Urgent! Advice Needed Now!

[Animal House]

How did it go today?

[DanteandMolly]

Hi everybody!

So the ranger never came today but we stayed in contact with the council and ranger following up if they were coming throughout the day, letting them know that we have already put in precautions such as keeping him in patio area (which is undercover and bottom to top fenced in) that we have already got the ball rolling on extending/fixing fence with rollers. The council was very helpful and impressed at our actions. Thanks to you guys on here for your advice!

The owner has not contacted the council about the 'attack' and the council said the police never called it in but they can only take action if the victim reports it. If she follows up within the week and contacts the council about the incident in regards to injuries etc she needs to prove it was because of the incident. The witness that got a hold of our boy (Dante) rang up the council of her own will today to report she witnessed the incident yesterday. The council told us she reported that the SWF (trying my lingo lol) was held in the arms of the owner and Dante was trying to jump up to the dog. The story we had been told by the victim (I think) is that the SWF was on lead on the ground and Dante had it in his mouth and shook it but had no injuries.

Because the victim hasn't reported it and it's been more that 24hrs the council was pretty forward in saying its probably not going to be followed through, especially with the witness coming forward to report what she saw but did advise that we still fix our fence line which yes oh yes we will do, we don't want him getting out again for his safety as well as others too.

Trust me when I say he is excellently trained and awesome around toddlers. He responds to recall already when they are near the fence line and when out on dog beaches etc.

But thankyou so much for everyone's advice and support, it gave us the confidence to handle the situation and know that we wouldn't have to say goodbye.

And just a note for curiosity: we are in port stephens council area north of newcastle nsw. Yes there is a fine for not being life time registered but with de sexing there is just a discounted fee if the animal is de sexed. Hope that soothes some curiosity on that topic.

If there are any other questions or curiosity I will keep updated on here as the week unfolds.

Moral of the story: don't underestimate what your pet is capable of!!! And don't walk your pet where it's not allowed to! ☺️

Edited March 24, 2015 by DanteandMolly

[melzawelza]

I know there are fines for unregistered dogs but I didn't know they can fine you for the dog not being desexed ?

Definitely a $ fine for dog unregistered. Not sure about the desexed thing. There are some council areas - mostly in Victoria that require a permit to own an undesexed dog. And many councils give a discount for a desexed dog (eg charge extra for an undesexed dog).

In NSW - I think they still have "life time registration" for a dog. Not sure what happens if you move to a different council area if you have to re register for life time or you can just transfer. Or if they bother with discounts for desexed dogs. Eg if you buy a puppy that is whole - and you wait two years (maturity) to desex (based on current knowledge for best bone and joint development) - you'd want to register before the dog was 2 years old. You'd miss out on the discount.

Lifetime registration stays with the dog through any council area throughout NSW - you don't have to re-register if you move. The legislation states that the dog must be registered from six months old, so if you haven't desexed them by then you're supposed to pay the non-desexed rego and there's no 'cashback'. Most councils are reasonable though and would allow you an extra month to get them done before rego if you contacted them to ask.

No compulsory desex in all of NSW but there is a price differential.

Desexed: $51

Non desexed: $188

Desexed owned by pensioner: $20

Non desexed owned by registered breeder $51

Hi everybody!

So the ranger never came today but we stayed in contact with the council and ranger following up if they were coming throughout the day, letting them know that we have already put in precautions such as keeping him in patio area (which is undercover and bottom to top fenced in) that we have already got the ball rolling on extending/fixing fence with rollers. The council was very helpful and impressed at our actions. Thanks to you guys on here for your advice!

The owner has not contacted the council about the 'attack' and the council said the police never called it in but they can only take action if the victim reports it. If she follows up within the week and contacts the council about the incident in regards to injuries etc she needs to prove it was because of the incident. The witness that got a hold of our boy (Dante) rang up the council of her own will today to report she witnessed the incident yesterday. The council told us she reported that the SWF (trying my lingo lol) was held in the arms of the owner and Dante was trying to jump up to the dog. The story we had been told by the victim (I think) is that the SWF was on lead on the ground and Dante had it in his mouth and shook it but had no injuries.

Because the victim hasn't reported it and it's been more that 24hrs the council was pretty forward in saying its probably not going to be followed through, especially with the witness coming forward to report what she saw but did advise that we still fix our fence line which yes oh yes we will do, we don't want him getting out again for his safety as well as others too.

Trust me when I say he is excellently trained and awesome around toddlers. He responds to recall already when they are near the fence line and when out on dog beaches etc.

But thankyou so much for everyone's advice and support, it gave us the confidence to handle the situation and know that we wouldn't have to say goodbye.

And just a note for curiosity: we are in port stephens council area north of newcastle nsw. Yes there is a fine for not being life time registered but with de sexing there is just a discounted fee if the animal is de sexed. Hope that soothes some curiosity on that topic.

If there are any other questions or curiosity I will keep updated on here as the week unfolds.

Moral of the story: don't underestimate what your pet is capable of!!! And don't walk your pet where it's not allowed to! ☺️

��������������������

Sounds like a good outcome :)

[Animal House]

A good update, and another thing that might help (as well as extending the fence upwards) is something to keep both dogs away from the fence line, so it's less likely to set them off near it.Something like ping string fence barrier is easy and cheap enough to do yourself. http://www.sureguard.com.au/products/Dog-Electric-Fence

[Flashsmum]

Good news, I hope it all goes well from here!

[cavNrott]

The owner of the SWF is more than likely reluctant to report the issue because she was also in the wrong and should not have had her dog in the reserve in the first place. If she reports the incident she will also be reporting herself. I hope this owner has learned not to allow her SWF to annoy and harass dogs who are kept behind their owners fences.

The Council is taking a sensible approach to the matter. I doubt they will give you any grief. It's evident you are a responsible dog owner.

Well done for taking quick action to make adjustments to the fence so the big dog will be unable be able to scale it in future.

Thanks for the good update and please keep us posted.

[raineth]

It's really great that you are being so pro-active about fixing this problem. You might never know exactly what went on but ensuring he can't get out means there can't be any more issues like this in the future. And as you say, that is keeping him safe as well as anyone else.

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

A lot of dog attacks don't get reported because the other owner would drop themselves in the poo if they did eg dog off lead in an on lead area jumps on the head of an on lead dog - and gets bitten... they're not going to report if their dog isn't hurt. If the dog was shaken - its possible it has internal injuries that don't show up straight away but the longer the owner waits to go to the vet - the harder it is for them to prove your dog caused those injuries.

And council can't really do anything if nobody reports it. So somebody has reported seeing this but they can't say how hurt the other dog was so council could only do something about your dog out of bounds... but not the actual attack probably.

You're doing all the right things so a good council animal management team would want to reward that.

Hopefully you fix the fences (test them if possible ie get someone the dog likes to go on the other side of the fence and call them - tho there is a risk of injury to the dog from jumping a fence - when it lands). Some dogs can clear 6" without touching it so you just want to check the roller system works. Some dogs aren't usually mastiff x - more likely to be herding dogs that jump every day for a living.

[DanteandMolly]

Hi again everybody.

So we have an update.........

The ranger came today, it ended up being the man we both know, he came around twice as my partner wasn't home when he first came (they are registered in his name) so he spoke to my partner when he got home from work.

The victims partner (we assume) had reported incident to council this morning (Wednesday, incident occurred Monday evening). From what we were told it was a woman that was victim..... The report said that Dante had jumped the fence come running towards him and got a hold of his dog and bit the man on the hand. This upset me most as I know my dog and that is not his nature unless he would have been provoced and I know yes you can't predict how an animal will act in a situation but he is a 'marshmallow' is how I would describe it.... Anyways

As we were very distraugt with this report from victim, georgeous gave us the advice as we didn't think of it to get proof (being it was more than 24hrs later. We called the police to see what statement was made...... There is NO report! Even when the ranger was around he called it in and patched it through and 100% nothing recorded on events, so 'obviously' victim has said nothing about a bite on the hand......

Our witness that rang my partner initially was great she called council yesterday and was able to write us a written report today for the ranger. (She does have to re write it with the time and descriptions of dogs) but her witness statement totally contradicts this victims statement. In a nutshell she has said the victim and partner were walking their two dogs about 10 or so meters away from our fence line when they stopped to watch Dante and Molly barking and jumping when Dante was able to hook his front paws over (he has never been able to do this before) the victims picked their own dogs up off the fortune as Dante came over to them and their dogs were barking at him and him back to them. Apparently the male victim got a hold of Dante's collar after giving the witness his dog to hold and afterwards the witness (who is a petite female) was easily able to calm him tell him to sit which he straight away and settle him down. When the police were called they put him back into our yard with Molly.

The ranger was so great very helpful explained that Dante would now have a record and it will be written as attack. But like humans there are varying levels of attack such as grievous bodily harm etc. so his is 'minor offence'. He did say if Dante was to attack again he would be labeled dangerous dog. I still don't know what's worse dangerous dog label and at home imprisonment or ........ Worse....

I'm glad too the ranger had a good rant to me about how fed up he is with people walking their dogs on the oval on and off leads as little athletics is always having to pick up dog faeces so huge children don't step in it. There were actually dogs on the oval the second time he came around and he took some photos and after visiting us went onto the oval to issue several fines. (Hahahahaha hahahahaha) that to me is justice It made my day as people need to realise it's NOT a dog park. People are getting to confident. Also ranger did tell victim he shouldn't have been there and victim has said he never saw a sign.... There are at least 5 signs..... One of which is right infront of our fence!!!!!

So this weekends job is to fix the fence increase height install rollers and we will put in an electric fence to keep them off fence line and stop dogs on other side from possibly sticking heads under. We need to wait for the ranger to let us know if victim wants to take further action but with the lack of evidence even the ranger is doubting what has happened. Dante (we) may be issued with a fine for a dog at large which is around $500 but we need to wait for ranger to ascertain if the victims we're standing near fence watching or in the middle of oval as their report said because if the were by our fence line they have provoked him.

So sorry for the long comment but I know you have all be so helpful and curious as to the outcome. Will let you know the official ending outcome when we know.

Edited March 25, 2015 by DanteandMolly

[alpha bet]

What sort of 'Reserve' is it that you are talking about.... after all there are very few council owned 'Reserves' that have no dog allowed policy.... unless it is a childrens playground...

Remember it might have a sign showing a dog with a line thru it.... but this might just mean no dogs off lead.... Perhaps you really need to ensure whether this in fact is a no dog zone..... perhaps it would be wise to ask council for clarification.

I would also like to make a note about a point brought up by many here.

For those who do live next to any parklands, reserves, golf courses etc. there are things you have to remember about how dogs view this adjoining fence.... often the dog will run up and down the fence near the reserve fence, as the dog believes he needs to chase the intruders away from his territory. Owners of dogs who are inclined to behave this way need to rework their fencing... it is not people wandering around the reserve that need to take responsibility for their actions, but the owner of the dog must ensure that their dog is coping with their environment.

The reality is....Humans go into a reserve/gold course etc. they may be with a dog/child or anything, whether it is LEGAL for them to be in this area is irrelevant....

If a dog scales the fence and attacks or worries them... the owner of the dog is at fault.... The owner of the dog must take responsibility and then take action to ensure that this problem is solved.

[JulesP]

What sort of 'Reserve' is it that you are talking about.... after all there are very few council owned 'Reserves' that have no dog allowed policy.... unless it is a childrens playground...

Remember it might have a sign showing a dog with a line thru it.... but this might just mean no dogs off lead.... Perhaps you really need to ensure whether this in fact is a no dog zone..... perhaps it would be wise to ask council for clarification.

Actually my shire has heaps of reserves that are totally dog free zones. Very annoying it is too. There is one off leash area in my burb and at least 3 reserves that we can't go into at all.

[hankdog]

I copped a "bite" from an off leash dog I was punching to get away from my leashed dog. It can happen that a tooth snags in all the excitement rather than a dog actually intentionally biting.

I'd play it really cool for now. There may be some Chinese whispers going on and it's just best to let it all go away.

The dangerous dog laws aren't that extreme, a dog can still live a very happy life and even if declared you can fulfil the training etc and apply for a new assessment.

Well done on keeping it together through an emotional time. Give your marshmallow a hug from me.

[DanteandMolly]

What sort of 'Reserve' is it that you are talking about.... after all there are very few council owned 'Reserves' that have no dog allowed policy.... unless it is a childrens playground...

Remember it might have a sign showing a dog with a line thru it.... but this might just mean no dogs off lead.... Perhaps you really need to ensure whether this in fact is a no dog zone..... perhaps it would be wise to ask council for clarification.

I would also like to make a note about a point brought up by many here.

For those who do live next to any parklands, reserves, golf courses etc. there are things you have to remember about how dogs view this adjoining fence.... often the dog will run up and down the fence near the reserve fence, as the dog believes he needs to chase the intruders away from his territory. Owners of dogs who are inclined to behave this way need to rework their fencing... it is not people wandering around the reserve that need to take responsibility for their actions, but the owner of the dog must ensure that their dog is coping with their environment.

The reality is....Humans go into a reserve/gold course etc. they may be with a dog/child or anything, whether it is LEGAL for them to be in this area is irrelevant....

If a dog scales the fence and attacks or worries them... the owner of the dog is at fault.... The owner of the dog must take responsibility and then take action to ensure that this problem is solved.

The reserve is what we call an oval, it is used for athletics, cricket, baseball, soccer, etc and has 5 council signs prohibiting domestic pets, camping, glass, bikes, fires etc and the ranger expressed his frustration in that the locals feel they can have their pets run around on and off leash because they think council doesn't patrol it, they obviously do. Yes I know it's no excuse for Dante jumping the fence and that it's our responsibility to ensure this, but yes it is very frustrating. We are only renting too and didn't realise that backing onto an oval would have some many dogs near it and neighbours who don't own dogs have also expressed their concerns of dogs on the oval as they come up to fences where small children are. Our dogs have no problems when walkers or children are playing sport on there. It is 100% a dog free zone...... Or yet is supposed to be.

We are ensuring this will NEVER happen again ever :) you really don't know if something will happen until it does so lesson learnt for sure! :)

[DanteandMolly]

I copped a "bite" from an off leash dog I was punching to get away from my leashed dog. It can happen that a tooth snags in all the excitement rather than a dog actually intentionally biting.

I'd play it really cool for now. There may be some Chinese whispers going on and it's just best to let it all go away.

The dangerous dog laws aren't that extreme, a dog can still live a very happy life and even if declared you can fulfil the training etc and apply for a new assessment.

Well done on keeping it together through an emotional time. Give your marshmallow a hug from me.

Yeah totally, we even think that perhaps his claws could have scratched him as they were in need of a cut (which they were done later that night) but yeah it's all just hypotheses from us as we weren't there and yes a lot of different stories but I have full faith in the ranger to get the full story, he is going to follow up with the witness to ask questions to find any missing info or inconsistencies in stories so I guess it's a waiting game now. We are planning for the worst possible outcome and preparing for it so we don't get hit with a bus so to say. I was proud of us both in keeping our confidence and being pro active and mature, but after the ranger left it was like flood gates haha having to keep emotions from clouding facts and information. Its for sure a learning curve.

Oh he is having fun being kept inside and in the pergola until everything is fixed up, they are not normally allowed/we don't let them in there. :)

[teekay]

Glad to hear it's sounding positive so far DandM.

[BarbedWire]

You are being so responsible. I wish there were more dog owners like you.

[juice]

I wouldn't stress too much about the 'bite" ,could have been they stuck their hand in the wrong place, if at all.

Sounds like they were in the wrong and they are trying to cover their backsides.

For all you know they could have coaxed him over and he ran up and jumped on them and freaked them out, their dog got narky, etc etc. glad you have a witness.

just relax and it might go away.

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

I think Mudgee had a blanket ban on dogs - not allowed on any oval used for sport or that was mowed by council because they regarded that as an occ health and safety problem for the sport players and council mower operators.

And ignorance (I didn't see the sign) has never been an excuse.

I'd be pissed at the SWF owner. but it often happens if you get ten people see the same thing, they will come up with 10 different versions of what happened.

[DanteandMolly]

Hi everyone,

So we had the ranger come over yesterday to look at the fence (which he has given the tick of approval) and got the witness statement from the young woman that was on the oval at the time of the incident.

The ranger told us he had spoken to the 'victim' and asked him to contact him if he wanted to pursue the matter further....... He has had no contact from him at all two weeks later regarding the so called 'attack'. So all in all a good outcome. The dogs aren't going to be able to jump the fence anymore and we even put concrete under the gap of the gate incase someone has their dog off leash and it wants to stick its head underneath.

One thing we forgot to ask but someone might have an idea on here is that Dante will have 'attacked' on his 'record' but we were curious to find out if after a certain amount of time that gets erased from his 'record' or if he will love with that for the rest of his life.

Again thanks for your tips and support.

Have a great easter!

(Will update further if there are any more updates)

:)

[melzawelza]

Hi everyone,

So we had the ranger come over yesterday to look at the fence (which he has given the tick of approval) and got the witness statement from the young woman that was on the oval at the time of the incident.

The ranger told us he had spoken to the 'victim' and asked him to contact him if he wanted to pursue the matter further....... He has had no contact from him at all two weeks later regarding the so called 'attack'. So all in all a good outcome. The dogs aren't going to be able to jump the fence anymore and we even put concrete under the gap of the gate incase someone has their dog off leash and it wants to stick its head underneath.

One thing we forgot to ask but someone might have an idea on here is that Dante will have 'attacked' on his 'record' but we were curious to find out if after a certain amount of time that gets erased from his 'record' or if he will love with that for the rest of his life.

Again thanks for your tips and support.

Have a great easter!

(Will update further if there are any more updates)

:)

Hi DanteAndMolly,

Good outcome, and good for you for being so proactive.

The attack is recorded on the NSW Companion Animals Register and your dog's microchip number will be entered in. This will then link the incident back to your dogs microchip, so when someone looks up the microchip the attack will be 'clickable' and they'll be able to see the details (which presumably will have information regarding no victim statement etc). It doesn't get erased and stays there forever.

Personally if I didn't have a statement from a victim I'd be deleting the incident off the register as I don't have enough evidence, but I guess if there's a witness statement that it happened they may feel it necessary to keep it on there.