Both of my dogs have been attacked by loose off lead dogs,mine are kept on lead,until I think it's safe for them to be allowed off.Tyler was bitten 3 times in one day when he was about 6 months old.

Can you imagine the trouble it would cause if they were off lead and were attacked and defended themselves,purely because of the breed they are they would most certainly get the blame,not a chance I'm willing to take,so unless there are no people or other dogs around they stay onlead.
My bitch can be aggressive but she is under control on a lead,now if a loose dog runs at her and she attacks it who's fault is that? And there is no chance of her been muzzled so she can't defend herself.

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ruardeanstaffords

I don't really want to get into a legal debate, I do understand where you are coming from but personally I would say that with both dogs being off the lead both owners should be aware of the likilhood of this type of incident occuring and take appropriate measures to prevent it ie recall or leashed.

I'm not saying it makes things right, In my opinion do think the lady owner should have had the aggressive dog leashed, in this particular case the incident may still well have occurred, who knows; and yes dog owners would be liable for any third party damages.

As you will know negligence has to be proved. It may be that in this case it could be but judging from the first post it didn't read like that to me, as both dogs were off the leash both owners were negligent, which was why I suggested if a claim was to be pursued she takes free legal advice first.

I'm hopping mad that a puppy has been hurt as I am sure many forum members are and incidents like this has happened to most of us at sometime or another.

It happened to me only two weeks ago, there was a hill I couldn't see over, it was throwing it down with rain, what other person would be around - yep a large GSD, Duke was off fortunately they played like puppies and both me and the other owner got drench because they ran through every muddy puddle they could find - that's what you expect when dogs meet but it doesn't always turn out like that.

As I wrote in my first post keep your dog safe and keep yourself safe too.

Sue

NB I will read the case law quoted just for my own personal reference

As you know I have a Staffie and personally I don't agree with muzzling a dog that is dog aggressive, keeping them leashed in doggy populated areas in my opinion is sufficient. If another dog approaches then that's the other owners responsiblity and they should accept the consequences.

Muzzling a dog puts it at risk as it would be unable to defend itself.

I do understand muzzling a dog as a preventative measure if the owner believes there is a potential risk of the dog biting a person.

Sue

To be honest I was only responding to a barrage of abusive goading from the aptly named bullbreeds. This can be seen from the thread.

I was only offering advice which was asked for and if you will look at the string of posts you will see that the basis of the advice has been vindicated…
Bullbreeds began to have a go at me simply because He/She didn’t like the nature of the law.

I certainly do not want to antagonise the community but I will give as good as I get… to quote Bullbreeds…

I consider the matter closed.

*shakes head and laughs*

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Lifes roads are for journeys, not destinations!

........Hmmm!

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Lifes roads are for journeys, not destinations!

In reply to my explaining the legal situation


Just for the sake of good order thought I would quote both sides....

As I said... I consider the matter closed...

Sorry to all those members who have had to put up with this petty scrap.

Like I stated previously, I found this post ridiculous. I still find it ridiculous and I may not be able to spell properly ferret but I can tell when someone is talking b****cks!

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Lifes roads are for journeys, not destinations!

You may find it ridiculous… I can’t blame you for that… litigious societies where everyone sues everyone else at the drop of a hat seem bizarre to me… I would hate it if the UK became just like the USA in this respect…

It’s precisely the expansion of this tort that has allowed for the inflation of such claims.

What I have laid out is nevertheless the state of the law in the English legal system at the moment… It may steam, it may smell, it may be warm to the touch but everyone who is living in England and Wales is standing in it...

The take home message is to be careful of what your dog does as you may be liable for it… This is one of the big benefits of insurance as you will likely be insured against such liability…

Never the less ferret, it just wouldnt stand up in court, it would be laughed out because both parties were negligent.

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Lifes roads are for journeys, not destinations!