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Perry White · 01-28-2012, 12:28 PM

Well, did they put the Pit Bull down?

2Labs · 01-28-2012, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perry White

Well, did they put the Pit Bull down?

At this point the dog officer has not even removed the dog from the premises. We have filed charges and have requested a vicious dog hearing, but that will take at least 1-2 weeks to happen. We did see the dog officer at the home yesterday knocking on the door with some papers in his hand, but no one was home - or maybe no one was coming to the door.

We're staying vigilant about this and have all intentions to follow this through as far as it can go.

2Labs · 01-28-2012, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perry White

Well, did they put the Pit Bull down?

The State of RI has a pretty well defined statute on dog bites and if the dog is determined to be vicious AND this was its first offense, the penalties *should* they be applied, can include:

- a requirement that the owner keep a $100,000 insurance policy on the dog.
- a 6 foot high fence around the house and yard where the dog is kept
- among other penalties ....

If this is the first instance of biting from this dog we're going to push for the maximum penalties the law allows. These new neighbors are renters, so if they are required to put up a 6 foot fence, there is a good likelihood that they would have to move, since I am sure the landlord would not be willing to spend the money for that.

We also want to see them have to hold the insurance policy and have the reminder every month when they make a premium payment, that their dog is vicious.

Here is the text of the statute:

§ 4-13-16 Action for damages to animals – Double damages on second recovery – Destruction of offending dog. – If any dog kills, wounds, worries, or assists in killing, wounding or worrying, any sheep, lamb, cattle, horse, hog, swine, fowl, or other domestic animal belonging to or in the possession of any person, or assaults, bites, or otherwise injures any person while traveling the highway or out of the enclosure of the owner or keeper of that dog, the owner or keeper of the dog shall be liable to the person aggrieved, for all damage sustained, to be recovered in a civil action, with costs of suit. If afterwards any such damage is done by that dog, the owner or keeper of the dog shall pay to the party aggrieved double the damage, to be recovered in the manner set forth and an order shall be made by the court before whom that second recovery is made, for killing the dog. The order shall be executed by the officer charged with the execution of the order, and it shall not be necessary, in order to sustain this action, to prove that the owner or keeper of the dog knew that the dog was accustomed to causing this damage.

And .. depending on the way that the renters lease agreement is written, the landlord *may* have some complicity in this ... only time and investigation will tell.

bigdog · 01-28-2012, 02:00 PM

Who's paying the bill for all of this ???????

2Labs · 01-28-2012, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigdog

Who's paying the bill for all of this ???????

Right now we are ... more than $1,000 out of pocket to date!!

Unfortunately right now, to protect our rights, we are going to have to pay out of pocket. There is a chance that if we accept partial payment that we could waive our rights to any future costs.

Bill WA6YBD · 01-28-2012, 05:06 PM

2Labs,

If they are renters perhaps there is some liability recourse with the landlord. Perhaps the landlord is not aware they have a dog let alone a pit-bull. I would think about contacting the landlord and letting them know how serious the situation with the new renter has become. With a little luck (and not wanting to be involved in legal battles) the landlord may ask them to move. A least that problem would be solved. However you are correct in pursuing this to the end in order to try and prevent this from happening to some other poor unsuspecting person.

~Bill

2Labs · 01-28-2012, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill WA6YBD

2Labs,

If they are renters perhaps there is some liability recourse with the landlord. Perhaps the landlord is not aware they have a dog let alone a pit-bull. I would think about contacting the landlord and letting them know how serious the situation with the new renter has become. With a little luck (and not wanting to be involved in legal battles) the landlord may ask them to move. A least that problem would be solved. However you are correct in pursuing this to the end in order to try and prevent this from happening to some other poor unsuspecting person.

~Bill

You're absolutely right Bill, and we have already reached out to the landlord as well. We haven't received anything more than a call back from him and informing him of the situation ... we'll have to see what transpires there.

From the perspective of pursuing this to the end, you are also correct. We're not only pursuing this for our protection, but for the protection of any other neighbors they may have in the future.

Now that this pit bull has attacked and bitten, we intend to make sure that they are at least supposed to have certain things (fences, insurance, etc) in place for the life of this dog. And seeing how the pit bull is only 4 years old, it could become an expensive proposition for them in the long run.

bronk · 01-29-2012, 11:02 AM

As I have been following Maya's and your progress, I was relieved to hear that both of you are improving! As I was mentioning this "event" to my wife, and she suggested that you might consider a ramp for entrance and exit to your motor home as was suggested in an earlier post. When one of our goldens was exhibiting difficulty negotiating our MH steps, we purchased a dog ramp on Amazon.com. It has a rubber non-slip surface, and telescopes for easy storage under our MH. It was a very big help for our dog and was by far the least expensive of other dog specific ramps that we looked at that were offered by pet stores, etc. I believe that it was under $100.00 which included shipping. Best wishes for your and Maya's continued improvement. I know that with you loving care and a lot of patience,she will be fine. Also, if you should desire more infomation concerning the ramp, please feel free to e-mail me.

Bronk

2Labs · 01-31-2012, 02:49 PM

A week later and Maya is doing ok. We had a bit of a scare today as the wound opened itself up today where it has been scabbing over. She had to get 10 staples to close it up again and she's scheduled for surgery tomorrow to have the wound stitched closed.

The vet expected this stage and is bringing in the "extra steady hands" to stitch it closed tomorrow. They're going to do their best to close it up as best as possible, and will make a conscious effort make the cuts and closure so that her fur will not have any blank spots but will also all be running in the proper direction.

We received our date for the vicious dog hearing, a week from today. Over the course of this week I'll be speaking to the other residents in neighborhood trying to obtain any witness statements that I can.

2Labs · 01-31-2012, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bronk

As I have been following Maya's and your progress, I was relieved to hear that both of you are improving! As I was mentioning this "event" to my wife, and she suggested that you might consider a ramp for entrance and exit to your motor home as was suggested in an earlier post. When one of our goldens was exhibiting difficulty negotiating our MH steps, we purchased a dog ramp on Amazon.com. It has a rubber non-slip surface, and telescopes for easy storage under our MH. It was a very big help for our dog and was by far the least expensive of other dog specific ramps that we looked at that were offered by pet stores, etc. I believe that it was under $100.00 which included shipping. Best wishes for your and Maya's continued improvement. I know that with you loving care and a lot of patience,she will be fine. Also, if you should desire more infomation concerning the ramp, please feel free to e-mail me.

Bronk

Hi Bronk .. thanks for the advice on the ramp. We did think about this, but Maya and I have been doing pretty well with picking her up to bring her in and out of the motorhome. She seems to know that it has to be this way for now and doesn't fight me ...although she would prefer not to be picked up.

We're really working to keep her activity down as she's just a puppy and has tons of energy, but she has to be kept from running, stretching too much and in general any outside activity that could cause the wound to get dirty and infected.

The DW and I have been taking shifts so that we're up with her 24/7, just to make sure that she doesn't try to lick or scratch at the wound. I know for me, when a cut starts to heal and scab over it gets itchy, so we have to do our best to make sure that she doesn't act on the same feelings as hers starts to heal.

John H... · 01-31-2012, 03:47 PM

Our best to Maya and I hope everything good happens for you at your trial. Will be waiting to hear how things go for you...

bronk · 02-01-2012, 12:51 PM

Pleased to hear that Maya is doing well in spite of the issues associated with movement, etc. FWIW: When we visit Maine in the summer and spend time at the lake, our male golden loves to swim and spends an inordinate amount of time in the water, and he is prone to "hot spots" which have to be treated with anti-biotics, etc. Like Maya, he often reacts to the itching and is prone to lick the affected area (usually on his belly or underside). To mitigate the tendancy to lick, my wife has started using one of my T-shirts to keep the treated area covered. She puts his hind legs through the shirt arms, and his tail through the neck opening. We secure the "T" by using a cinching strap (usually one of my old military belts around his forward chest area, right behind his front legs. The good news is that it works - the bad news is that I have had to purchase stock in Fruit of The Loom since two of us in the family are now wearing T's.

Best wishes for Maya's continued progress.

Bronk

2Labs · 02-01-2012, 05:42 PM

Today's update ...

Maya went in this morning for another round of surgery to cleanly close up the wound. While the surgery went very well, the damage to the underlying tissue and skin was significantly more severe than initially expected. That said, the veterinary surgeons did an EXCELLENT job on closing up her wound and working very hard to pull and twist the "good" skin so that the scar will be as un-noticeable as possible and so that her fur will continue to grow in the proper direction - in relation to the fur in the surrounding areas.

I really cannot say enough about the Veterinarians at the West Shore Animal Clinic in Warwick, RI. When we lived here full time in the 90's we used to bring our other labradors here and the service, education and support is still FIRST CLASS!

When we mentioned to them that our intention was for Maya to be a show dog, they took extra care and caution to make the wound repair as invisible as possible. They are also providing, at no charge, on-going laser therapy to the effected areas - a therapy that they feel helps to shorten the recovery time and also helps to diminish the visible and tangible/touchable effects of this wound. They also, very specifically, took great care in the stitching and used self-dissolving suchers (stitches) to aid in lessening the noticeable effects of this wound.

For now, it will be 2 weeks of wearing the cone and carrying Maya in and out of the motorhome. The DW and I are on split shifts so that Maya can be monitored 24x7 ... gonna' be a long couple of weeks.

Thanks again to everyone for your kind thoughts and messages .. it is GREATLY appreciated. Hopefully in our travels we'll all meet up someday and you can see for yourself how great of a companion Maya, and her brother Brody are.

Keep an eye out for our '05 Sea Breeze ... FMCA # 422187

BichonLover · 02-01-2012, 05:59 PM

Thanks for the update!
How is Maya tolerating the cone? All dogs handle it differently -- my dog hated it. She wouldn't walk, eat, or sleep while wearing it. I think part of it was that she couldn't see peripherally and that made her anxious. Ended up getting an inlatable collar (looks like puffy donut) and she did so much better with that. Don't know how big Maya is, but if you do go for the inflatable collar, get one size larger than you think you'll need.

Thanks for taking the time to keep us informed. My bichon is waving her paw at Maya, lol. :-)