Dangers in your own backyard (updated with graphic photo pg 6)

[wanda047]

Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers. Sara has had a very bad few days, but appears to be feeling better today. The pain was so severe yesterday that she was throwing up. She has a large hematoma on the inside of her thigh where the dog pounced on her and this seems to hurt her a lot. She will return to the doctor tomorrow to have the drain tube removed from her leg. We're hoping for a good report.

My husband and I intend to go and talk with our neice and her husband concerning the dog. We are hoping that they will agree to put the dog down after the 10 days without an argument. If not, we may ask the sheriff's dept. to intervene. I believe that Bo is apt to attack again without warning. And there is no telling what might set off the next attack.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

The dog needs to be kept alive for the ten day quarantine period. This is for the sake of the girl who was bitten. Even though the dog was up to date on vaccinations, vaccinations are not always 100% effective. If the dog shows no signs of rabies after quarantine, then there is no need for the multiple, very painful injections to prevent rabies from manifesting in her. However if the dog does not live through the requisite quarantine period she will HAVE to have them as there is no way to know for absolute certainty that she was not exposed to rabies--once symptoms manifest, there is no cure--she would die.

 

[chixie]

fingers crossed that she will get a good report... I am so sorry that she is hurting...

 

[sfw2]

I am so sorry! My thoughts and prayers are with Sara, and your whole family.

 

[kezabel]

Quote:
as dumb as this sounds, I don't know.

My husband opted to drive Sara to the hospital as he was the sanest at the moment and I was left at home to deal with the other hysterical children and the boxer which was still roaming the yard.

When I called the Sheriff's dept. to report the incident as we were required to do, we were told to pen the dog for 10 days. We have documentation that the dog is up to date on all his shots, but this is the law. We were also given the option to put the dog down and send the head off to be tested for rabies. However, the Sheriff's Dept. recommended that we NOT do this. We were told that the results were not always accurate and they did not want Sara to have to take the unnecessary shots. I considered this and opted to have him penned. (My hubby was not happy with my decision, but he didn't return home until 2 a.m. from the hospital and I had to do something!)

I did not have a place to pen Bo up. I made several phone calls and my neice and her husband volunteered to come and get the dog and pen him at their place in an 8 ft. high covered pen. After 10 days, someone from the sheriff's office will come to inspect the dog. At that time, we intended to put the dog down. However.. to add a twist to this story, my neice and her husband have decided they want to keep Bo. My husband is furious that they would even consider keeping him, penned or not. I'm not sure what the outcome will be yet. They are in possession of the dog, so I guess it will be the decision of the Sheriff's dept. as to what will happen at this point.

Over here the dog would of been put down straight away, we've lots of hefty laws for dogs.( No rabies over here) Boxers are usually placid animals. I'm sorry for waht you have to do. How is your daughter going?

 

[WingingIt]

Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. Prayers coming for Sara's recovery. The dog is still yours, so you have the right, IMO, to retrieve it and do with it whatever you determine is best. I'd put it down, personally, because that was a serious attack and I'd never risk it doing that to anyone else. If you have to have the Sheriff retrieve the dog for you, so be it, because you'll never forgive yourself if they keep it and it attacks one of them or their neighbors, either. Not to mention the message that would send to Sara, that they (neice and husband) thought more of the dog than her.

 

[Eliza]

I guess I'm little confused. The dog is yours, not your nieces. The decision stands with you and your husband as what is to be done with it. I agree with Winginit, the message will be strong, that what happended to Sara was a triffle if the dog is rehomed. Sara will carry scars physically and emotionally for a long time, this is now the #1 concern for the entire family. If you can, find another place to pen the dog for now before the neice becomes too emeshed with the dog and creates more family stress.

On a side note, interesting story about the snake. Chickens never cease to amaze me. Lucky thing you guys were able to dispatch the snake; that's one snake that can't be messed with.

Good luck with your daughter.

 

[hunterjumper999]

Poor child, hopefully she gets a good report from the dr.

I guess as someone who owns an aggressive breed of dog five times over ( Pit Bulls) I am in the minority here in thinking about the poor dog. He was only reacting to the situation and was worried about the puppy. YES he did attack "his" human but dogs do have such a thing as prey drive and gameness...

she fell to the ground, this made her appear to be on his level. . . an equal opponent. Dogs don't understand that they are not the same as we are- we are all just a pack to them.


Try to think of it from the dogs place- with their reasoning abilities, which are less than ours but no "dumber" . Dogs do not have human emotions. They ARE ANIMALS.

I think you should talk to your daughter. She's 12 right? thats old enough to understand what the dog being put down means. I'd ask her how she would feel if Bo went to live with your family or how she'd feel if he were put to sleep. it was her experience and her family dog that is being affected. you worry about what she'll feel if he's rehomed, if her experience becomes less valid that way... what if she has to remember being the reason her family dog was dystroyed?

Contact an animal behaviorist. Or trainer- take a 20 minute conversation out of your day to understand the dog. If your daughter opposes putting him down and you feel you have to do so- include her in talking to an animal trainer so she understands the decision. Boxers are not typically nasty dogs - and everyone can have a bad day. Would you be thinking about putting him down if he'd gone after another dog? or a chicken? yes it was a human which is never ok, but it may be preventable by removing the children from his life. He could have Many good years in a home with NO kids.

 

[CMV]

Quote:
Yes, this is true, but would YOU be willing to risk it? I, myself, would not. As I stated earlier, it is worrisome not that the dog took a snap at Sara, but that the dog continued the attack to the point that it sounds like a mauling. This is not a dog having a bad day, it is a ticking time bomb. Or at the very least a lawsuit waiting to happen.

 

[redhen]

No matter how much i loved my dog..i'd never, ever, put my child or any other child at risk ever again with this dog. Never. Its sad and its heartbreaking...because hes been such a good dog to you guys...it makes we want to cry thinking of how this must feel for your family, and i want to cry for the dog also. But...simply put..the risk is too high with this dog IMO.