Post by Chuppathingy on Jun 13, 2012 0:54:47 GMT -5
Next door neighbors have 7 dogs of varying breeds and sizes, but for the most part mid to large. Sunday afternoon their chocolate lab attacked the standard poodle. By attacked, I mean bit down and tore out its throat. Both dogs were taken to the emergency vet but I'm pretty sure the poodle did not live. When the lab did this, the owners tried to separate the dogs and the husband was attacked himself, but not bitten by some stroke of sheer dumb luck. The wife was too terrified to move but screamed for help (how H and I ended up looking over and seeing this). At least one of the dogs in the fight was brought home. As I said I'm pretty sure it was the lab (i.e. attacker).
None of the dogs have been allowed out of the house that I've seen since. The neighbor (husband) came over to thank us for responding to the call for help and told us how the lab got spooked by a snake. 1) I have not seen any evidence of snakes. 2) I'm not sure how seeing a snake would cause dog A to literally rip the jugular out of dog B.
DH and I are nervous about living next to these dogs now. Particularly the lab. We have a two year old. My 88 year old grandma also lives with us and often works in the garden. The fence is not high enough that the dogs couldn't jump it if they did come outside and wanted to. The baby gate on the front porch would not keep them from getting loose either.
Would you report an incident like this to animal control? I am not a dog person so I really don't know how plausible the snake story is. I am not keen to suggest that someone's pet be put down, but I think the lab at least has proven himself dangerous. What worries me most is that not only is the lab violent and has hurt another animal, but several of the dogs turned on the two owners during the attack, not just the two dogs involved in the fight.
I realize this won't be answered till morning but this is really bugging me. Any thoughts and opinions would be appreciated.
Post by patches31709 on Jun 13, 2012 7:03:43 GMT -5
My opinion? Let it go. You don't know what happened. For all you know, the poodle started it. Whatever happened, it doesn't necessarily make the lab dangerous. And the fact that it fought with another dog does not mean it is aggressive towards people either. When dogs are fighting, they don't "turn on" their owners - I think they really go into this blind rage where they have no idea what's going on except to fight. We used to have horrible leash reaction problems with our sheltie, who, trust me, loves us both dearly. He has bitten me in these blind rage attempts to snap at other dogs. Does he mean to bite me? No, definitely not, but he has drawn blood.
If you happen to see this lab provoke an incident of aggression, I would certainly call, but until then I would leave it alone.
Post by SallySparrow on Jun 13, 2012 9:29:06 GMT -5
Ditto Patches. And, dog aggression does not equal people aggression. And I am not saying the lab is even dog aggressive--I don't know what happened to cause the fight. If this is the first instance you've seen of issues, and if you've never seen any problems from the dog towards people, I wouldn't report it. The owners know the dogs better than you do. And there is a good chance that it's already been reported anyway. Depending on the laws in your area and the vet, they might have been mandated to report it.
Post by kellbell191 on Jun 13, 2012 10:09:21 GMT -5
I agree that dog aggression is not the same as aggression towards people. The dog attacked another dog, a person interceded and he bit the person. Not the same as biting a person.
If they got the dogs veterinary attention, addressed it with you, etc. it sounds like they are relatively responsible owners. I wouldn't worry too much over this and I certainly wouldn't be going out of my way to involve the authorities and make their pain worse than I'm sure it already is : (
Post by polarbearfans on Jun 16, 2012 5:49:17 GMT -5
I wouldn't report anything unless you see more aggressive behavior,but if you are really worried, maybe think about building a higher fence if your area allows it.