My dog bit another dog, how much should I expect to pay for the person's dog to go to the vet through court?

Question

Ill start from the beginning... It was a snowy day and my mom had to take out my dog(a black Labrador) because I was running late from school. My mom slips on the snow and my dog(not trained to be off a leash) runs straight to my neighbor's dog who was barking at her since my mom got out of the house. My neighbor has a small dog so when they both tried to fight each other my dog obviously won beating her dog's leg before they were pulled apart. Before the bite happened my mom was trying separate them but the lady has one of those 15 ft leashes for her dog to run around. We live in town houses where everyone's door is just a few feet away and so of course they were both on public property. Anyway, my mom fell a second time before pulling the dogs apart because of that long leash being wrapped around her legs then my dog finally bit the dog's leg and my mom was able to do something at this time. The other lady is just a tad older then my mom didn't really help much except to pull her dog at the end. My mom tried offering the lady to pay for the costs but the lady just cursed her to get out so my mom just went back home. We had a reunion to go to and didn't come back till 12:00 at night and to our surprise the lady was standing near our parking spot waiting for us with another lady. She changed her mind about us not paying for the vet and starting telling us that just for the office visit it was like $400 then that tomorrow there was going to be major surgery cause the dog needed stitches for the one little bite wound that was going to cost even more money then that. My mom thought that she was just trying to get her money by now so she told her to take her to court because she wanted to pay her a fair amount of money and this way everything was on paper(no under the table deals). I did some investigating for myself and first of all an uninsured(my dog is insured btw thus up to date with vaccines) emergency office visit near my area was about 50 dollars no more(Source:Banfield: pretty legitimate vet). Supposedly they did nothing to the dog except give her a quote and it wasn't bad so they gave her a "major surgery" time the fallowing day. Second I did some yahoo answers research for similar dog bites and they said EVERYTHING even the dog cone and antibiotics was like 300-600 dollars. So how much should I be expecting to pay this lady tomorrow? Expecting the worst that she is suing us for more than a thousand dollars just for a small bit wound that the dog was jumping around after a day. The same dog that attack my dog not so long ago when the same thing happened just the other way around and did we do anything? (No! and I regret not suing her for the vet cost too!) At least now she doesn't sit outside with her dog running around our side walk on the brighter side. Any suggestions of what to say in court tomorrow to be able to reach a more reasonable cost? Again, of course, how much should I expect to pay this lady?

Cheryl · Accepted Answer

you pay what the woman provides receipts for ... and i would not be so cocky about it ... my dog is small and was attacked by a much larger dog and the vet bill was $1165 ... so you can do whatever investigating you want and check with whatever vets you want, the only thing that matters are the receipts the other woman has ... you have an untrained dog who your mother could not control and it aggressively attacked and hurt another dog ... don't make excuses, pay up ... i can't believe you typed all of that to try to justify why you should not pay ... not only should you pay, your family needs an attitude adjustment ... if your lab was attacked and required major surgery, you would be singing another tune - "No! and I regret not suing her for the vet cost too!" ... your family should be apologetic and either muzzle your dog or get some professional training ... in court you better show some remorse cuz you sure are not showing it here ...

Sheri · Answer

If the dog had been taken to the vet and can show proof of all of the expenses you will have to pay all of them.

Quite honestly your story seems very one sided but the end result will be that the one with proof of vet bills and possibly witnesses will prevail.

As for your research .. You better look again as what you describe in the latter part of your story isn't always the case.

Being that you live in a condo complex she may very well bring up the incident to them and if she wins in court you may have fees to pay to the complex or be told you can not have a dog which has attacked another on the complex grounds.

Jenny · Answer

Your mom lost control of your dog and your dog caused damage to someone else's dog. Your mom is responsible for vet bills. The woman did nothing wrong, why should she have to pay? Of course though you shouldn't pay her anything without getting a copy of the vet bill first, or you can pay directly to the vet. I wouldn't let it go to court. You are going to lose and you will then have to pay court costs and whatever other expenses the judge seems fit. And I'm sure the judge will be very unhappy with you for trying to get out of your responsibility and forcing the woman to sue you for the money you owe her.

jazzy · Answer

you will be required to pay all the money that is on the receipt from her vet bill, it doesn't matter if other vets charge a lower cost for the same procedure, she is entitled to go to the most expensive vet in the area if she chooses too, you are only compensating her for the money she has already paid at the vet office for damage that your dog caused, i would recommend you just pay the bill and be done with it, if you do go to court, expect to be paying back all the money on the bill plus court costs.

Lizzie · Answer

What you will have to pay is up to the judge to decide.  Probably you will have to reimburse the woman for all veterinary costs (ask for an ITEMIZED bill so you don't end up paying for unrelated expenses, such as the dog's vaccinations and flea control).  In many areas, those extension leashes, and all leashes over 6 feet long, are illegal.  Call Animal Control and find out.  It may or may not lessen your bill.  Your dog was off leash.  Did your mother have to see a doctor after falling twice, due to that too long leash tripping her?  Did she miss work?  She could counter-sue.

Nekkid Truth! · Answer

this lady can try to take you to small claims, but if she has NO paperwork from the vet to proove the expenses, she wont get one dime.

Vets do not do work "under the table".  they always provide a detailed invoice.

if she has any kind of proof of vet bills, all you can be expected to pay is what the vet bill actually was (and maybe her court costs as well).

ChichiMom · Answer

She should be able to give you the bills from her vet. Then I would contact the vet and confirm, just to be sure she did not forge some documents on her own computer. Then I would check to see if you had home owners insurance....if you do, it should cover the costs.

Lore · Answer

For me it was around 1400 and it was a small bite and went to court because i thought it was way too much but i end up paying that much

just me · Answer

The judge should look carefully at the vet bills to make sure they're reasonable. You might have to pay court costs. Hopefully it'll be just a few hundred dollars all together.

Barefoottrimmer · Answer

This doesn't make any sense.  No one is going to get a court date for "tomorrow"  Sorry.  Try again.  Sounds a bit trollish.

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My dog bit another dog, how much should I expect to pay for the person's dog to go to the vet through court?

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