My leashed dog bit an unleashed dog in the middle of the street

[harveykindian]

My jurisdiction is: Michigan

My jurisdiction is: Michigan

Ok, here is the situation.

My girlfriend and I were riding our bikes with her dog on a leash, running with us. Toward the end of our run, we were traveling southbound on the west side of a street. All 3 of us were on the sidewalk. Suddenly, from the east side of the street, two small dogs came running and barking toward us. Neither of these two dogs were on a leash. They came, barking, out of their yard and into the road after us.

Her dog pulled me into a tree and I dropped the leash. Our dog and the two that were chasing us then tangled up in the middle of the street, our dog biting one of the other two pretty seriously.

We made sure the owner of the dog had our information, then went home. After talking to a few people, most of them suggested that we call the police and make a report, which we did that evening. My girlfriend left for 2+ weeks early the following morning.

The animal control officer called me the following morning as well and requested that I let her come and take a look at the dog and talk to me about the situation. When she showed up, she had the commander of the local city police department with her. I guess it was a real busy day but whatever. They informed me at this time that they were going to wait until my girlfriend got back into town before making any decisions about who was going to be charged and with what.

A week later, the animal control officer showed up with the cop again and they had a criminal misdemeanor in my name for the incident. Evidently they decided not to wait for my girlfriend to return. The man that owned the two dogs that were unleashed did not receive a ticket.

So now I am facing a criminal misdemeanor charge, even though the local ordinance they cited specifically states that only an OWNER of the dog can be charged, but that's not really the point. Is there anything I can do to get this dropped and the owner of the unleashed dogs charged or is this going to be a case where even if that guy screwed up first, I still screwed up by losing control of the leash and I end up with a permanent criminal violation on my record?

HELP!!!

 

[Theresagail]

Should have just handled this with the other dogs owner, Not sure why getting the cops and animal control involved was benificial. They are more then likley going to give you a fine-- The best thing would have been to pay the vet bills 50/50 of the other dog. Just go to court and plead your side, If you dog bites a dog again they will probabally take it-- per now the dog has a background now too.

 

[FlaRiptide]

You need to acquaint yourself with the local ordinance regarding leash laws where this occurred. In my local, unleashed dogs are allowed in certain parks as long as they are under voice control and within 100 feet of the owner.

This is part of the ordinance in my area:

(1) The owner or custodian of a dog or cat will be in violation of this article if their dog or cat, when unprovoked, bites, attacks, endangers, or inflicts injury on a human, domestic animal, or livestock; or causes damage to property, while on public or private property; or chases or approaches an individual upon the streets, sidewalks, or any public grounds in a menacing fashion or apparent attitude of attack.

My contention would be in your case (should your area have a similar ordinance), the unleased dog "provoked" your dog. Can you show that the unleashed dog was NOT under the control of the owner?

From one dog owner to another, I'd pursue this if I were you.

See my thread regarding this similar situation:

http://www.thelaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32053