Saturday, September 23, 2017

Connecticut: Little boy, 4, wanders into woman's yard and has his nose ripped off by her Irish Wolfhound. She asks for advice on hiding the dog from police and suing the parents

CONNECTICUT -- This lovely woman posted on two different sections of Reddit asking readers if they agreed with her decision to hide her dog from the police after it "ripped off" a 4-year-old boy's nose -- oh and maybe his eye too.

She first posted in a section (called subreddits) titled "Childfree". This subreddit is described as:
Discussion and links of interest to childfree individuals. "Childfree" refers to those who do not have and do not ever want children (whether biological, adopted, or otherwise).
In "Childfree", she calls the victim -- a four-year-old little boy who, according to her has had his nose ripped off -- a "snot monster" and "critch goblin". She then blames the little boy's parents because he was able to crawl under her ramshackle fence to reach her dog, what is commonly referred to as an attractive nuisance, like a swimming pool.
The attractive nuisance doctrine applies to the law of torts, in the United States. It states that a landowner may be held liable for injuries to children trespassing on the land if the injury is caused by an object on the land that is likely to attract children.
She asks readers if they agree with her plan of hiding the dog from authorities.

>>Reddit section: RANT

"Mombie didn't watch her kid, now my dog is on death row"
(self.childfree)
submitted an hour ago by FurbabyPeril

Last week my rescue Irish Wolfhound was hanging out innocently in my fenced backyard when my neighbor's 4 year old snot monster decided he wanted to "pet the doggie". He crawled under the fence and grabbed my dog by his tail.

My dog is skittish and he lunged at the kid, causing severe damage to his face (his nose was almost completely torn off). I sent my dog off to my uncle's farm for the time being. Now the critch goblin's mombie and daddict have the police involved, and I've been ordered to turn my dog in to be euthanized!

Why does he have to die he's not the one that was trespassing and harassing innocent animals! They're also talking about suing me for tens of thousands of dollars in plastic surgery all because they couldn't be bothered to watch their damn kid.

The plan is to play dumb and leave my dog out of state where they can't get him. What would you do in my situation?

You can click here to read all the comments that were posted.


After being instructed several times by readers to post on the on the Reddit section "legal advice", she does:

>>Reddit section: LEGALADVICE

"Danbury, CT A neighbor's 4 year old broke into my yard and harassed my dog, got bit"
(self.legaladvice)
submitted 3 days ago by FurbabyPeril

Last week my irish wolfhound was in my fenced in yard when the neighbor's unattended 4 year old crawled under it and pulled his tail. My dog bit the kid pretty bad, his nose was hanging on my a thread and he'll probably lose sight in one of his eyes. I immediately brought my dog to my uncle's farm in another town across the state. The cops showed up and said I had to hand my dog over for quarantine and eventual euthanasia because of the severity of the attack.

Also the parents are threatening to sue me for the cost of emergency plastic surgery.

1. Can the cops hold me if I refuse to say where the dog is and hand him over to be killed?

2. Would I have a leg to stand on if I said he ran away and I cant find him or would that make it worse?

3. is a large dog behind a chainlink fence considered an attractive nuscience like they told me?

4. Will my homeowners insurance provide me with a lawyer?

5. Can I countersue, or have them charged with negligence/trespassing either through the police or CPS? A 4 year old should not be walking around unsupervised. thanks

Neither of these dogs is the bite dog. This is a photo from
WikiCommons just to give you an idea how large this breed
of dog is - and also how fluffy and attractive to a small child


Here are some of the comments:

TotalStorage
You are deep into the territory where you should not be saying another word about this to ANYONE before you retain an attorney.
Some of the things you are saying here are concerning. For example, how did you know that the kid pulled the dog's tail if you did not witness it. If you witnessed it, could you have intervened sooner?
Tampering with evidence (moving the dog across the state), contemplating lying to the police (obstruction of justice).
Calling the police/CPS about the victim.
I am not saying that any of the things listed above are necessarily of real concern. But, it's definitely stuff that needs to be directed under the advice of an attorney.

Leggoeggolas
Has your dog ever bit anyone before?
I don't understand how it's the dogs fault as he was just protecting his property, he didn't know it was a kid breaking into his fenced off yard and not a burglar
I feel really bad for the kid but how can they put the dog down for this? It's not like he broke out and did it.
That all said they do need prof the dog doesn't have rabies, otherwise it's gonna be more hell for the kid

FurbabyPeril
He hasn't bitten anyone since I've had him. He came from a rescue I don't know his history. He has his shots and I have all the paperwork.

Method007
IN GENERAL, CT law regarding dog bites involve a few prongs - the first being if the attack happened off property.
THE PROBLEM YOU HAVE - is that in CT, they have a law where minors are presumed to not be trespassing or teasing animals when they are attacked.
Connecticut General Statutes 22-357 – Damage by dogs to person or property If any dog does any damage to either the body or property of any person, the owner or keeper, or, if the owner or keeper is a minor, the parent or guardian of such minor, shall be liable for the amount of such damage, except when such damage has been occasioned to the body or property of a person who, at the time such damage was sustained, was committing a trespass or other tort, or was teasing, tormenting or abusing such dog.
If a minor, on whose behalf an action under this section is brought, was under seven years of age at the time such damage was done, it shall be presumed that such minor was not committing a trespass or other tort, or teasing, tormenting or abusing such dog, and the burden of proof thereof shall be upon the defendant in such action.
As you can see, this shifts the burden to you. My issue that you have a hole in your fence that allows a 4 year old to get through – and that 4 year old is automatically assumed to not be trespassing. CT also has laws that specifically say you must hand over your dog for quarantine if it attacks someone – but it says “was not upon the premises of the owner” – so I think you have some wiggle room there. I can’t give you an answer regarding what you should do in that situation – I would hire an attorney.
Ultimately – the best legal advice I can provide you is that you need to hire an attorney and stop posting on reddit.

parle
Your bolded part doesn't matter particularly if it's incontrovertible that the dog was on OP's property. However the claim that the kid pulled the dog's tail will probably mean nothing unless the kids admits it or someone else saw

Method007
The bolded part literally particularly matters to this event. It immediately puts the burden on the dog owner to prove trespassing or teasing. Just because he may be able to address this issue does not mean it does not matter.

miezekoetzchen
I've read your answers above - don't trust what the cops said. They think they're really clever and hold the moral high ground, but they're really not. They're not lawyers or judges, so they get to stfu. It does matter that they were trespassing, because your dog was defending himself in his own house. The situation would not have happened if the child hadn't broken into your home.

Luminae
I would remove the breed from the description in this post. Having the breed listed makes it far easier to track this post back to you, as this breed's community is rather small. I can't image the frustration and upset this situation is causing you. I wish for a resolution in your favor.

FurbabyPeril
I was planning to say he ran away and I cant find him but that might hurt my case later on if I look like an irresponsible dog owner

The kid almost lost his nose and might lose site in one eye so its going to be expensive but I dont see why I should have to pay for it!

According to the cops I cannot disobey their order to hand the dog over and put him in quarrentine. I can fight the death sentence once they have him but I dont have much of a shot.

FurbabyPeril
>file a police report for their trespassing.
That's a damn good idea, give them a taste of their own medicine!

AnonMSme
No, that’s really shitty advice, as are the comments stating you should call CPS. A 4 year old can not commit trespassing and parents letting a 4 year old play unsupervised in a backyard are not negligent to the point of CPS getting involved. All this will do is make you look like a cold hearted monster who’s harassing the parents of an injured child.
Ffs, just get a lawyer and follow their instructions. Until then, keep your mouth shut.



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