Vet's bill rant alert!!

[candidrachel]

As some of you know my cat was killed by an out of control dog on 4th July and the owner offered to pay the vet bill as a way of saying sorry for what happened. Anyway, he put a cheque in the post but stopped it because meanwhile I contacted the local paper and put a news article in it all about what happened to our cat. There were no names mentioned to implicate them but he took exeption and stopped the cheque . The vet then left innumerable messages on their voicemail to contact them but they never returned the calls.

We got an invoice for payment around the 8th August so my husband went round to the owners house to demand what was going on. The guy only just got out the shower and had only a towel wrapped round him and said that he got pissed off about the article so that's why he's not paying. My husband stood his ground and argued that if he wasn't going to pay then say so don't say your going to pay then don't. In the end they shook hands and he said that he'd put another cheque in the post and that would be the last of it (hubby said it would have been the last of it way back in July).

The upshot now is I just got a call from the vet saying the cheque bounced but because Amber was our pet the contract is between the vet and us which I completely agree with. My husband is away in Germany until Thursay but calls every day so now I have to tell him to get his ass down to this guys house again or I'll just take the money out of our account and just pay up.

I just don't need this hassle right now

[Murtasma]

I would have taken them to court like I said when this initially happened. With out a court order you're never going to get any money to help pay for the damages their dog has done to your family. I'm pretty sure its the law in the UK that dogs need to be put on a leash.

We have a person that lives in the apartment next to me with a puppy pit bull. The puppy seems to be friendly enough but the owner has no control over his dog. Every time he is out with his dog the dog would run up to me and my dog (on a leash) or run up to my girlfriend while shes carrying our baby boy (not even 2 months old). One night when we took the dog and boy out for a walk the dog comes running up and starts jumping all over my dog.

I told this moronic owner that enough is enough I want to see that dog on a leash from now on. It's a state law and I'll have no problem calling the apartment complex and filling a complaint with the local police department and animal control. I don't need a dog jumping up on me when I have an infant in my hands. I also don't need a dog jumping all over my dog. She's 11 years old and doesn't want to play with a puppy. I worry that my dog will attack and seriously injure his dog if it runs up on her while my girlfriend is walking her. She doesn't have the control over my dog like I do. My dog can get very territorial around other dogs and when this dog comes running up with out a leash I've very tempted to let her show that dog who's alpha. I also let him know that its very possible that dog will run into the street and get run over by a car and how would he feel if he was 100% at fault for his little cute puppy dieing because he didn't want to take his puppy to the dog park (1 mile down the road) if he feels the need to let his dog roam free.


The very next day the dog was on a leash and I actually haven't seen him outside with his dog for like a solid week now.


I say you take them to court for damages caused by their dog they need to take responsibility for their lack of action.

[candidrachel]

Thank you for your reply. We really tried to sort this out amicably between both parties but its them that's not playing ball. I'll speak to my husband later to see what we can do or else its back to the newpaper only this time name and shame!!

Just this week on the news a 10 year old girl out playing on her bike got severely saved by 2 rottweillers who were running around free. She suffered a broken jaw, bites all over her arms and legs and will have to have extensive skins grafts The dogs have subsequently been destroyed and the owner charged.

My best friend's 13 year old daughter was walking the family spaniel puppy and a young teenage boy startled her and she sprung round and nipped him on the leg and he reported her to his family and my friend was mortified when a police woman knocked on her door saying that a dog matching their dog's description bit someone and she has taken full resposibility and had a visit from the dog warden and has now taken advice and attends dog training classes every Saturday morning.

Sometimes dogs can behave erratically and its responsible owners like my friend and you Murtasma that take steps to prevent a tragedy.

[daft_biker]

Send some 'large men' round to get your money....and bill him for the cost of a new wildlife killer (sorry, cat) at the same time

Sorry for the loss of your pet. Maybe keep the next cat indoors and out of harm's way though?

[candidrachel]

Not a bad idea Daft_Biker. Maybe I should send WVCoalminer round. Check out his Avatar

[neubauer6]

I am sorry that your cat was killed by some idiot with a dog at large. I deal with this type of thing every day when I walk my miniature dachshund and boston terrier. I started carrying my 9mm so the next time I am approached by a pit bull I can have some means of self defense. I do not know the laws of the UK, but I would assume your local municipality probably has ordinances about pets being leashed. When this has happened near me, police will ticket the owner for animal at large and that is it. Taking them to court will most likely not amount to the result you are looking for, especially if their checks are already bouncing. Situations like this make me sick, as I know your cat was one of the family! I wish you the best but am afraid you may not have any legal recourse.