Went to work this morning and was told that my boss was bitten by a dog yesterday. He had gone for a walk, when a man with a GSD on a lead walked past him and the dog just bit his arm The man reluctantly gave his name and address, but didn't stop to help my boss. The postlady stopped and a got someone to phone his wife to come and take him to hospital. He has been very lucky as the wound, although not big, is quite deep and narrowly missed a vein. It is dirty and the hospital wouldn't stitch it. Any way - it turns out that the name and address were false, but the local milkman knows who the man is AND this isn't the first time that this has happened. My boss intends to sue him and insist that the dog is PTS (he has a witness, I think) :(

Daisy

Oh dear! Stitching dirty wounds is a waste of time as it just seals in the infection. The owner should be PTS for his irresponsibility as well as the nutters who ruined the reputation of a great breed by mass producing pups without regard to temperament or health and selling them to cretins. Hope your boss is not horribly grouchy for days.

I dont want to sound stupid but cant a wound be cleaned and then stitched?
I understand the reasoning for not stitching it dirty but an unstitched wound takes so much longer to heal.

Jude

No, with a deep/puncture wound the bacteria have been 'injected' deep into the flesh. It has to be kept open to heal from the inside out. If the skin heals first, all the bacteria are trapped inside. :(

I was bitten by a GSD through the hand whilst at work. The wounds were very deep and I had two litres of saline suringed through the wounds. They finally caught up with me for my Tetanus as well!! As I have a phobia about needles it is an experience I will never forget.They did such a good job I had no infection and it healed really quickly but with deep scars. Mentally I was also very wary around GSDs but my friend has one who is just gorgeous with such a fantastic temperament I was able to keep it all in perspective.

I think the police should pay the owner a visit, he is obviously very irresponsible. By providing a false address he is obviously hiding something, in this case a nasty dog - through no fault of its own by the sound of it. The issue here isn't can a wound be cleaned before stitching!! Its 'an aggressive dog that bites without intent'