My dog was attacked

Yesterday when the staff at the doggie daycare I take my pup to were bringing my dog out they brought 2 dogs into the holding area at once and they were left alone for a moment and the other dog bit my dog's ear quite severely. Lots of blood, emergency vet, $300 later and 2 weeks of antibiotics for pooch I'm torn at what to do. My dog loves playing at daycare, and I expect the odd scratch or something come up during play but to have an actual attack happen which sends my dog to the vet I think is over the top.

Should I expect the doggy daycare to pay the vet bill since they were not properly supervising the dogs?

Should I take my dog back to play there again? I'm leaning towards no, but he's been going there for over 6 months 3 or 4 times a week with no incidents.

I'm sure you signed some sort of contract with info about this. I'd look it over.

If no contract: YES THEY SHOULD COMPLETELY PAY!

They should absolutely pay for their negligence. I don't even see how it's a question. You pay them to take care of your pet, not put him in danger, even for a "minute."

I'm sure it's in the contract that they are not responsible for injuries, and I completely understand that dogs are dogs and sometimes they fight, he's come home with scratches and small stuff that's just a result of his playing. I'm fine with that - the thing that bugs me is that it's also their responsibility to NOT leave my dog unattended alone with another dog, to me that is endangering my dog. Dogs generally escalate and start by growling at eachother and give off other body language that they are not happy and if they were supervised then I think the staff would have been able to interject before my dog was physically hurt.

I'm sure it's in the contract that they arenot responsible for injuries. But I think that it would also be in the contract that they are not putting dogs in dangerous situations. 

I would think they are responsible for the injury if they were not properly supervising the dog.  

hey sybil, wow i can TOTALLY sympathize with you here. my dog Murphy has gone to doggy daycare two days a week for the past three years. about a year and half ago, he was attacked in a similar way. i recieved a call at work that i had to pick him up and he needed to go to the vet. i arrived and he was pretty beat up. ended up getting two staples in his head, severe bruising, it was just awful.

a new dog had started at the daycare that day, and they noticed that he was acting strangely. when they went to grab him and separate him from the other dogs, he wriggled loose, plowed through all the other dogs and went after poor Murph, who just stood there and got mauled.

it my case the bills were almost identical to yours. the daycare is not usually responsible for injury, i'm sure whatever you signed when you started taking your dog there states that. in my case, the owner of the other dog was just horrifed, his dog was immediately expelled, and he insisted on paying my vet bills in full.

are you able to contact the ower of the other dog? is the other dog still attending the daycare? if so, i would not bring your dog back. i find it hard to believe that the daycare staff didn't notice this dog had aggression issues. even if the two of them were left alone in the holding area, no dog allowed in group play like that should be so quick to injure another. it doesn't sound so much like a lack of supervison, but more like a lack of screening of the dogs.

murphy returned to daycare once he was healed, and we haven't had any other issues. i know the staff wasn't to blame, because they did everything right. if you feel like the staff at your dogs daycare acted negligently, don't bring your dog back there, but maybe try to find another daycare if your dog enjoys it.

my dog (not kenya, but my previous dog) was attacked by three german shepherds on my parents' street several years ago.  similar injury: a chunk was torn out of her ear - very bloody.  it couldn't be stitched, but the vet wrapped it up (poor thing was so embarrassed).

anyway, we had no recourse.  could have delivered the vet bill to the dogs' owner, i suppose, but the guy's elderly mother was trying to care for these three dogs while he was off working for the railway or something.  i felt bad for the dogs, actually, because they were confined almost constantly and had to watch my dog go for walks 2-3 times a day.

when you're paying for a service, though, you should be able to trust that your dog will be safe.

What Jules??? You mean Murph's Evil American Pit Bull instincts didn't kick in??? He didn't latch on to the other dog's head with his massive locking jaws and refuse to let go???

You obviously got some trainin' to do. ;)

on edit: Sorry OP. Was not trying to make light of your situation. Am glad your pup is ok. :)

Original Post by kathygator:

What Jules??? You mean Murph's Evil American Pit Bull instincts didn't kick in??? He didn't latch on to the other dog's head with his massive locking jaws and refuse to let go???

 haha yes cuz Pit's are sooooo vicious! Pete's afraid of his damn shadow! He barks at it sometimes!

OP: I agree with the above posters, if you feel comfotable with it and the dog that attacked yours isn't there bring him back. Otherwise maybe look for another doggie daycare

Original Post by kathygator:

What Jules??? You mean Murph's Evil American Pit Bull instincts didn't kick in??? He didn't latch on to the other dog's head with his massive locking jaws and refuse to let go???

 unfortunately i'd left the keys for his locking jaw in my other coat that day, so it was useless! poor guy! :p

Original Post by jules817:

Original Post by kathygator:

What Jules??? You mean Murph's Evil American Pit Bull instincts didn't kick in??? He didn't latch on to the other dog's head with his massive locking jaws and refuse to let go???

 unfortunately i'd left the keys for his locking jaw in my other coat that day, so it was useless! poor guy! :p

I laughed  hee hee that tickled me

Original Post by sybil878:

Should I expect the doggy daycare to pay the vet bill since they were not properly supervising the dogs?

Should I take my dog back to play there again? I'm leaning towards no, but he's been going there for over 6 months 3 or 4 times a week with no incidents.

ABSOLUTELY YES the daycare should and I believe actually NEEDS to pay for the bill. I used to work at a doggy daycare and pretty sure that it was part of the procedure that if something happened, then they would be the ones to pay for it. Note - do not just take it to someone working there - take it to the manager. If they refuse, take it to the corporate office.

Dog fights do happen at the daycares, unfortunately. But when an animal is actually injured, then it is their responsibility to ensure the animal gets proper care and they need to pay for it.

In regards to taking your dog back, it's really your call. You can state that you do NOT want your dog in the same play room as the dog that attacked. Or maybe see if they have an individual play option. Obviously the staff will definitely be on the lookout for more aggressive behavior from that other dog. But like I said, dog fights do happen, and it's not as horrible as it seems - unless one gets hurt, of course. There are typically behaviors that lead up to the attack, as opposed to just biting.

Talk to the daycare; express your concerns. This is not the first fight that has happened and they definitely have procedures in place for concerned "parents".

 

Just posting this to say I'm sorry for your dog's injury and the vet bill and I suppose also to just get something off my chest. I don't trust that my dogs are ever absolutely safe from other dogs. Here is why.

We have two Shih Tzu puppies, house dogs for sure, and never outside when not on a leash-even to get in the car. I take them out and we are sauntering along toward our woodpile when a neighbor and his grandson come across the hill (our property) and head toward our garden (wintertime-so nothing is planted) accompanied by a pack of about 25 hunting dogs, yelping and running in all directions.

Our puppies ( so pampered and sheltered that they don't even know they are dogs) immediately go wild, barking and jerking on their leashes as one of the hunting dogs heads our way. I snatch up our little male to quiet him, but leave Susy down because I can't hold them both and I figure she is safe as I have heard male dogs won't atrtack females. WRONG!!! He jumped on her, attacking and biting as I stared in fear, afraid he would kill her and expecting the rest of the pack to join the fight at any time. I put my boy dog down so he could help Susy and me fight as I was by now kicking at the hunter dog with all my might and screaming at the neighbor man to get his dog away.

Soon the grandson ran up, yelling and calling at his dog, and thankfully after a bit his dog quit fighting and ran back to the man and the pack. I told the boy that my dogs didn't know how to behave around other dogs and to take his dogs and leave and we didn"t allow hunting on our land anyway. They left, crossing on over our garden to a DIFFERENT neighbor"s field with the boy not saying another word and the neighbor man not even looking around. They haven't been back and I haven't had occasion to talk to them since. I am glad because, although I have no hard feeling toward the grandson, I would have great difficulty even speaking to the man.

It's always hard to deal with your dog getting hurt. I hope things are resolved and your dog can play with other dogs in peace.

It depends on the contract that you signed up for by choice to use their doggy daycare. Do you know what you signed? o_O It may take digging or work to find your own copy. Or: ask for one.  Re-Read the paperwork.

That's the best course of action so you're informed. Sometimes people waive such things by signing the dotted lines. It's negligence from the care providers. Sure. However, you may've already waived it from their responsibility. It may say something within that the dogs owner is responsible. Each owner responsible for anything that their dog does and results, ect. It depends on the doggy daycare setup.The vet bills may be covered by the daycare or other pet owner. It depends on what you did or did not sign up for... :) Best of luck.