bitten by dog, what next?
October 18, 2013 9:05 AM   Subscribe

One of my family members was just bitten by a neighbor's dog on a walk. The family member is elderly with a baby, doesn't speak the best English. The dog is not large, but did bite the elderly lady's leg and scared them half to death (she already thinks they have a weak heart...). Apparently the woman owner did not run to get the dog but just called him. The baby was scared too. I'm going to go home and try to take a picture of the bite. What's the next step? Police? Animal control? Even if just talking to them, I need to know my options.

The dog has barked at her before, and the young kids in that house had trouble holding the dog back that time. Apparently this time the owner was saying stuff about she doesn't want the dog to get taken away, etc. etc.

I don't want to be a jerk and sue/get a dog put down for no reason, but this absolutely can't happen again. What do I do next? Thanks.
posted by friendofstone to Law & Government (21 answers total)
 
Response by poster: To clarify, after the bite, the owner did come get the dog.
posted by friendofstone at 9:06 AM on October 18, 2013


Best answer: First a trip to urgent care or an ER; dog bites can cause some nasty infections. Then a call to animal control. Once you call, they'll come out and review the situation, talk to the dog's owner, etc.
posted by mittens at 9:07 AM on October 18, 2013 [10 favorites]


I own dogs, these seem like poor owners. But mittens is right, Dr. first then animal care and control.
posted by bitdamaged at 9:10 AM on October 18, 2013 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Thanks, never called animal control before, looks like each county has one. I will go back and see what the bite looks like, not sure if it broke skin.
posted by friendofstone at 9:13 AM on October 18, 2013


Get a tetanus shot for the dog bite. Urgent care or regular doc is fine for this. Then report to Animal control.

They don't put down dogs for one bite. So don't worry about that.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:14 AM on October 18, 2013 [1 favorite]


Absolutely go to the doctor with your relative. The inside of the mouth of even the best-taken-care-of dog is a cesspit. If it is a stranger's dog, you have no idea how healthy it is or what it got into before it bit your relative.

As a dog owner, I have to say that if you have a dog with a behavioral issue and don't want it taken away, you damn well better make sure it doesn't bite people. That's like, the first rule about having a dog: don't let it bite people because when it bites a person it may get taken away.
posted by griphus at 9:14 AM on October 18, 2013 [12 favorites]


First things first, take pictures of the bite. Then hie thee to the doctor. I'm not sure about where you live, but where I am doctors are required to report treatments for animal bites to animal control. You can confirm that with them, but once you're done there contact animal control yourself. Make sure you show them the pictures of the bite pre-treatment and then have them document it again post-treatment. What happens from that point will depend entirely on the laws of your city & state. Depending on how bad the injury was, the next stop might be an attorney.

If the dog were to be put down, "biting someone" is not "no reason."
posted by marshmallow peep at 9:24 AM on October 18, 2013 [3 favorites]


Actually, although it's highly unlikely, a dog can be put for one bite, even if the skin wasn't broken. (Imagine a scenario in which a truly aggressive dog is physically prevented from biting seriously and you can see the logic.)

Has the owner provided proof of current rabies shot. (Depending in your state , this may be an annual shot or a three year shot. AFAIK those timelines are more of a legal issue than a protection standard. )

Veey sorry this happened.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 9:33 AM on October 18, 2013 [1 favorite]


You may not even need to call animal control. I once took a friend who was bitten to urgent care (or the ER, I can't remember), and they called animal control. They said they had to report it. It was a regrettable situation, and actually involved another Mefite (which was something I did not realize until the situation showed up as a question here.) I, too, would advise a trip to the doctor, but I think it's important to know that in some places your choice about what to do next may be constrained by the necessity of other parties.
posted by OmieWise at 9:44 AM on October 18, 2013


This happened to me, as the owner of a dog. The dog bite needs to be reported and your relative needs to have medical care.

An elderly man in my (rural) neighborhood claimed my dog bit him. The event was unknown to me at the time. He went to the doctor several days later because infection had started to set in. The doctor reported the dog bite to the sheriff's office, who then notified animal control.

Animal control asked to see the rabies vaccine license, I had it, the dog was current on all vaccines. Animal control then informed me that I had to put the dog into quarantine for 10 days at the vets office, this was to insure the dog did not develop rabies. Failure to quarantine the dog would result in the elderly man having to undergo treatment for rabies. I did quarantine the dog, she never developed rabies. Animal Control did not put the dog down, they said most dogs will get 1 free bite (depending on the severity), but if someone claimed the dog bit a second time, she would be labeled as a dangerous animal. Special precautions would be required, such as a pen with 10 ft walls, etc.

(In my defense, we lived in a rural area where fences were not allowed. My dog was one of 8 black labs that lived in the area and she would tag along after the kids. No one except the elderly man believed it was my dog that caused the injury to his leg, it wasn't a bite, but more of a skin tear on his calf.)
posted by JujuB at 9:52 AM on October 18, 2013


Doctor. Proof of rabies shot - not just the little metal dog tag on the dog, but the actual paper documenting the veterinary clinic and date of vaccination.
posted by barnone at 9:54 AM on October 18, 2013


A neighborhood dog nipped my husband once. Animal control came out, made sure the dog was current on her shots, had a Stern Talk with the dog's person (who seemed like an all right guy), and that was that. There was never any reason to think the dog was going to get taken away or put down, and she wasn't. However, she was a friendly dog, and it was not an aggressive bite. Situation may be different if the dog is routinely unfriendly or hostile.

Your family member's health is tons more important than whether or not the dog gets put down. It's not just a middling legal issue if the dog is up-to-date on its rabies shots, for instance. Hie yourselves to an urgent care or hospital, whether or not you think the bite broke the skin.
posted by Coatlicue at 10:37 AM on October 18, 2013


Response by poster: Thanks all for the great and speedy advice. There was some bruising but technically no broken skin due to thick pants/socks. The animal control officer said that with no broken skin it is not formally a "bite" so there would be no quarantining. We will have it checked over by the doctor.

He ended up deciding to issue a citation with a fine due to the circumstances, something like $100-$200. I am a little divided on the penalty because I imagine they won't take it well and will have something against us (I don't like that feeling). But this can't happen again.
posted by friendofstone at 11:23 AM on October 18, 2013 [3 favorites]


You didn't impose the penalty, the city did. You didn't let the dog loose to attack someone, the neighbor did. Not sure why you're concerned either way about the penalty.
posted by Doohickie at 11:33 AM on October 18, 2013 [4 favorites]


In addition to all of the very good advice given here, you should go talk to the neighbor and ask for the vaccination record of the dog. If they don't have paper proof handy, ask for the name and number of their vet. The doctor you take your relative to is going to ask about the dog's vaccinations. You can avoid some very unpleasant shots for your relative by verifying the dog has been vaccinated against rabies.

Most people are good people, just uniformed. You should approach the dog owner with that in mind. They should absolutely offer to do whatever is necessary to rectify the situation, including paying for the doctor bills (if any) your relative incurs.

I assume your relative was on a public sidewalk and didn't make any aggressive actions toward the dog or violate private property boundaries? If that is the case, you should also be aware that your relative can sue for damages, depending on the laws of your state. If you feel the situation warrants it, you should consider talking to a lawyer. Most homeowners and renters insurance policies have a liability component that covers this sort of thing.

But first get everyone healthy and make sure the dog is no longer running loose, ever. Call animal control every time you see it loose.
posted by jeffamaphone at 11:38 AM on October 18, 2013 [1 favorite]


When my son was in 6th grade, he was walking home from school when a dog charged him and bit him. When he got home and told/showed me what happened, I called the doctor to let him know we were on our way, and stopped by the neighbor's house to get the dog's vaccination history and vet name/number. The neighbor was EXTREMELY helpful and remorseful and offered right then and there to pay any and all expenses associated with the bite, no matter what they might have been.

The doctor called the vet to make sure the dog was current on all vax, advised ice and ibuprofen for the bite (it was a nasty, nasty bruise but didn't break the skin), and after I dropped my son at home I went to visit the neighbor again for an update. He immediately reimbursed me the copay and had actually gone out while we were gone to get my son a gift card to a local store. Because the dog was current on vaccines and the neighbor assured me that no fence breaches would be an issue from then on, I decided (together with my son) to not call animal control. Had he been an ass about it, I wouldn't have hesitated.

Other than the gift card, I would not have expected anything less from my neighbor. We were strangers before, so it's not like there was any relationship to salvage that drove his actions. He was being a responsible dog owner. I would do the same thing if my dog had bitten someone.

If I were you, I would go talk to the neighbor and let her know the status of your relative's injury, if the neighbor doesn't come to you first. You need reassurance that this is not going to happen again, regardless of the status of the fine. That dog needs to be restrained.
posted by cooker girl at 12:01 PM on October 18, 2013 [3 favorites]


I am a little divided on the penalty because I imagine they won't take it well and will have something against us (I don't like that feeling). But this can't happen again.

If they took the penalty in stride, that would probably be worse. The fact that the fine is a burden is exactly the point: they will now, hopefully, put more effort into keeping their dog from biting people, lest they have to shell out for another fee and get yelled at by Animal Control again.
posted by griphus at 12:04 PM on October 18, 2013 [1 favorite]


Pediatrician once advised that the first thing to do to a dog bite is wash with soap and water. May I add that animals do not use toilet paper...
posted by Cranberry at 1:14 PM on October 18, 2013


You did the right thing.

If your dog is poorly behaved you must control it - leash, fence, etc. If the dog is a biter, the owner needs to know that and animal control should have it on record.

This is one of those sucky cards that life sometimes deals, but you're doing the right thing.
posted by 26.2 at 2:09 PM on October 18, 2013 [1 favorite]


Absolutely go to the doctor with your relative. The inside of the mouth of even the best-taken-care-of dog is a cesspit.

This is just completely untrue. A dogs mouth is not more or less "dirty" than a human's.

http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/dogmouth.asp

but where I am doctors are required to report treatments for animal bites to animal control

This is also true where I live. My dog accidentally caught my finger with her tooth one day when we were playing. I had to get a tetanus shot because I was overdue. My doctor was really concerned because he was going to have to report my dog and that meant automatic confinement for my dog (he wound up not reporting her in order to keep this from happening).

Having said all that I think you did the right thing because these people sound like bad dog owners and they need a wake up call!
posted by WalkerWestridge at 5:25 PM on October 18, 2013


My son got bit by a friend's dog when he was little-it was a mandatory report and the owners had to prove the dog had had its rabies shot. Could animal control have done that already? If not that does need to be done. But I suspect that that was the first thing animal control did.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 9:49 PM on October 18, 2013


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