shape
carat
color
clarity

Went to court today. Did I do the right thing?

Status
Not open for further replies. Please create a new topic or request for this thread to be opened.

soocool

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jan 10, 2009
Messages
2,827
A neighbor and I went to court today to testify against another neighbor's dog (German Shepherd). They have had this dog for over a year and he is fully grown and brought him over from Europe last summer. In the beginning they were great at walking the dog, etc. Then came the spring and they installed an invisible fence. Well, he kept going through the fence irritating many neighbors since he would go right after their dogs. I was walking my dog when he came off property after my 15 pound schnauzer. Luckily, my DH was with me and was able to hold the dog back while I quickly picked up my dog. My DH then went up to the house and informed the people that their dog was loose. They never apologized - just said "What can we do?" Apparently this was happening quite often.

Then about a month later, their dog got loose went after another dog that someone was walking about a 1/4 mile down the road. The owner got between his dog and the loose dog and while doing so his own dog bit him. Police called, complaint filed, but no charges were pressed. Then September rolls around (in the meantime the dog has been getting loose terrorizing the neighborhood and no one calls police. They just keep telling the owner to secure her dog) and I go out on the lawn to play with my dog (we are several houses down and across the street from them). While my back is to their property I immediately see my DH running over and in front of my eyes is the shepherd going after my dog. DH scoops up our dog and chases the shepherd home. (DH saw the dog coming off their property and go back the same way.) DH and I debate for about 10 minutes on whether we should call the police or not. I am quite shaken and then begin to think, what would have happened to our dog if DH hadn't been there. The police comes over and we decide that he will just speak to the owners of the dog. After a few minutes he comes back telling us that she denies it was her dog, and while he is speaking to us she traipses over and starts to laugh calling us liars. That her dog was in her backyard playing all the time. The police tell her to leave and we tell the police we are pressing charges.

Four days later the dog gets loose again terrorizing a few ladies out for a walk with their dogs and among them another neighbor walking his doberman. He tries to protect the scared women by trying to chase the dog away and the shepherd then bites him and takes off. This neighbor knows whose dog it is and walks up to their house and tells them what happened and shows that he was bitten. The owner leaves in his truck to retrieve the dog.

So today in court the shepherd's owners plead not guilty to unprovoked biting and not guilty for their dog running loose. They quickly changed their plea to guilty regarding the dog bite and the judge found them guilty of letting the dog run around loose. They kept digging themselves even deeper into trouble by saying that their dog did leave their property for a few seconds, but denies that the dog went after ours even though she did not follow the dog and doesn't know what happened when the dog ran off her property. She then admitted that this wasn't the first time that the dog came off their property.

We were willing to drop the charges before the trial started if they promised to install a proper fence and train the dog. The judge threw this out stating that they had 3 months to fix the invisible fence or install a regular fence,so we proceeded with the trial. In the end the judge noted numerous times that never once did they even try to apologize to us, the victims. The shepherd's owners kept saying that neighbors don't treat neighbors this way. Neighbors should work things out together. The judge noted that their neighbors did try to work it out with them when the first attack happened and today when we were willing to drop the charges if they promised to secure their dog properly. Just before we walked out of the courtroom, the judge again said he would have dropped the charges if they had stood up after his suggestion and aplogized to us.But I guess once an A-hole, always an A-hole.

They got what they deserved. Each had to pay a $300 fine plus court costs. All they cried about was the money.
 
I'm not sure why you are asking if you did the right thing. Do you feel that you did NOT do the right thing? Or do you just want validation?

It sounds like an unfortunate situation all around. Of all the neighborhoods I've lived in, I have never had an issue with a neighbor so I have no idea what it's like to have to deal with that sort of thing but it sounds awful. I do hope your neighbors with the German Shepard can rectify the fence problem or find another place to live where their dog has plenty of room to roam and not bother others.
 
You absolutely did the right thing. No one should permit their dog to run loose and annoy or terrorize the neighborhood. Please make sure that they comply with the judges orders. If the don't, report them again. The GSD's owners were well aware of their dog's behavior and chose to ignore it and then lie about. That is not what responsible dog owners do :nono:
 
monarch64|1323977008|3082328 said:
I'm not sure why you are asking if you did the right thing. Do you feel that you did NOT do the right thing? Or do you just want validation?

It sounds like an unfortunate situation all around. Of all the neighborhoods I've lived in, I have never had an issue with a neighbor so I have no idea what it's like to have to deal with that sort of thing but it sounds awful. I do hope your neighbors with the German Shepard can rectify the fence problem or find another place to live where their dog has plenty of room to roam and not bother others.

I guess I never wanted this to go to court. I wanted to send them a message that I was serious. But I have had enough incidences of dogs coming after my dog that I have had enough. The dog warden told me a few years ago that I should get a civilian tazer to protect myself. I carry pepper spray instead. But let me tell you, I could not get that pepper spray out in time, I was shaking so hard.


Imagine a child, yours or a neighbor's, outside playing and a dog attacking the child. You fend off the dog and call the police. You go to court to testify about the attack. You feel both good and bad. You feel good that you saved that child, but bad because you turned your neighbor in. Well, I feel that I saved a "future" attack, but still bad that I had to turn in a neighbor. Unfortunately, it won't prevent attacks from other dogs owned by negligent people.
 
You did the right thing.

I can't imagine how hard it must have been for you, but someone really has to stand up and force them to take responsibility. If they continue to let the dog run loose, I hope you and your neighbors will continue to report them. Hopefully the courts will keep after them and consider the possibility of finding a good home with responsible owners if this continues.

If you have any doubts, just remember the dog could easily kill another dog. For that matter -- what would happen if a mother was out walking with her young children? He could easily KILL a child if he attacked them.

This isn't the dog's fault. If he is allowed to continue attacking people/animals, he will eventually cause serious damage and then the court will be ordering him put down. Seems to me that forcing the owners to take responsibility and install a proper fence is a lot more fair than punishing the dog.
 
TooPatient|1323978421|3082340 said:
If you have any doubts, just remember the dog could easily kill another dog. For that matter -- what would happen if a mother was out walking with her young children? He could easily KILL a child if he attacked them.

That is exactly what I was thinking. Imagine how awful you would feel if you hadn't pressed charges and that dog killed a child, and then you will know that you absolutely did the right thing!
 
Of course you did the right thing.

Just read that part about the comments the judge made. Then read it over again and again if necessary. The judge's comments say it all.

ETA none of us wants to take a neighbor to court, but you were left with no choice.
 
of course you did the right thing! these people are lucky no one really got hurt or had a horrible vet bill and sued them....and they're even luckier that they don't have neighbors that would have killed their dog for their lack of concern. eta: it is legal to protect yourself from a dog attack.]
 
Another one thinking you did the right thing.

And the dog is the luckiest party in all of this! Poorly as his owners trained him it'd only have been a matter of time before he caused someone severe injury, and he might have had to pay dearly for it :sick: At least now his owners HAVE to take some responsibility for his behaviour...
 
You most definitely did the right thing! You also saved a bit of heartache to the person who didn't see the other dog coming and ended up bitten or having their dog attacked. You tried to be civil and it didn't work. Not your fault they took everything this far. Good for you for standing up to them and making the situation right! :appl:
 
Definitely the right thing. Where I live, if there was an unprovoked attack on people, the dog would have been destroyed. Such a pity, as it is obviously the owners that need to be put to sleep...

A german shepherd is a huge dog. It makes no sense whatsoever having one run around freely, unless the scariest thing it did was wag its tail and lick you. Even that would be enough to freak out people who are not animal inclined.
 
If that had happened in Australia, the dog would have been destroyed for biting someone, so I think your neighbors got off lightly! I really hope they are able to restrain it so it can't do it again. Imagine what it could do to a child?! :errrr:
 
soocool|1323977709|3082336 said:
monarch64|1323977008|3082328 said:
I'm not sure why you are asking if you did the right thing. Do you feel that you did NOT do the right thing? Or do you just want validation?

It sounds like an unfortunate situation all around. Of all the neighborhoods I've lived in, I have never had an issue with a neighbor so I have no idea what it's like to have to deal with that sort of thing but it sounds awful. I do hope your neighbors with the German Shepard can rectify the fence problem or find another place to live where their dog has plenty of room to roam and not bother others.

I guess I never wanted this to go to court. I wanted to send them a message that I was serious. But I have had enough incidences of dogs coming after my dog that I have had enough. The dog warden told me a few years ago that I should get a civilian tazer to protect myself. I carry pepper spray instead. But let me tell you, I could not get that pepper spray out in time, I was shaking so hard.


Imagine a child, yours or a neighbor's, outside playing and a dog attacking the child. You fend off the dog and call the police. You go to court to testify about the attack. You feel both good and bad. You feel good that you saved that child, but bad because you turned your neighbor in. Well, I feel that I saved a "future" attack, but still bad that I had to turn in a neighbor. Unfortunately, it won't prevent attacks from other dogs owned by negligent people.

I understand, sooocool. Just curious as to why you asked the question in your title. It seemed like you weren't sure you had done the right thing so I wanted to know why you felt that way. I certainly think you did the right thing but can see why you struggled with it a bit internally. I am glad that the dog hasn't seriously harmed anyone, and I hope nothing worse ever comes of the situation. I wish people were more responsible with their animals so people like you didn't have to deal with this kind of thing.
 
You did absolutely the right thing. Honestly, they don't deserve the dog. The dog should go to a home where the owners will train him, play with him, walk him, and provide him with a fenced in secure safe yard.
 
Yes, you did the right thing, and I am glad you did. How many children or even adults have to have serious injuries before this problem is solved? Dog owners are responsible for their pets. Your neighbors obviously felt no responsibility.

You may have saved someone from serious injury. Hopefully, the shepherd owners will get a clue and put up a fence.
 
I was attacked by a GSD when I was six. I was bitten in the face. I had to get stitches. I still have the scar believe it or not.

Please think back to what these people said in court- they said neighbors don't take their neighbors to court. However, they think neighbors are irresponsible dog owners and they are annoyingly stupid (they ask what they can do as if they couldn't build a fence?) and they are liars.

We've established already their irresponsibility could get a child killed.

My question is why would you even consider thinking what they said in court could possibly be right?
 
Definitely did the right thing. It's better that they are forced to take responsibility for their dog now before anything worse happens. My little dog was attacked by a dalmation and required life saving surgery that cost me over 5k and weeks of recovery for her. Unfortunately the owners of the dog were not required to help with the expenses because their dog was on a "leash". (It was a retractable leash and the lady had absolutely no control over her dog)
My large dog can be dog-aggressive with some dogs, so we are always very responsible to have him in our home and our yards properly fenced as well as having him trained. If he had been loose when our little dog was attacked perhaps we would be the ones responsible for another dogs injuries but thankfully he was behind a gate at the time.
 
Thanks everyone! I feel much better about things today and know in my heart and mind that I absolutely did the right thing.

ImDanny I am so sorry to hear that you were bitten on the face by a dog when you were 6. I can't even imagine the terror you must have felt.

SweetAsscher - so sorry to hear about your poor little baby. I am shocked that the owners of the dog that attacked your dog never offered to pay for their negligence.

I took my baby out for a walk a couple of times today and I have not heard that dog outside once yesterday or today. These people do not have the sympathy of a single solitary person in the neighborhood.
 
soocool|1324059322|3082934 said:
ImDanny I am so sorry to hear that you were bitten on the face by a dog when you were 6. I can't even imagine the terror you must have felt.

Thanks! You can call me Danny. I'm glad you're feeling better today. :wavey:
 
Yes, you did the right thing, 100%.

Don't give it another thought and don't feel even the least bit guilty.

You did the community a service, and you should be proud of yourself.
 
For sure the right thing!!! Your neighbors need a big kick in the pants, their behavior is unbelievable.
If in 3 months they don't rectify the fence situation be sure to try and document each occurrence by video taping it.
 
Imdanny|1324027132|3082741 said:
I was attacked by a GSD when I was six. I was bitten in the face. I had to get stitches. I still have the scar believe it or not.

Please think back to what these people said in court- they said neighbors don't take their neighbors to court. However, they think neighbors are irresponsible dog owners and they are annoyingly stupid (they ask what they can do as if they couldn't build a fence?) and they are liars.

We've established already their irresponsibility could get a child killed.

My question is why would you even consider thinking what they said in court could possibly be right?

I was also attached by a german shepard as a child. I will never forget screaming in the ER and how much I was bleeding waiting for the doctor. I was 5 or 6 and remember the attack vividly even though it was 25 year ago. I was along outside when it happened. The dog was bigger than me and I could not get it off. Someone heard me screaming and pulled he dog off.

You 100% did the right thing. Neighbors tried to work it out. You asked what would have happened to your dog if your DH was not there. What if it was a child?? Once in a while you will read about someone getting killed by a dog and these owners were not being responsible.

The event that came to mind was a woman in San Francisco who was attached in her own apartment building by a neighbor's dog. She was scared of the dog and her girlfriend testified to that. Such a tragic case.

You sent them a message. As far as them saying nighbors should work things out?? You DID try.
 
Status
Not open for further replies. Please create a new topic or request for this thread to be opened.
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP
Top