RidesaJapanese

Last Tuesday I'm riding the Takara past a house where a pit bull resides, it comes charging out of the yard at me flanking my right side and chomps down on the side of my leg above the knee. I think only momentum and adrenalin pulled my leg out of its mouth. It reared to attack again so I put the pedal to the metal and escaped, it being wholly unimpressed with my angry shouts at it. That was the fourth time it had gotten loose and charged me, several times dragging a red leash, it is now on a ten day hold at the pound and must then be removed as there is a pit bull ordinance there (they're claiming it's an American bulldog). I didn't set out to cause them any more trouble than I had to, but if I'd been on the Trek pulling my daughter in her Burley I shudder to think what might have happened, or what if a child had been biking past?

jeichelberg87

IT does not matter what the owner claims in regard to breed. You need to stop posting here on the forum and remove all references to this incident on the internet, right now, and immediately contact an attorney.

Good luck.

corrado33

This. Any dog that bites strangers should be put down. I hate saying that, but it's true. (I'm a dog person )

FBinNY 

Start with a small claims lawsuit asking for the max or high dollars for the injury. Immediately see the police, and have a photo of the bite recorded in theit files, or signed and dated as evidence.

The suit isn't about getting money, even though you;re entitled so something for the headache, it's about serving notice that you're serious and will pursue this to the end. Plus, if there are local ordinances, the judge may order him to keep it chained, under penalty of contempt of court.

I'm not a fan of what ifs, as in what if my daughter was there, because what didn't happen didn't happen. But the bite did happen, and in many places this dog would be ordered destroyed if there's a second bite, so the owner needs to take this seriously. Plus after the first bite is properly recorded, it would make it easier to prove owner negligence in the event of a second.

One other benefit of filing the lawsuit, is that he'll probably need to notify his homeowners insurance companym at which they'll put restrictions on him and the dog, or insist on excluding dog bites from his policy.

10 Wheels

American Bull Dogs are just plain Mean..

Woman 1 block away used to walk one.

Me sitting in my front yard, the dog tried to attack me while her on the other end of the leash.

FBinNY 

Dogs are dogs, and do what dogs do. They'll chase and attack out of either a hunting or protective instinct or both. They chase bicycles because we're running away, meaning that we're vulnerable prey, or intruders, who by running prove that we don't belong there. The fact that we run when chased only reinforces those notions.

So expecting different from dogs is pointless. It's their owners from whom we need to demand more care, and sadly sometimes the only thing that works are big bills and/or the real threat of having the dog destroyed. Warning, some owners aren't all that threatened by the destruction of their dog, they just get another one, so only something that threatens the owner himself works.

Chris516

While I definitely agree with your concern about another child going by that house. I do wonder, if the owner was going to take the dog for a walk. Since the dog had a leash on. If that was the case. That is utter carelessness on the part of the owner. Since they live near where children play.
While I agree that dogs will be dogs. I don't agree with putting them down in all cases. They need extensive retraining. They don't need to be condemned to death if they didn't kill anyone.

RidesaJapanese

I did file the report, the dog is being held, the dog catcher who is my neighbor said she notified them it is not to be kept here in Albany when released. I have a few personal reasons not to make life more troublesome for them, I'm just over three years in as a transplant in a small rural town, I am just now gaining acceptance here. I'd also hate to cause them financial and legal grief out of all proportion to what harm was done, I have seen another dog owner ruined over something even less trivial.

Then I myself flout the leash law here, my 100+ pound black Lab/Bernese Mountain dog mix is the town dog. He is a calm and gentle dog, and especially fond of children. If I were to raise a fuss, I could see him being the focus of retaliation, such are the ways of small town politics. He almost always comes along on our rides, I keep a slow pace for him.

Matariki

Be careful with this. We humans can never really predict how any dog can react to certain triggers. Best to have them under control.

baron von trail 

Definitely more a case for a lawyer than bike folks on an internet forum.

RidesaJapanese

I thought that although cagers are our main hazards, I myself was hit by a car while cycling in 2001, it makes sense to be alert for dogs also. There are several houses here where they give chase to me, when were I footing it I suspect they wouldn't notice me.

FBinNY 

The Op has stated that he's not looking for blood, or to make more waves than necessary since this is a neighbor. Plus the stakes are relatively low, so not a case for a lawyer, nor for paranoia about posting since the OP isn't revealing anything against his interest.

IMO, given the circumstances, it's between the OP, the dog owner, and animal control, (or the police). If that doesn't produce an outcome satisfactory to the OP, he can go from there.

jgadamski

I have scarring on my lip, the result of my sons friends pit who leaped up, unprovoked to 'assert dominance' over me as I chatted with my sons girlfriend who was holding the leash. Apparently it had happened before. I did not pursue it. One year to the date later, the dog, at the same campsite, broke loose and attacked a jogger who was running by. The end result is one young woman had to endure 3 reconstructive surgeries, the legal trail that resulted, and the friend of my son had to absorb a court ordered remedy he was ill prepared to address. The dog was euthanized. I would have served my interests and all involved interests by responding immediately and insuring this dog could no longer behave as he had. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

RidesaJapanese

Seems like it's always a pit doesn't it? That's what the dog catcher said about them, in a town where they are supposedly banned. It turns out it wasn't his dog, he was keeping it for people over in the next town (I wonder why that might be?) So in the short time it was here, it had been loose and charged me four different times. That's why I went to City Hall and reported it, it is now a matter of record, I can only hope the owners take heed. I am just thankful I wasn't injured to where a lawsuit would have been worthwhile, or that it wasn't one of the towns children. I do hope the dog will be properly trained and confined after this, that is if its owners reclaim it. There are more often bad owners than bad dogs I believe, and it seems a certain type is drawn to owning that breed.

baron von trail 

Dogs chase bikes like they do cars...but bikes they can occasionally catch.

baron von trail 

Most of the time any dog tied to a tree will become aggressive. I'm sure I would too under those circumstances.

jgadamski

it's always an unsocialized dog allowed to run free. I don't know if you can ban a specific breed or would want to. At the end of the day, any dog can be dangerous. Fortunately, most are not. The point I was trying to make is 'turn the other cheek' only leaves you bitten on two cheeks. A dog allowed to bite and not totally contained will often bite again. The responsibility is with the owner, and consequences are the thing that will force his hand. The owner of the dog that bit me faced no consequences when his dog bit me. He was my sons friend and I felt unsure about 'being a jerk' about it. And the dog bit someone else, with much greater injury. My sons friend could have been forced with a semi-sympathetic person forcing him to confront his dogs ownership. Instead, he faced a justifiably angry victim who sued and won big damages, to pay for the losses she faced when the dog mauled her.
I suggest you force the owner to make you whole for your losses, and insist the dog be destroyed. Irresponsible owners permit these events to happen. Even if you collect nothing, by getting the dog destroyed will lower your communities risk that much.

RidesaJapanese

To me a dog is family, far too many of them here live out their lives on a chain or in a kennel, they are never walked or taken anywhere.

CliffordK

It is sad to see it happen. The OP was strong enough to break free from the dog. The next victim may not be so lucky.

I assume the OP will recover from the bite, and there is no significant injury other than a few fang marks on the leg so I wouldn't rush to get legal aid.

However, I think the pound would be extremely remiss if they ever let that dog out.

RidesaJapanese

I knew of a St. Bernard that was ultimately destroyed, his owner portrayed him as a gentle giant while the town dubbed him Cujo, as it so often does the truth lay somewhere in the middle. He was always friendly to me, but he wasn't trained, and wasn't properly kept or exercised as such a large dog needs to be. The owner ignored repeated warnings to properly fence him in, he'd see another dog and tear pickets off like toothpicks to escape and get at it. Then he jumped up on a neighbor women scratching her, not at all an attack just a large clumsy dog delighted to escape his confines. The next time it was a 5 year old girl he knocked down and trampled, scratching and gouging her back. The owner ended up facing felony charges, the dog was put down, sad story all around. It would be both fair and true to say it was more about small town vindictiveness than any actual harm the dog caused, but the owner refused to address the issues knowing the likely result and probably had no business owning such a dog.

CliffordK

I think people are less tolerant about dog attacks now.

I remember when I was a kid, there was a dog along the road that we all knew about, and would always sprint around. But, at least in Oregon, that just doesn't happen anymore.

Ok, there is one dog at a dead-end turn-around for one of my rides that is often unchained, but I just tell it to go home, and goes, sits in the corner of the property, and watches me turn around and go back the other way.

bnb69

What do you mean that you flout the leash laws, too? Your dog is the"town dog"? So, you let your 100 lb dog run and crap where ever it wants? Why aren't you just as irresponsible as the owners of the dog that bit you? Because your dog hasn't bit anyone YET? Unbelievable...

RidesaJapanese

Trust me, you don't know this dog. Whether it's other dog, or people, and especially kids, all he wants to do is make friends. All the neighborhood kids know him, my daughter can't walk towards the street without him taking his post at her side. If some grouch does call him in, the dog catcher picks him up and drops him off at home. Such are the ways of small towns, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

CliffordK

That reminds me of being in Sisters Oregon a couple of weeks ago. There was a lazy old dog laying in front of an art and sculpture store that I went in to browse.

After browsing a few minutes, I saw the dog walk into the store. I tried to shoosh it back out, then realized it seemed to know exactly where it was headed. So, it was the one at home and I was the visitor.

It just seemed to ignore me, and most everyone else.

RidesaJapanese

That's how Big Dog is, he wanders into any store here he can trigger the automatic door, they give him a drink and a treat. He hangs out at the Casey's all the time, they call him their watch dog.

He had an 'owner' at my old town, but from the first day I met him in my back yard he adopted me. When my daughter was born 6 months later, she had a big brother and nanny. When we had a kitten adopt Erin last year, he saw her as a new family member. I've never known a dog with such a personality, he has to be an old soul. He has a dignity and bearing that is almost regal, no one here any longer objects to his freedom, he has given then no cause to these past three years and I am certain he never would.