My mothers 8 year old ESS dog has just been attacked and injured quite badly by a cross doberman labrador that is known to have attacked many other dogs.he was wearing a halti not a muzzle and was with his owner who was quite unconcerned.my mums dog is at this moment having surgery to repair the wound.Should she report this incident to the police or R S P CA .? canshe make this person pay the vet bill? She is I think in a position to pay the bill extraneous info snipped.My mum and dad are pensioners and money is tight.Does anyone know?

I should think that the other lady would be covered under her household insurance or her pet insurance if she has it. But I don't know how your Mum would go about making a claim on it, whether she would need a solicitor. Maybe Sierra could advise.

Not knowing the details, I would say that it sounds as if the other person should be liable for the damages. A couple ways to go about it. I would first talk to the person involved, state my belief that as owner of the dog (whether it was vicious in the past or not) the owner should pay the bills. I would also report the incident to the police department (though I usually do not do that unless the person declines responsibility -- primarily because I believe that a good many jurisdications are too quick to destroy dogs, but that's another post in itself). If the person fails to accept responsibility, you have two options.

You could first ask for the name of their insurance company and file a claim against it yourself. If the person fails to give that to you, I would take the matter to small claims court. No attorney is necessary for either party, it involves filling out a small claims form and testifying. The magistrate will decide the matter. You can, of course, go the solicitor route and sue for solicitor fees, court costs and the medical expenses, but I would do that only after trying myself to settle the matter. If your parents are not very assertive, you might consider acting as their 'agent'.

Thanks for the replys.My Mum was advised by the vet to report the incident to the police as next time it happened it could be a child.Since then she has discovered that the owner also has a rottie cross that has also attacked other dogs,and the owner herself is prone to being a bit unpredictable ,because of this she decided not to approach her and on police advice has left it in their hands.The dog will not be put down or anything but a warning will be issued.My mums dog is groggy but fine,he's a little quieter than normal but thats to be expected ,stiches come out in 10 days
lorraine

they are not insured under the house policy if they are a dangoues dog and had attack before,beacuse i look in to this only coverd for 3 partly for accidantal demage.