Attack by mastiff-type dog near Fauntleroy and Graham

[fauntleroywaylady]

Hello all – this past Sunday (10/5) afternoon my husband was out walking our two dogs, a large fawn Doberman and a large, yellow mixed breed in the Fauntleroy/Graham area. Both dogs were on leash. As he was walking, a woman walking a large, mastiff or mastiff-looking dog (tan with dark muzzle) came from behind them. The dog, on-leash also, lunged at our Doberman, and (we didn’t realize until she was later at home) bit her on the abdomen. My husband attempted to get contact information from the woman, who said that it wasn’t her dog and she was walking it for someone else; however, she ran off and wouldn’t respond. My husband attempted to follow her but was blocked by a man who was supposedly with the woman. The man provided a phone number but no name to my husband.

When we later realized what had happened (that our dog was severely bitten by this dog), we attempted to call the number – it was a bogus number. We contacted animal control but have no idea who this dog belongs to or where it lives. Our dog is very old and as it turns out, she could not recover from the bite – we had to put her down yesterday. We feel that we have taken the appropriate steps as far as contacting animal control, but are reaching out to the blog to see if someone might recognize a description of this dog/know who it belongs to. We would like to inform the actual owner what happened and have this (potentially) dangerous dog looked into more. We realize that dogs attack/bite and that these things happen, but the owners should be and need to be held responsible.

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[oddreality]

So very sorry about your dog. Yes, these people need to take responsibility for their pet.I hope someone knows who they may be and can help you locate them.

My condolences on the loss of your dog.

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[transplantella]

I know this dog.

She’s had numerous complaints about the dog, including from me and the local mailman.

The dog lives on Fauntleroy, about 6 houses north of Frontenac, west side of the street. As far as I know she is indeed a dog walker and not the owner.

She is completely irresponsible with this animal and the dog is a menace.

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[Michelle]

very very sorry about the loss of your dog, good luck with your quest

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[Cait]

This just breaks my heart – especially to hear that this woman KNOWS that her dog is a problem. I MIGHT have felt sympathy for her if she hadn’t given you a fake number and tried to run away…

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[Lindsey]

So sorry about your dog, FWL. :(

Does anybody know what kind of liability a dog walker has? She clearly knows there’s a problem, why not give contact information for the dog OWNER and wash her hands of the situation? Can the dog walker be held responsible for the dog’s behavior? There’s a chance that she could be the owner.

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[transplantella]

I don’t even know why anybody would own a dog like this in a dense urban area, so I’m thinking the owner is as irresponsible and oblivious as the dog walker.

I’ve had several run-ins with this dog as I live and work here in the neighborhood, I thought the dog was going to attack me on several occasions and she clearly does not have control of the thing. The mailman (my neighbor) has told her if the dog ever gets near him again he’d pepper spray it.

I actually know the exact address where this dog lives as I made it my business to find out after the first couple of times he lunged at me. I also got into a nasty spat with the dog walker once, but she just doesn’t care.

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[JoB]

transplantella..

perhaps you can give the address to animal control.

this is a terrible way to lose a dog you love

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[fauntleroywaylady]

Thank you all so much for your responses. I thought it was a long shot to reach here on the blog, but clearly I was wrong! Sounds like this dog has quite the reputation.

transplantella – if you’re comfortable, would you mind emailing me at michelleesterberg@gmail.com? We have been in contact with animal control and they have been super cooperative with us so far. I would love to provide them with an exact address.

Thanks again.

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[kayo]

I am so sorry for your loss. How awful. I hope you can get some semblance of justice for what happened to your poor dog. :(

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[JoB]

fauntleroywaylady

i can’t tell you how sorry i am that this has happened to you.

it is what i fear every time i take my leashed dogs for a walk.

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[elikapeka]

I’m so sorry to hear what happened to your dog. I know nothing will ease your pain completely, but by alerting the neighborhood and hopefully getting some followthrough from Animal Control, you may have saved another pet from the same fate. Thank you.

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[B-squared]

Awfully sorry to hear that you essentially lost your dog due to negligence on the part of a dog walker. Makes me so sad and angry! I know it won’t bring your dog back, but if you have the stomach for it, I encourage to pursue some form of justice. Perhaps if the owner has to reimburse you for the vet bills or they get fined by animal control, they will get a more responsible dog walker. And other pets won’t be put at risk.

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[RachelC]

I am so sorry about your dog. I agree with other posts, it is simply irresponsible to own a vicious dog. I am speaking from experience, I owned a dog, who I loved and was an angel with me, but did not like other people or dogs. After exhausting ALL possibilities (countless trainers, vets, obedience schools etc) and A LOT of money, it broke my heart to have to give him up, but I knew he was not safe to have in the city. I miss him terribly, but know I did the responsible thing. I would hate to know that my dog had injured another animal or person.

Again, I am so sorry for your loss. This should never have happened

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[amalia]

I don’t consider myself particularly litigious, but in this case, someone caused the death of your dog (what a horrible thing – so sorry). They need to pay ALL costs and consider themselves lucky that you don’t sue for other injury as well. Please pursue it and let us know what happens.

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[SJoy]

I could be wrong but I believe that both the owner and the dog walker are responsible. The owner is the “principal” and the dog walker is the “agent” for the principal. If an agent acts on behalf of the principal (walking their dog) in a negligent manner, then the principal is liable as well as the agent. If you feel the need to take civil action, you would probably file suit against the principal which is the owner.

I would highly suggest that you do. If the owner is aware of the dogs tendancies to be aggressive and allows a dog walk to walk the dog, they are being negligent and just plain stupid. I have a bully breed and he can be aggressive. I would NEVER let anyone else walk him. We never walk him right by other dogs or even people. We know his limits and work within them so that everyone is safe and has an enjoyable walk.

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[anonyme]

I’m so sorry this horrible thing happened. I agree that you absolutely need to look into your legal options, even if that seems difficult right now. You have to take action quickly.

If this dog walker is licensed (and they should be) then they should lose their license – or at least be named and shamed, so that the public can be aware.

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[4th of Eight]

Also, what’s up with the mean man and giving a bogus ph# ?? Clearly that is also part of the ‘abuse’ and he must know that they did something wrong. Major jerks! Prayers for you and your dogs. Please keep us all posted on how this comes out.

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[fauntleroywaylady]

Thanks again to everyone on here for the support and kind words. Another poster kindly provided a potential lead for us and we are actively investigating it. I am really hopeful that we can track down this dog and his/her owner and arrange for some sort of closure on this. Thanks again to you all – it’s a really nice reminder of the good in this world :)

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