Readers, dog owners, can I ask you a question? Or, actually, a few related questions:
If you had to put a dollar figure on it, what would your dog’s life be worth to you? How would you justify that figure?
And, for those of you who have actually HAD TO put a dollar figure on your dog’s life in a lawsuit, or who received compensation after your dog’s life was taken by another – whether through negligence or cruelty or whatever: How much compensation were you able to receive?
Another dog lost his life unnecessarily
I’m asking these questions as I ponder the story of a friend’s pup, who was killed as he lay, on leash, at a public park, by two off-leash dogs, in front of my friend, his nine-year-old daughter, her friend, and other children and parents. I just can’t fully fathom the emotional damage done to my friend and especially his daughter, who had just completed a “puppy kindergarten” training class with her beloved dog. My friend’s daughter, an active, athletic girl, has told her dad she doesn’t want to play at the park anymore, it hurts too much. Is there a price you can put on this pain?
The owner of the attacking dog had released his dogs to run off-leash, in violation of the local leash laws. In my mind, that makes him liable for a bit more in damages, should a suit find him responsible for the loss of my friend’s pup and damages for the bites my friend sustained as he tried to save his pup from the aggressors. But the owner of those dogs stayed at the scene and took responsibility for the dogs, and, in fact, surrendered the dog most responsible for the puppy’s death to the responding animal control officer and requested that the dog be euthanized. Should that act reduce his legal liability?
What does the law say about this?
It’s my understanding that, in this country, dogs are legal property, and their loss is not treated or compensated-for as the loss of a human family member would be. But, as I sit here looking at photos my friend sent me of his happy daughter and her puppy at Christmas, and of the slain puppy and his attackers at the park a few weeks later, waiting for an animal control officer to arrive, I just can’t square the price of a puppy’s purchase with the loss my friend’s family has suffered.
I don’t even know if my friend will pursue a lawsuit or settlement, and of course there is no way of knowing how a judge might rule on such a case, or whether the marauding dogs’ owner feels any responsibility or has a homeowner’s insurance policy or some other way to attempt to compensate my friend for his family’s loss and suffering. I’m just so sad, thinking about it. What is a dog’s life actually worth today?
*A note from Nancy Kerns
In response to the many comments left by our readers, I wanted to state the following:
This is a really upsetting story, I know; I had not yet even met my friend’s puppy, but had seen pictures of his daughter and the pup together, and yet, as I have been discussing the tragedy with my friend and thinking about it – imagining it – I have been in tears several times a day. Awful!
However, I really am hoping to get more answers to the questions at the outset of the post. If you *could* name the price that you would accept for the loss of your dog, how would you set a value on his life? And, more reality-based, if you or someone you know had a dog who was killed through no fault of your own, and if you sought or received compensation for your loss, how was that compensation determined?
Also, I would like it to be known that the attacking dogs were not pit bulls – and their breed is beside the point. I have removed a post or two that was targeting pit bulls, as the breed was in no way relevant in this case. These dogs had been let off leash in a public park that has a leash law, near a children’s playground – that is the point here.
I have to agree with Deb, concerning dog parks. I work for the National Park Service and receive my housing through my job. Where I live the park is adjacent to a city park , that is identified has a dog park. I know most of the folks and their dogs who utilize this area and who have invited me and my dog Hunter to come in and play with their dogs. What stopped me recently was that a neighbor who also uses the park has a small feisty dog, but who was recently injured by one of the must larger dogs in the park. He had to receive several stitches on his left front leg.
This made me think twice about taking Hunter in there to play with them. Now Hunter is no small dog, but in my eyes if your dog is off the leash and you do not have TOTAL control with voice commands, then to me you don’t have any control over your dog. The majority of the owners I hear constantly calling for their dogs who are pretty much ignoring until they are done doing what they want. I grew up with dogs and you can never put a price on their life,as stated it’s priceless. I can’t even imagine the pain, that the little girl is going through. If it was my daughter she would truly be inconsolable. Some dog owners look at the leash law as something that they feel is unreasonable and cruel to their dog. Being a former law enforcement officer and actually enforcing the leash law in my State of NY, I tried to educate the owner the reason behind the law and who it protects.
Even though the owner of the dog that attacked your friends puppy, should till take more responsibility for his actions for letting the dogs off the leash in the first place knowing that there is s leash law, in knowing that they are aggressive and in my opinion not properly socialized to interact with other dogs. As you can see I am very passionate person concerning dogs and cats, that are abused, injured or killed because of a irresponsible owner . I am in tears writing these comments because that little girl will remember this for the rest of her life, something no child should ever see happen to a beloved pet. Her father, in my opinion should pursue matters concerning this further.
Some people are saying it is always the large dog at fault. Large dogs are not the problem. It is the OWNERS of ANY dog large or small to train and manage their dogs.
Many small dogs come rushing up to my large dog yapping and nipping all the while and the owners think it is “cute” that their little dog is ready to take on a large dog. One snap from my dog’s mouth and and that little dog or dogs would be GONE. But the large dog is blamed. Once at a dog show I saw a class of very large large dogs waiting to go into the ring. When the small dogs came out of that ring, one actually jumped into the open mouth of a large dog. It got slimed, but there was no damage. If the big dog had closed his mouth, there would have been damage. Whose fault is it?
There are far too many scenarios that can occur so there is no answer to the question of who is right and who is wrong but stop blaming the large dogs. Most of them are far gentler than little dogs that bite and nip all the time, but big dog teeth usually do more damage, although I know of several people who have had tendons in their ankles torn by very tiny dogs with needle sharp teeth.
You said it!!!
Funny story… Years ago at my club, an older lady with a small breed would bring two or three or four of them into the club at a time. She paid zero attention to any other dogs while she was walking them. She often walked those dogs under the noses of some pretty big dogs! Often HER dogs would snarl and bark at the dogs in front or beside them, and the woman would start screaming at the big dog owner for attacking her dogs. It was kind of funny at first, and then became a serious situation. Almost all of the large dogs were docile, but curious. It was that one reactive dog that made the woman change here ways despite being told ad nauseaum for years to pay attention.
My dog is priceless to me. Unfortunately, judges don’t think so. I will never go to a dog park, even though separated, I’ve seen people let their big dog into the little dog area just because “My big dog and little dog go together”. I was actually in Walmart the other day when a guy came in with an Aussie NOT ON LEASH, NO ID FOR SERVICE, NOTHING! I can’t fathom why they didn’t remove it. It actually approached a dog that was on leash and serving. People always let their dogs off leash. Too many littles like my Papillon have been attacked and killed.
But please ensure that your Papillon is socialized to larger dogs. As the owner of large dogs, we’ve seen way too many little dogs see our dogs and become aggressive (when our dogs have don absolutely nothing to deserve such aggression; the little dog is just afraid). With one exception, no incident has occurred, but if a little dog becomes aggressive to a larger dog and the larger dog defends him- or herself, a smaller dog may receive serious injuries or die. I’m certainly not accusing you of not socializing your dog well, but so many owners of small dogs don’t make the effort to socialize the little dog to larger dogs and it can create real problems. And I certainly don’t want to excuse larger dogs that attack smaller dogs (perhaps their owner didn’t ensure their dog was properly socialized to small dogs). But I don’t want large dogs blamed unnecessarily for “attacking” a small dog when the small dog actually incited the incident.
Walmart and dogs… long story shortened, Walmart used to ban all animals including service dogs. They were sued by a class action, and they lost. So Walmart as a corporation has signage saying service dogs are welcome, but very rarely ban any dogs. And, there can be some pretty unruly pets in Walmart on occasion.
They need only allow service dogs to remain within the law and can and certainly should require all dogs to be on leash. They are making themselves liable to suit for any harm that comes to customers, their dogs and employees by not doing so. I don’t know why their legal staff permit them to allow other than service dogs into the store.
I am so very sorry to hear about this truly heart-breaking story. I will admit, I am not sure what I would do. First of all, there is probably no money amount that even remotely can make up for the emotional pain your friend and her family have gone and are going through and that will affect them for quite some time. I will say that I respect the other owner for staying and acting responsibly. I think there are too many unknowns for me to judge what has to happen. Maybe he did not know his dogs would react like this (a neighbor of mine had a similar experience where her dog ran out of the house to pick up and shake a little dog outside; she had never expected this and was therefore not prepared)? Maybe he had looked around and just not seen the little pup? I am not trying to excuse, but I also don’t want to rush to a quick judgment that may be based on assumptions.
One note: I see in the responses that some readers are assuming this tragedy happened in a dog park, but your post just says “public park”. Was it a dog park or a regular park?
This happened at a public park. My friend was sitting at the edge of the children’s playground, with his daughter 10 feet away on the monkey bars. His puppy was lying down at his feet, on leash. There is a posted leash law in the park. The loose dogs came running from behind my friend, and the aggressor dog immediately grabbed the puppy by his tummy.
If there is a leash law then all dogs should be on leash no exceptions
The thought of whether a home owners insurance would possibly cover something like this? I know from reading mine that far too many breeds of dogs are specified in it as not covered by the policy if they bite someone. And I wonder whether an ins.company would cancel a homeowner policy if I even owned one of those specific breeds. Its NOT only pit breeds, its german shepherds, dobermans, rotweilers & others.
This breed specific issue – which I realize isnt the issue here – but I have to say, this is why we have far too many dogs living in rescues or humane organizations because people cant take a chance on them. In too many cases, when they are adopted, if there is no back story or if the rules of the rescue, etc., dont specify some time spent on getting to know a particular dog & how they react in situations – they may end up in a home not able to handle them.
And no I dont “do” dog parks – I live in the country and my chocolate lab mix (rescue) is and has been on a run or on a leash all the time shes been with me. I’ve had several German Shepherds and a Doberman – all of which were more trustful of strangers than my lab. She had been abused & came from a bad place.
yes, Homeowners insurance should cover your vet bills if their dog injures yours–and if the human sticks around.
We have a special insurance police for just such an occurrence. If someone (persona or animal) comes on our property and is injured by one of our dog, insurance will pay. Luckily, we’ve never had to use it.
I’m not sure this is accurate, Susan. Individuals would have to check their own policies. I know all insurance companies will cover one bite and then the odds of your policy being cancelled or restricted is high. But, to cover vet bills and such, I just don’t know.
My first dog was a Doberman/Labrador mix. Sweetest dog there ever was. The neighborhood children would come over and ask if Caesar could come out to play with them in my (fenced in) front yard. I would always supervise but for the children’s behavior, not my dog’s. My current dog is a wide DNA mix of Golden Retriever, German Shepherd and other breeds with some small (less than 4% parts of Collie, American bully and Rottweiler. ) She’s big (87lbs) but as sweet as my Caesar was and I’m planning on having her go through therapy dog training when she reaches 2 years old as I think she’d be outstanding. That said she’s big and black and for some that’s all it takes to strike fear into someone.
While I understand the thinking behind insurance company’s breed specific liabilities, if they really want to avoid costs they should simply deny any pets. Any dog can bite and many of the small ones are worse that the big breeds. Cats can bite and scratch for no reason and their wounds are just as likely to become infected. Plus there is the added danger of the litter boxes for pregnant women. Parrots and birds are known to bite. But what insurance company is going to stay in business if they deny policies to anyone that owns any type of pet?
I had an experience at a dog park with my Bernese Mountain Dog years ago which, thankfully didn’t end as badly, but I would never go to another dog park based on the outcome. My 3 year old dog, who was a working therapy dog certified through Deltla Society and Therapy Dogs International, was at the park behaving appropriately with the other dogs when a man came in with his Springer Spaniel. The dog proceeded to mount all the dogs at the park. He was of course met with growls. He was fixated on my dog and mounted him two or three times before my dog flipped him on his back and stood over him. He was not growling but the man who owned the Springer grabbed my dogs collar to pull him away and in the process his own dog bit him in the wrist. He was unable to get the dog to come to him and he explained that the dog had been turned into Springer rescue because it had bitten a child. They placed it with he and his wife because they had no children and no other pets, as they explained it didn’t like other dogs. We asked him why he brought him to a dog park and he explained that he thought it would help him get along with other dogs. He clearly had no experience owning a dog, much less one that had behavior issues. We helped him coral his dog and he left. The dog officer arrived shortly after and interviewed the four people who witnessed the event. The officer said the man was claiming that my dog bit him. He took the names of the four other people and my name. Because all of us saw the Springer bite his owner, I thought it was over. My vet got a call for verification of my dog’s vaccination status and a few weeks later I received a letter from his attorney that I was being sued. My homeowner’s policy paid him 10500 dollars even though they accepted the facts as they were presented in the police report. They felt it was cheaper to pay him, even if my dog did not bite him, than to go to court. I felt obligated to report the incident to the therapy dog organizations I was working through, as being a part of them provides us with insurance when we visit facilities.
They allowed him to continue to visit, and he went on to work at Kosair Childeren’s Hospital for three years along with many other facilities. Interestingly, his specialty was working with children who were being treated for dog bites, as the hospital provided therapy sessions to help alleviate the fear these children experience following a bite.
I just attended a seminar and there was a presenter from the No-Kill Shelter movement, and she said there has been a spike in dog bite incidents because in order to remain a certified no kill shelter, the percentage of dogs deemed unplaceable must remain below a certain percentage, so unfortunately, dogs are placed that would not have been it the past, leading to more dog bites.
Like Erin said. Dog bites are an ongoing topic on Nextdoor. A recent case involved a beautiful Game of Thrones type dog. This dogs was adopted out to novice guardians, there were no training classes required. The humans let it off leash on their second day, and it almost killed a smaller dog. The humans promptly returned the dog to the small shelter. As far as I know, it was up for adoption again, with no restrictions.
In my city, our no-kill shelter (where I volunteered for years) has discontinued its training classes. This may be because they feel they can no longer pay their trainers as independent contractors, and don’t have the budget to pay them as employees. Some small shelters are run by people with good hearts but not enough sense/experience.
That is so sad. The rescue group I work with tries very hard to tell a potential adoptor everything we know about the dog–the good, the bad, and the ugly. We don’t want any kind of situation like this to happen. If we know a dog has behavioral issues (whether it’s aggression toward other dogs, aggression toward cats, resource guarding, etc.) we always tell the potential adoptor. We also try to work with dogs that display behavioral issues, but we would never fail to mention to a future adoptor that the dog had these issues in the past. We are very selective about where we place dogs that have demonstrated any kind of behavioral issue. That means, sometimes, that dog stays “in rescue” for the rest of his or her life. We have one of those dogs right now–she is just fine in a managed situation and with people she knows well. Otherwise, she’s not so okay. It was us or euthanasia for her, so we took her and have never regretted it. But we do manage her environment very carefully so that no mistakes happen and she doesn’t feel the need to behave in a manner that would be considered problematic. But sometimes, people say nasty things about us because of this. We had a person that wanted to adopt a particular dog. This was a great home, but just one little problem. The dog the home wanted was known to dislike cats (and had killed a cat). This home had a cat. We refused to adopt that particular dog to this home–we’d have happily adopted this person a dog who got along fine with cats, but he didn’t want any dog–just that particular one and we still wouldn’t adopt him the dog. We got bad-mouthed for it.
I too would not go to dog parks and I never have. From what I understand, owners stand and drink coffee and talk while not even keeping an eye on the dogs. Be that aside, I cannot fathom the trauma to the family and dog for the experience you mention. How can you put a value on your dog t hat has been stolen and sold as a training dog for dog fighting? How can you put a value on a dog sold to drug and cosmetic companies for testing their products when there are perfectly reliable other sources for testing various ingredients in a product? How can you put a dollar value on dogs or animal from animals shelters that are sold to universities for vivisection when there are other models that can be used?
No amount of money can compensate for the loss of a friend and member of the family. Pet Insurance companies put the value of the dog as the amount you paid for the dog. Nothing could be more inadequate. Many dogs are not sold but are rescued. Many dogs are given away.
Money is not the answer to such a loss. Amounts of money mean different things to different people. What one person considers a lot of money or the value of his dog could be $100 or to another $1,000,000.
I had a dog that died because of the negligence and of the veterinarians at the emergency clinic where I took my dog. Yes, I could have sued for money but the dog was gone. He was invaluable. Nothing could make up for that loss and receiving monetary compensation would never replace the loss in my heart.
I never got to dog parks either. Even if they are empty of other dogs, you have no idea what some twisted individual left there. I’ve read about dogs dying from poisoned food, balls with razor blades and nails in them, all kinds of things. What I don’t understand is how all of these people were there and this happened. If something or someone threatened my dog, I’d use whatever means necessary to save my dog be it a rock, my purse, a branch whatever. Granted I wasn’t there and don’t know the circumstances and agree the most important thing was to keep the daughter safe but my God how awful. I also question the motive behind letting the dogs loose and if he loved his dogs so much he wanted to give them a free, feel good romp in the park, how could he so readily hand one over and tell AC to kill it? I couldn’t put a price tag on any of my six dogs or any dog I’ve ever owned. That is a tough scenario for an adult to get past, nevermind a child. She may be tainted from ever loving an animal. So sad.
Not to mention you don’t know what kind of health issues a dog can pick up at a dog park, from parasites to other communicable diseases. Not everyone is responsible about vaccinations or having their dog’s titer tested.
Oh my gosh, how sad! I can’t even begin to imagine the pain that child suffered, watching her pup be attacked and killed. I too no longer go to dog parks, just not willing to take a chance. Far too many out of control dogs and clueless owners. How much IS a dog’s life worth? There is no amount of money that will be enough for that family.
Things like this is why I carry a can of bear spray and, if I can, a walking stick on walks with my dogs. At least we will all have a chance, should things go bad. I started this after one of my dogs was attacked and injured at a dog park. My dog crawled under a bench and I grabbed a poop shovel and started beating the attacker until it’s owner got him or it might have been worse. Luckily the owner was a good person and helped and paid the vet bill.