I've had my ex-racing greyhound Alfie for about a year now. We've only just started letting him off the lead with other dogs because we were worried about how he would behave with small dogs and he tends to bark when he is on the lead. Off the lead he is very friendly with dogs of any size, we ALWAYS put a muzzle on him just in case, even though he has never attacked another dog and is very gentle with humans. He does get a bit overexcited over other dogs and sometimes runs up to them but if they growl or show no interest he knows they don't want to play and he leaves them alone.
However the other day he was attacked by two other greyhounds and a saluki. The attack was completely unprovoked, my dog hadn't even run up to these other dogs (he had tired himself out playing with a labrador), they ran up to him. It was a very vicious attack, the owner was not in sight, my dog had a muzzle on, these dogs did not. They were all three snarling and biting at him, anytime he tried to get away to me they wouldn't let him they just kept on attacking. I was with Alfie but I couldn't get the three dogs to stop. The owner eventually came into sight and called them off but didn't seem that concerned. I got my dog free from them and actually had to push the greyhounds away because they kept coming up to him. My dog was wimpering and holding his front leg up, I could see they had been biting him because chunks of his hair had been bitten off and he had slober in him, but at first I thought he hadn't been seriously hurt, I could only see little nips and bite marks. On closer inspection I realised that a big chunk of his skin was hanging off inbetween his two front legs, it was obviously bleeding and I could see his muscles etc. I immediately took him to the vets and he is going to be ok, luckily no real damage has been done. I have pet insurance which will cover the cost but I don't know what to do about the dogs who attacked him. I've never seen them before in the place where I regularly walk my dog but my partner said that the other day one of those greyhounds had attacked Alfie, only obviously not as badly.
I didn't have my phone on me but another dog walker took my phone number and the number of the greyhound owner which she has since given to me. I don't know if these greyhounds and the saluki have ever attacked another dog before or whether they just took a dislike to my dog but surely the owner should put a muzzle on them or even keep them on the lead? Alfie is only just home from the vets so we haven't taken him for a walk yet, I'm worried that this is going to make him unfriendly towards other dogs or even just so scared that he will be defensive towards the dogs he meets. I'm also worried that if he meets these greyhounds again that they will attack him. Is it unreasonable to ring the owner up and ask them to put muzzles on their dogs? My vet also suggested reporting it to the police if the owners don't muzzle their dogs. Sorry if this is a very long post!

I think you should phone and ask them to pay your vet bill and what they will be doing to make sure this does not happen again, if the answer is nothing then I think you should contact the police and the dog warden. Dogs that pack attack could be a danger to a person or a child.

Right you need to report this to the Dog Warden, its their territory with regards dog v dog attacks. There was no sign of any of the dogs going for you, so sadly its not of any interest to the Police now after the powers changed hands. Dogs attacking other dogs doesn't mean that they will go after humans, but may get caught in the cross fire, but then thats an accident rather than anything meaningful.

Write down what happened, keep a contact of the witness who took both numbers down - also any other dog walkers in the area too, get their details if they saw this or the other incident which your hubby dealt with.
Make sure you have photos of the injuries, and you've been to the vet so its logged there.

Very sorry this has happened to your boy. For then time being can you walk him in a different area?

The police may not be interested but your property has been damaged at the hands of someone else so they should be if recompense is not forthcoming. That must amount to criminal damage surely.

> That must amount to criminal damage surely

Sadly not... Not when it comes onto Dog V Dog, call goes in to Police, and back onto DW..

That seems so wrong, if someone damages your wheelie bin it amounts to criminal damage but when they damage you dogs no one cares and it becomes a civil matter. Mind you hit a dog with a car and you have to report it, kill a cat and no one cares. I meant no one official cares of course the owner and the driver would.

The police have little interest in matters re dogs but still go and make a statement (what happens next time & why should they get away with it) and as mentioned report also to the dog warden. If your dogs has received injuries, yes they can be made to pay and so they should.

Thank you for your replies. I probably won't bother trying to get them to pay the vets bills. I have insurance and I think it's more hassle than it's worth. It's not really the physical damage I'm so worried about, although because of where the injury is it's going to take a long time to heal, he won't be able to jump up or walk much for a while in case he tears his stitches. I'm just angry that we have both spent all this time training him, we didn't even let him off the lead with other dogs for the first six months and we've only been regularly letting him off the lead for the past 2 months. This is because we were worried about small dogs (him being a greyhound) and obviously we didn't really know how he would behave with other dogs at first. After all that time worrying that he would attack another dog he ends up being attacked by 3 dogs and can't defend himself properly because we muzzle him like you are supposed to with greyhounds. I just hope it doesn't make him aggressive or very frightened with other dogs.
But I am going to report them to the police / dog warden and ring the owners themselves up. I don't think the dogs would attack a human but a person could very easily get hurt in the crossfire like you said. Plus I think it highly likely they might attack another dog or have done before. The owner must know that the greyhound who started the attack is aggressive. And even if they don't show any obvious signs of aggression all the books and articles I've read on greyhounds say you should always muzzle them.
There is a different area I can walk him in, hardly any people walk their dogs there but he won't be doing an awful lot of walking for a while anyway.

I'm sorry your boy and you have gone through this, I would advise the same as the others but just wanted to say how sad this all is. Hope he makes a fast recovery physically and mentally. 

I really hope your boy is ok and has no long term problems from this horrid experience.
Only my opinion BUT I do not think that having insurance should let this owner off the hook, how many other times has this happened and people not bothered to do anything and so they get away with it, they don't have to rectify their dogs behaviour etc etc.
It might give them a fright to be asked for vets fees and also ( I hope this is not the case) what if you need to consult a behaviourist for your lad?
They need to take responsibility for their dogs bad behaviour.

> Only my opinion BUT I do not think that having insurance should let this owner off the hook, how many other times has this happened and people not bothered to do anything

Agree with Sawheaties. Our dog attacked last year, yes had insurance and we used it with costs ongoing & mounting towards £1,500. I did make a statement to the police shortly afterwards and said I wouldn't pursue it (stupid of me) but wanted it left on record as I was sure it would happen again. It did, to a friends dog & at least 12 others. I then told the police I wanted to follow up on my report, contacted them over six times and still have never heard from them. It's the owners I wanted to be made accountable, yelled at me 'not to get lippy or they would let the dog off again to finish it'.  The police said 'not' enough people had come forward, so dog still exercised without muzzel. Do pursue it, I do believe if they have attacked once it is only a matter of time before they do again.

I agree too, they should at least pay your excess and you should insist they muzzle their dogs if they behave like this, if they refuse you should report it. Your poor boy!!!

Agree with Nova send the owner the vet bill and suggest they muzzle or you will report them to the police, What if Alfie's owner (you) were a pregnant lady or elderly person this could have been worse that it already is. Hope Alfie is ok, what a shambles. I always put leads on mine if I see anyone a bit older or with kids. I certainly dont leave them running free out of sight.

I cetainly would not expect to pay a vet bill, I'd go to small claims if they didn't cough as well.

Please report this to the dog warden. She/he may already have had to pay a visit to this owner. Is probably not the first time something like this has happened.  Owner should definitely pay your vet bill and should have had the decency to offer this at the time.

11 years ago my dogs were attacked by another gundog breed. 2 of them ended up at the vets getting stitched up. Yes, they were insured, but why should I have to pay higher premiums in the future because of someone elses dogs behaviour? I reported the dog to the police (as you did then) and told them I intended going further with it. I usually walked the dogs with my 2 young daughter and was worried about her. I then went to the dogs owner and informed him that I had been to the police and that I wanted him to pay for the damage done by his dog. Of course he wanted to know how I knew it was his dog, so I told him, in no uncertain terms. The dog was well known for attacking other dogs, this wasn't the first time. He then got a visit from the police and he had to keep his dog muzzled when off his property. Things have changed in that the police don't deal with this type of problem, but I would still inform them, and the dog warden. Don't let the owner get away with it.

your  dog insurance will ask who did the damage and ask for their details. I know because mine did when I claimed for one of mine having stitches....they then take action to get the momey back from the other dog owner.

Thanks again for all your responses, my partner has already spoken to the owner who tried to imply that my dog was the problem asking "why does your dog have a muzzle on?" We put a muzzle on him because the RGT advise you to do this! She also said her dogs have never attacked anything before which I don't really believe and even if it's true they have attacked my dog twice now. I'm ringing her up tonight because I was actually there and I haven't spoken to her yet. The vets fees have actually gone up even more because it's more serious than they thought. Because of where the 36 or so stitches are it will be hard for them to heal and if it doesn't heal my dog will have to be put down. I'm hoping this won't happen but the vet just said I should be aware of that fact.
As regards the police and the dog warden, they don't care. We rang both of them up, the police don't care unless the dogs attacked a person and the dog warden isn't interested because greyhounds aren't on the list of dangerous dogs. So apparently there is nothing we can do and this woman can just let her dogs roam freely without muzzles and they can attack my dog and toher dogs again. So I don't really know what to do now apart from speak to her, although apparently it is her husband who normally takes them out.

> the dog warden isn't interested because greyhounds aren't on the list of dangerous dogs

Go back and speak to the head dog warden and make a huge fuss. If a dangerous dog is called in the DW refuse to deal with it as it becomes an issue for Police then.. So it is their territory and you need to make sure that you are not left with no where to go.. Sorry makes my blood boil when DW do this. I know they have little money and not enough staff to deal with all calls, but to say the above is wrong..  Good luck

It is of no interest to you if her dogs have attacked before or not, they have now, it is your dog that was attacked, your dog was on a lead and muzzled so could not have instigated the attack and you are out of pocket. Tell her she is responsible for the attack and you expect the vet bill paid at the very least as you are still considering if you will be suing for recompense for your own distress.

   I've spoken to the dog warden again and they have said that there is nothing they can do. Because it's a dog on dog attack it's classed as a civil matter so neither the dog warden nor the police can do anything. Unless a human gets hurt by those dogs the owners can do what they want and the dogs can go around attacking other dogs and noone can do anything. The dog warden said even if those dogs attacked 100 other dogs then still they couldn't do anything. She said I can try and get them to pay the vets bills and if they don't you can seek legal advice but that will end up costing more than the vets bils. I will ask the owner to pay but I really doubt that they will. I am actually more concerned that the dogs will try to attack my dog again in the future or they will attack another dog. I find it so frustrating that no one can do anything to make that owner put muzzles on her dogs, even if my dog had been killed no authority exists to make them take responsibility for it and control their dogs.
  All I can hope for now is that Alfie will recover and the incident won't affect him too badly. I don't even want to think about the possibility of him getting put down if the wound won't heal. I will be ringing the dog owner as i haven't personally spoken to them yet but the seem very reluctant to admit any responsibility for it.

Going to the small claim court will not cost much. It makes me furious that no one wants to know, if someone came into your front garden and smashed your gnome then the police would become involved but an attack on your property by dogs because of the lack of care by the owners infuriates me, I almost wish you had been nipped (not a lot you understand) then the police would have to have taken notice.

Don't worry I have been thinking the same thing, I almost wish I'd been nipped because then the police would have to actually do something.

ok so the dogs didn't bite you. however you were frightened, and frightened of being bitten and the dogs were dangerously out of control in a public place putting you in fear.  that brings them under remit of dangerous dogs act whether you were physically injured or not.
I really hope your boy recovers well.

Because of where the 36 or so stitches are it will be hard for them to heal and if it doesn't heal my dog will have to be put down. I'm hoping this won't happen but the vet just said I should be aware of that fact.

Oh goodness, I am terribly sorry, I do hope the area mends very well.
I have to say, even when he is healed, I'd keep him well away from this person and the area, and be ready to intervene IF you meet these dogs again. I understand that it's good to muzzle many greyhounds, but not all are muzzled when on walks as far as I know. I guess the muzzling is to protect small dogs and pets, but you may not need this on your walks IF your dog is well trained? I say this only in case you may want to consider not muzzling, due to him being attacked and unable to defend himself, poor lad.

There is, I believe, law against dog on dog attacks.
If the police show no interest to take it any further,  you could ask them to instigate proceedings under  Dogs Act 1871 (rather than the DDA).
In the case of Briscoe -v- Shattock QBD 12 October 1998 it was shown that a dog could be considered "dangerous" and "not kept under proper control" relating to  Section 2 of the Dogs Act 1871, even if the only danger at the time, was to other dogs, and not to humans. Being dangerous reflected the dog's disposition, not his actual acts.

http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/1998/929.html

Agree with Weimed too, you were clearly worried and concerned by this dog.

However, do double check this info, because I do not know if anything has altered. I believe this is correct.
Trevor Cooper would know.

Lindsay
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I don't understand, I know I can be slightly dafy and get things muddled but I was definitely told by the police that if vet bills had been incurred from the attack that the owner could be made to pay? It's utter madness, that a dog can be classed as dangerous by breed but not behaviour.

Not my dog warden, but one nearby which clearly shows at the bottom of the page that a dog v dog is something they deal with.
http://www.lewes.gov.uk/environment/2119.asp

This incident needs to be investigated and its the dog wardens responsibility.. Did you at any time feel like these dogs were going to turn on you or any other person?
They can put in place for the other person to keep their dogs under control whether it be on a lead in a public place or muzzled etc..
Here is some more info on the civil court route
http://www.doglaw.co.uk/legal/dangerous.php

I find it all very odd as i personally know someone who was taken to court over a dog to dog attack (no human injuries or stitches) The dog required no major treatment in this case and only required one vets appointment so i would think your case is much much stronger! The only difference may be that her dog was a GSD, but she had to make a statement to the police and it went to court. I'm sure there must be something someone can do?!

In my area there is an aggressive mastiff, it's bitten plenty of dogs but no one ever reported it. The last time it ripped the ear of a lab, the owners went straight to the police, the police went round to the mastiff owner and said they had a choice, either pay the vet bill or she would be take to court. Still can't believe she wasn't told that her mastiff had to wear a muzzle though. But to be far I don't think she lets him off lead any more.

The only thing I can think is that dog warden policies differ from area to area, otherwise it appears the dog warden is fobbing you off due to lack of time or money.

Must have been a horrible thing to go through though for both you and your dog.

I wonder if you could go to your local paper or something, at least other people could keep an eye out, might make the dog warden have a think too.

Also, in our area, several dogs who attacked and caused severe damage to other dogs were put up on posters (not the actual dogs, but the description, owner description, etc).

These were put up as a warning around the local walking places. The dog wardens knew they were there, and the local paper, so it can't be a "wrong" thing to do or anything.

Lindsay
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