they live away.....I was going to pay them a visit, but now i cant afford the petrol.   All this because of someone elses dishonesty and selfishness.Please dont assume that the posh car means this guy can afford it. You never can make assumptions like that, you dont know the circumstances. So what if the guy is angry......are you saying you would like it if someone damaged your things and wouldnt pay?

You wont want to hear this , but I think you should accept responsibility and pay up. If he has agreed to you paying for T cut then you have got off VERY lightly indeed, as professional repars would cost hundreds. Accept that the guy is angry...he has every right to be.... you would be equally angry if someone damaged your property and then tried to wriggle out of it.

I appreciate that many other people are telling you otherwise...but a lot of people dont have morals. Thats why people like me have to keep struggling along.

Hi Em,

Seems like you are confused.
1st off I wouldn't touch his car at all! I would buy all the stuff to try and remove the scratches but let him do it (after all it's his car), and he would have to do it anyway if he didn't notice straight away. Just ask yourself what if it was a cat? He couldn't do anything about it!

So, let 'Mr stroppy knickers' do it and let him 'ruin' it!

Yes fair enough we should keep our dogs on leads, but, if your dog usually comes back then I don't see a problem.

Alternatively, get some quotes from a few body shops, pay for it, but have nothing to do with the end result after the money has changed hands.

I know this is not the way to do it but, it is your word against his isn't it? Nobody else was there?

Let me know anyway,
hope I have helped a little bit.

Ashleigh

Oh dear Em, you've obviously had the day from hell!

Are you dogs insured as most insurance companies cover damage to property and this may be covered?

sadly, (and yes, stupidly) no , Abby is too old to be insured, Rocky and dill are not as yet insured as i havent found a company who i can pay through the postoffice without incurring large fees for doing so..... (and whose policies are worth the money).

Yes i think the best thing will be to buy the scratch removal stuff and give him it and explain (probably in a letter, he not very approachable) why i wont touch his car myself.

Thanks for not saying im a stupid cow everyone!!!!!

(feel free to say it about the insurance on the dogs though! gonna get that sorted)

Em

Hi Em,
Nobody is perfect, you must know that!

If you havn't found the right insurer, then you havn't found the right one.!!!

I definately wouldn't go see him again, you obviously know his address, as you were there, so write that letter. But don't write anything you may later regret, as it is in black and white.

How was anybody to know your dog would be 'bouncing off cars' today? I for one surely couldn't predict that.

The most important thing is you dog is ok and safe!
A dog is much more important than a few little scratches!

It's natural instinct for dog to chase a cat!

Ashleigh (and good luck Em!)

Im sorry but you(a supposed responsible dog owner who knows only the most EFFECTIVE methods of training,as i have heard you bleat on here before)should know better!!After all this man didnt ask for you and your "out of control"dogs to come along and damage his car did he?

So im afraid its your duty as a "responsible"dog ownerto compensate this man for any damage caused.After all if it were his car that had "damaged"your dog,then we know who then would be looking for compensation dont we?And rightly so,but it works both ways im afraid,

so i would suggest that you do the dutiful thing and be the responsible dog owner that you would have us believe you are,and "cough up".

Sorry by the way, that this post came in three stages, lol, but my comp aint up to it these days, lol,cant cope with these lenghty posts ,lol.

Jestony....

Do you have any constructive advice?

I am failing to see any in your post, and lets face it, i DID ask for constructive advice!

Im well aware that i am at fault here, as im pretty certain my posts will tell you, and im perfectly prepared to cough up for the damage done, (if i was in the right id have told the guy to stuff it!).

As far as the owners of the other car are concerned, since i do not know if the damage was caused by my dog, and they didnt witness my dog do the damage either, im buggered if im paying for it, and quite frankly i dont care if y ou think that makes me wrong or not!

Em

It is possible that your household insurance will cover this or may be one of your other insurances do. Looking at it from the outside there seems no doubt that you are liable to put matters right, but do not think you should do it yourself. Have a phone around your insurance companies and if all fails ask said angry man to get at least 4 quotes for having the work done and say you will then discuse the matter with him. With a bit of luck he will find it all too much trouble.

Have you seen the damage in daylight?  If the damage is too bad for a TCutting, then there is a franchise called Chips Away (they are all over the country now) who either come to your house or have their own small body shops, they are very reasonable and very good.  I am afraid having been caught in the act as it were I would have to remedy the situation, if the Merc is next door or very close to angry jeep man then don't forget they may well talk about it - that is of course if your dog did do the damage to the Merc

Very bad luck, you could not have envisaged that happening - sounds like something from Soem Mothers do 'ave em!!1

Hayley

Well Em I'm the world's biggest worry wart and I don't think I'd have seen that coming. Your trying to put it right. I bet it won't happen again we learn by experience so I'd say sort it out and put it behind you.

It's a car nobody got hurt/killed thank goodness
                
                                                           Anne

There but for the grace of God go I and a lot of other people too. Our dogs have a fairly good recall but they let us down yesterday when 20 or so rabbits caught their attention. Once in prey drive many many dogs will ignore their owners and will go their own sweet way. I bet you won't walk down that alley way again!

I can see from both sides here. Although you are ultimately to blame for the events it could have happened to anyone, it was bad luck. I'm afraid I come down on the side of the angry car owner though. Had my car (my pride and joy) been damaged in the same way I would be fuming too, (maybe not so aggressive as he sounded but I'd be angry) I would expect that it go to a workshop to be painted properly, not be given a poxy bottle of t-cut and told to do it myself. I know you are skint at the moment and I'm sorry about that as I can identify with your situation but if you had any concience you would find the cash and get his car fixed it's the only decent thing to do. As for the Merc, you can't be positive that the damage wasn't already there so unless the owner brings this to your attention to tell you otherwise (then he could be just jumping on the band wagon after finding out what happened to his neighbour) I wouldn't do anything about it unless you know for sure the damage was caused by your dogs.

You have a choice here, you can either do the right thing or not do anything. The police aren't interested so you won't get any trouble from them but the car owner knows your address he might a vindictive type and want revenge. If you don't do anything then you will have to walk around avoiding him and worrying about reprisals or you can pay up and have a clear concience. Whatever you do, think you should chalk this one up to experience.

For Theemx,Well maybe i read your post wrong,but it appeared to me that you were trying to shirk responsibility,and for that i appologise if i am wrong.I was just trying to point out that WE ALL have to take responsibilty,not just for ourselves,but for our animals too,especialy in public places.Of course it could of been a situation any of us could find ourselves in,but it was your dogs so its down to you to put it right:0)

What a bad day!

This is not really any helpful advice but my Mum had a situation like yours a few years back when her lab tried to get to a cat sitting on the roof of the car.  He scratched the paint work on the bonnet! The owners next door neighbour witnessed it and went and got the owner out.  He was very cross but, as suggested before, a few tears came to her aid and she got away with living a bottle of scratch repair stuff outside his door.  Although he threatened all sorts nothing ever came of it.

Looking at it from his side, I would absolutely insist that you paid the full repair costs to my car by a recommended repair and body shop - I would be totally furious that a dog had jumped on my car and damaged it I'm afraid... and it just goes to show the value of insurance.

Em, I would send a grovelling letter of apology offering to put it right and the suggesting that we all make mistakes and that you have learned your lesson. Also that you simply can't afford to spend a huge amount on it so could you possibly come to some agreement using the ChipsAway service (much cheaper than a body shop and they do a good job) and suggest he rings and gets a quote and asks Chipsaway tpo so send a copy to you aswell. If the damage is minimal he will probably go fo that and it will cost in the region of £100. You could also possibly consult a solicitor - are you eligable for Legal Aid?

I'm afraid I have to agree with ChloeH. I'm glad your dogs are safe, that is obviously an important thing. But the fact remains, some people have had damage done to their cars by your dogs. To not inform them of what has happened and to offer restitution is equivalent to hit and run I'm afraid. You MUST do the honourable thing.

Sorry, John

Definately in agreement with everyone who has posted here....

I am responsible, so ill have to get it sorted out, i am just so scared of going back to angry man, because i just dont know what he is going to say/do.

If i owned a car, which obviously i dont, i too would be furious so i can understand where he is coming from!

I actually dont have any house insurance either, cant remember who mentioned that.

The big problem is this, to pay either car owner for the damage i would have to have them pay up front and then id pay them back in installments...... i am currently living off £30 a week so there is absolutely no way i can give them anything up front.

So either they would have to trust me that i would pay each week, or they would have to take me to court, and im fairly certain id then have to pay the court costs as well.

Em :(

Sorry to hear your problems Emm but at least they have had time to calm down a little. And of course, if you go to call on them that again helps to take the heat out of the situation.

Best wishes, John

O Em...:-( don't despair..no one will take you to court... blood from a stone!! If it was me I would contact the man (go round if you don't have details) and be very polite and contrite and appologise then ask what you can do to put things right and explain your financial difficulties. In my experience when people are told the facts and you are honest with them they are usually ok about things.  Good luck :-)

I'm with John and Reddoor Em :)  Pop round to see the man, taking a friend with you for moral support if need be, and apologise to him and explain your situation.  If you don't contact him, he's more liable to nurse his wrath and become determined to do something more formal about it.  Plus, if he's expecting you to hide from the responsibility, he'll be delighted that you have proved him wrong. You'll have restored his faith in human nature, so he'll be more likely to look kindly on your predicament :)

Good luck :)

Lesley

.....or worse still he might even get the repair done and present you with the bill, you have given him your details so in effect have taken responsibility for the damage..if you are 'up front' as lesley says it will go in your favour ..chin up girl these things happen :-)

Couldn't you get one of those credit cards that offer 0% interest for 9mths? I've just got Mint 0% until feb 2005. My hubby walked out of his job 3 weeks ago and had to to get another vehicle fast because he had to give the company one back. What with having to take a previously booked holiday next month too I didn't want to lay out savings for his car so I got a cash advance from my regular credit card to pay for the car then once my new Mint card turned up transfered the balance over. We now have until feb to pay it off. If you are only talking £100-£200 then it wouldn't be very much per month to pay back and if you haven't paid it all by the end of the 0% offer just get yourself another new card with 0% interest.

Of course I don't know you or how you handle debt so only take this route if you are confident that you won't go out on spending sprees and end up with spiralling out of control debts. If that sounds condecending it's not meant to.

Ahhhhhhhh

Ok, so, latest up date is....

Have rung my mother, and i cried!

(this technique does not work with strange men, as im a rather well built girl, and i have more tattoos than your average bikers club members would have put together!)

We are going to go and see the man tomorrow night, with a bottle of scratch remover, and see what happens. I hope my mother can behave herself, i dont want to go round there on my own, but its a choice of my m other, who can sometimes be reasonable, or my house mate who is guaranteed to say the wrong thing at the wrong time and make matters ten times worse......

Sadly the credit card idea is a no go...... not only do i not have any insurance, i also dont have a bank account and i live in rented accomodation..... so no credit card company in their right mind is going to give me a card!
Harriet, you are very right, i WOULD find having a credit card too great a temptation, dont worry i didnt ifnd your post condescending at all!

Em :)

Before you go in Take some photos of the damage. just in case he gets funny,may make it out to be worse ,if he thinks he can get more money. happened to me. put small dent in car with my bike, when I went back to speak to owner, as they were not in. there was a massive dent. Great to see their faces when I Showed them the picture I took earlier with my digital cam.

Em, Check with your household insurance contents, Mine are with direct line and they insure 3rd party for any damage my dogs do to other peoples property. Worth a look.

Kay

she ain't got any insurance, but handy to know never the less

Harriet sorry, missed that bit, scolled down too quickly and missed 4 replies. 

Em hope all goes ok and he is understanding, honesty usually works. Good luck

Kay

Good idea about the camera, he has said i have a week to sort it out..... so if he actually meant that, the car should the same tomorrow night when i go round iwth my Mummy..... so ill get her to bring her works digi cam.

Kayc, dont worry, its not 'normal' to not have house insurance, but i live in council accomodation, and tbh, the 'contents' of my house wouldnt be worth the excess or the premiums so as bad as it is, ive never bothered with household insurance!
Apart from the dogs, obviously, the only things worth having in here are my guitar, computer and drumkit.... nowt else has cost me anything as i have furnished this place (and previous and i dare say subsequent houses) entirely through erm, 'skip chic!'....... its called recycling i believe! hehehehe.

I do hope it goes well tomorrow..... i didnt get any sleep last night through worrying about it all!

Em

Good luck Em, let us know how you get on.  :)

So, just out of interest, if the dog had been injured how would you have paid the vets bill?

Nightmare scenario - dogs who'd have 'em! :-)

Having said that, I too would have been furious with you if it had been my car, and a bottle of T-Cut would not "cut it" - excuse the pun!  It would have to go to the garage for bodywork because dog's claws cause very deep scratches and wreck the panels (I know, someone's dog has done just that to my car door and it is now at the garage as we speak, being done).

Yes, accidents do happen, as you've just discovered, but your dogs are your responsibility, and if damage ensues, then in civil law, you are entirely responsible for the resulting damage. 

I hope the man accepts your offer of the T-Cut and explanations, but if you offered that to me, I would not accept because there is a very good chance it would not work and it would result in costing me several hundred pounds more than it already is at the garage or claiming on my insurance and losing my no-claims bonus.

Because the owner of the dog which damaged my car ran away and ignored the very obvious damage sustained on my car door, I have been left to foot the bill and as a student, that is proving to be hell, but pay I must.

Good luck to you and sorry if I sound harsh, but having just been through a practically identical situation (from the otherside), I pretty much can see where this chap is coming from.

As a suggestion, if you do have to pay for the car, how about offering to set up a Direct Debit payment from your bank account to the man's so he can see that you are willing to pay?

Hi Emm, i really do feel for you! this is the same sort of crap luck that happens to me.

id call back around to the bloke,as he may have calmed down now & be more approcable.
explain that though you are willing to pay, that your finacial  situation is abit wobbly & discuss the options,ie he pays & you pay him back???

once my horse backed into a bedford van(she was a nutcase ,Not traffic shy!LOL!) & left a massive dent in it,the owners quote was for £200 ,but i got it done for £100.....so shop around!

Hiya

Im starting to panic again about seeing this guy tonight......

I cant set up any direct debits, as i have no bank account (and last time i did, i wasnt earning enough to do that anyway).

The guy himself suggested the t-cut and i asked him several times if it would work and he seems to think so......

The no dog insurance thing is a pain in the bum, currently i take them to the RSPCA hospital in Eccles if i can (its a three bus journey and takes hours, so its not always practical) if not, then my own vets in town will accept payment in installments, and are very good to me (although i been at their practice since i was about 14, with my cats, and did my work experience there as well, and helped on weekends for a few years).

Going to see if my mum will insure the dogs and i can pay her the monthly premiums, however in this case at least, it wouldnt have done any good, as the dog that did the damage is too old to insure!

Em

Em - why don't you look for third party insurance for your dogs - no vets bills?

HI Em, sorry to hear about the fine mess the Honourable Lurching Order has got you into. There but for the grace of God go Manic Morse and I....... Hopefully the car owner will have calmed down a bit by now and be more receptive to negotiation. If you can keep your head when all around others are losing theirs and blaming it on you ... etc Be brave, be penitent and be sure to tell us what happens.. Best wishes

Alison and Morse - who promises faithfully never to chase cats again ( till next time)

If you didn't see the dogs damage the merc and neither did the owners no-one can prove it was you. If they do talk to each other and it turns out it was your dog then angry jeep man can give them your contact details - its sad to say but could even be possible that your dogs didn't do it and if you mention it they may say it was you anyway.
Didn't see if you replied to this but will your pet insurance cover the damage?

I've had people damage my car and i have had to pay for it, and im not running round causing a fuss about it, shit happens its life i didn't see who did it, if i did it would be different and in your case it was an accident, i wouldn't go round asking people if they thought my dog had damaged their car.
Best think with jeep man would be to go and see him with the scratch remover and explain to him that you don't want to risk causing more damage to the car, so would he mind doing it himself. If he says no you probably could get someone to do it for you and get the insurance to pay.

Good luck tonight Em hope the scratch disappears with T-cut. If the man himself suggested it then maybe the scratch isn't that deep. Little tip though-don't take your dogs with you LOL
Let us know how it goes when you get back.

Unfortunately for all concerned this lady has no insurance, no bank account, no money and no job. I think the only way out will be if she can talk to the owner of the damaged car and convince him that she will put matters right in some way or the other. May be you could do some work for him, cleaning, typing baby-sitting or some other moral way to pay for the damage that has been done.

Yeah,

Going round there with my mum as soon as she appears (any minute now).

Ill play it by ear, see what happens, willing to do preeeeeeeety much anything to sort this out!

I have somewhere seen dog insurance taht covers third party and accidental injury only (so broken leg in car accident is ok, but cancer wouldnt be covered)....... that could well be worth looking into.

Fingers x'd please that mr car man has had a lovely day and isnt in any way pissed off about anything other than the scratches......

Em

No help now I know but you can take out third party insurance that will cover another person and their property from damage caused by you or your property and providing you say that you want it to cover your dogs it will. This type of insurance is very cheap in deed, it does not cover you whilst you are driving, your car insurance will cover that. You have to be careful that a risk is not covered by more than one insurance else you can get a conflict with the insurance companies. They will then start to talk amongst themselves as to who will pay up leaving you holding the baby and one hopes the hound.

Well, im back!

Sad to say the saga is not over, he wasnt in, so ive left the T-Cut and a letter explaining why i wont do the repair myself at his door.

So the ball is in his court.... i am hoping the fact that i DID come back and provided him wtih smoething to do the job will appease him..... if not he has my phone number so he can ring me up to discuss it further.

Amusingly, i nearly came home with a bichon frise..... very cute, however the third time it followed me and i returned it i began to get annoyed.... the time I have MY dogs off lead near this guys house, i end up in deep doo doo, yet his neighbours have free range dogs with NO id , wandering all over the place and they are fine.................. ho hum.... the fourth time it followed me i was tempted to keep it (very cute, small cloud like lil thing) but i returned it again....... there wasnt even anyone outside with it this time (the first three times a 4 year old was 'in charge' of it....)

Still ive done what i said, so its up to him....... watch this space.

Em

Is this some kind of joke? I dont think its remotely amusing.

you have no job, no money , no insurance, and can barely pay vet bills. You are saying you will have to borrow from your mum to insure your dogs. You have tried to wriggle out of any financial consequences of your own dogs behaviour, by not confessing to damage done. Other people are losing out financially because of you and your pets and are probably suffering because of you.  You expect financial support from your mum, you want the car owners to pay for your dogs damage, and you want freebies and credit from your vet.
Now, in almost the same breath, you say you nearly kept another dog!!!!!!!!!!!!

When a person takes on a pet, they must take social and financial responsibility for it THEMSELVES. A dog is a living being, a responsibility. The fact that a dog is cute is not a good reason to just "Have it" .  Do all dogs a favour, stop collecting them until you get yourself in  a position to look after them . :(

Erm, Pinklilies, yes the part about keeping the free range bichon WAS a joke, that would have been STEALING, obviously!

I have no job, yep, my business. Im temporarily on £30 a week, as my benefits have been stopped, due to a mess up by a doctor i saw.... im appealing the decision and until the hearing comes up, thats all i get to live on (oh yse its such fun living on benefits).

My mum is going to pay the dogs insurance ONLY because SHE has a bank account and i do not..... therefore SHE can set up a direct debit to pay the monthly premiums, which is something i cannot do! I just have to give her the money each month!

Where do i get freebies from my vet? My vet has been great with me, yeah, but there again, me and my mum both have had our pets treated there for years and years, he knows us very well.

I *could* get ALL my pets treatment done at the RSPCA, for no cost to myself, however i dont, because if i can possibly pay for it myself, i will.

I havent 'tried to wriggle out of any financial consequences'.... i could easily have walked away from this mans damaged car, i didnt HAVE to give him my name, address and phone number! It was HIM that suggested buying a bottle of T-Cut, not me, i know next to nothing about cars, not owning one!

Collecting dogs? Where the HELL did you get that idea from? Surely not from a flippant remark about a loose dog following me FOUR times? In any case, i couldnt possibly steal someones dog, and take it home, apart from the sickening crime that dog theft is, my dog rocky would think it was a snack!

For your information, and not that its actually any of your business, i have three dogs, i do not intend, nor wish to have any more than three dogs. In 8 years of being responsible for my own animals (ie since i was 16 and moved out of my parents house) i have NEVER had an accident with my animals, let alone one that involved someone elses property being damaged!

Im well aware that although this WAS an accident, it is ultimately MY responsibility, and i AM sorting it out.... i could as ive said, quite easily walked away and done nothing! I havent.

Em

If you didnt want  a sharp comment, you shouldnt make flippant remarks. Every comment I have made is from information you gave in your own posts...so maybe you should re read them and consider what kind of impression you are giving out. And to be honest it didnt sound like you were joking, so i have no intention of apologising to you.
Your "joke" about getting another dog was not in the least it funny bearing in mind the trouble and stress that you have caused the man involved. I am sure if he could read the remarks you have made about him on here he would be dragging you off to court for the cost of professional repairs, I know I certainly would. The flippant attitude you show in your references towards him, including derogatory names, create the distinct impression, rightly or wrongly,  that you dont actually care about the trouble you have caused , just about how YOU are going to get out of it with the least possible cost to yourself. You have been lucky this time...if another incident happens (and it can happen to any of us) you could end up in much more serious trouble. Lets face it, I think its unlikely you will be able to afford insurance for 3 dogs, let alone any more. I know I couldnt and i have a job.