Savage dog Attack - Advice needed....

J

Jemayni

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Right, I have a feeling this post may get long, but please stay with it as advice & opinions are desperately wanted.

The story starts last Sunday (12th) when the yard's dog was found in a bloody mess collapsed just outside the yard gate; he was found after the yard owner had heard him squeal. The YO instantly presumed he had been hit by a car & the dog was taken to the vets; the vet found his pelvis had separated from his spine on both sides, he had also ripped his abdominal wall & had internal Haemorrhaging. The dog has survived over a week and did appear to be improving, but took a turn for the worst today & will probably have to be PTS this afternoon.

So to the point of this post, it was the vet's opinion that he had not been hit by a car and suggested he had been attacked by an animal, (dog/fox/badger) but the consultant vet at the surgery suggested the injuries were similar to those she'd seen on dog-fighting dogs. After a good discussion with the yard owner this afternoon, a dog attack is appearing increasingly likely. Another livery had been hacking out prior to the incident & had been stopped by a black car, whose driver asked if she had seen a tan dog that he had lost, the livery had not so continued. However when I left the yard, 30 minutes or so before the yard dog was found injured, I nearly hit the same distinctive black car, which was turning around in the yard entrance. As I turned out of the yard driveway I again slammed my brakes on, as the tan dog was in the road, I considered getting out to look at the dog, but the guy in the black car had already indicated & got out to the dog, so I ignored it. Another livery saw the dog loose again today (whilst driving,) and the post man had previously warned the YO that an aggressive dog (fitting the same description) had moved in up the road, these people have only been living at that house for a few weeks.....

So my questions are:
Do you think it was that dog?
Do you have any idea of the breeding? (the dog was tan, with faint brown stripes, muscular and approximately the height of a Lab, I didn’t see its face)
Do you think the YO has a chance of having action taken against the dog/family?


Thankyou.
 

Ok, difficult one. I would expect to see external injuries if this dog had been attacked by another, for the dog to have suffered such extreme injuries surely there would be teeth marks, ripped skin etc., I also would expect to hear a lot more than just a squeal, this would have been a massive dog fight and I would have thought would be pretty noisy.

However, assuming this dog has been attacked by the "loose" dog then I'm afraid I don't see what can be done about it considering there are no witnesses and, it is purely speculation that leads you to believe this dog has been attacked, so unfortunatley I don't think the YO has much of a leg to stand on.

As for breed of the other dog, could be anything - the faint stripes you describe suggest a brindle dog, could be mastiff, staffie, bull terrier cross.

An awful situation for your YO and everyone else involved, sorry to hear this story.
 
I'd definitely discount a car or a fox, I doubt a fox would be capable of such injuries.

Badgers can be nasty ba5tards, what time of day was it?

Did the dog look of bull type? How big/what breed is YO's dog? Did the YO only hear a 'squeal' as if fighting there'd have been a heck of a noise.

I personally don't see how you could take action against the owner of the tan dog as there is no proof.
 
Kibob, if it was a larger dog and shook the YO's dogs it wouldn't have done much external damage but still caused severe internal injuries. However there would be external marks caused if they fought.

If it was the size of a lab you can discount it being a staffie.
 
Thankyou, I forgot to say he did have a big wound on his "stifle," which was a key reason why the vet suggested the dog fight, Something else I forgot to mention which is largely inrrealvant to you reply was that the YO's dog is a v.tiny JRT, so one way fight in a sense!

Thanks for the opinion about no witnesses, this is what we believe to be the case also as circumstantial evidence (and very circumstantioal evidence at that) doesn't get you anywhere!
 
It wouldn't have taken much to have injured him if he is small then, I've seen hounds kill a fox without a speck of blood.

Let us know if he is PTS, hope he isn't in too much pain!
 
Thanks SM, it was only 4pm, but we are aware of bdger sets just off the road as they frequently get hit by cars themselves....

The YO's dog is only a very little JRT and he is a pet rather than a hunting dog. My memory of the other dog is hazy, it was stocky, but not sure if it was stocky anough to be a bull dog of kind. Unfortunatly I only got a fleeting glance & then a week has passed before Ive needed to make a connection between the two!

And yes as I said above, circumstantial evidence gets you know where, even if the hours is on the busiest footpath in the county!
 
Yes, having re-readthe post, the injuries described are the kind that would result from a severe shaking.

Intriguing isn't it?? poor dog and poor people.
 
Sounds horrid
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poor dog

I would say a dog/badger is certainly capable of doing this kind of damage...as I have seen this kind of damage before in regard to dog fights....HOWEVER...the dog would almost certainly be covered in puncture wounds if it where a dog....do u think he could have possibly been hit by a car then maybe attacked by another animal as he lay injured...maybe tried to drag him off, hence the screaming out in pain
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I ope he does not suffer for to much longer...poor dog
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What about a lurcher? You say it was of brindle ish colour. Lots of lurchers can be crossed with other breeds so can still look stocky.
 
I wouldnt have thought so, purely because we know it was a very short time span between him going missing & being found (The Yard owner was lunging a horse in the school, he was there when she removed the side-reins to cool the horse off, but had gone as she left the school.)

Difficult as you say to make a judgement as to whether it was a dog or not!

Thankyou for your input & concern.
 
Greyhound cross bull would be stocky looking and would be more than capable of killing fox or badger as they were used for before the respective bans. So certainly capable of inflicting those injuries.

Tall and slender but stocky bone, chest and head.
 
Poor little thing, sounds very worrying - i dont pretend to be an expert but all the dog fights Ive ever seen and or heard, have been mostly mouth, ie LOTS of noise and not much action! It is shocking that so much could have happened to this little dog in such a short space of time.
One thing which no-one has suggested (maybe cos Im being silly here) but what IF the dogs were fighting and somehow the owner/driver were involved?
 
It is interesting, that a few people have said about the noise that should have occured, that didnt really appear to, I would imagine it to be rather a one sided fight though really....

Owners involvement is something I had considered, not that I feel they would actively try and hurt the YO's dog; but the fact that they had been searching for it all day & had finally found it when I saw them only 20 mins earlier, made me wonder if he never got it back to the house & lost control of it whilst it was still just outisde the yard gate where it attacked the YO's dog.... Could speculate forever though really....
 
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I did think lurcher, definitly struck me as lurcher in colour, however the dog wasn't as fine as a pure lurcher; but could possibly be a lurcher x....

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Lurchers come in every colour under the sun so not sure what 'lurcher in colour' means? Much more likely to be a staffy, bull or mastiff type. Plus although the poor dog was small that's a lot of damage to do in what appears to be a short space of time which again leads me to think it was a dog with particularly strong jaws, like a staffy/bull type.

Sorry, just felt the need to stick up for lurhcers everywhere
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It's a bloody shame but there's probably not a lot anyone can do without a witness. Seems like yet another example of the wrong people in charge of a this type of dog.
 
Could it have been a ridgeback, YO breeds ridges and some do have fawn brindle in the coat (only a few mind) or a hungarian visla? Some pitbull types are very leggy?

Lurchers come in all different sizes and colours - no such thing as a pure lurcher as a lurcher is a crossbreed with normally whippet, greyhound, wolfhound, saluki, deefhound etc in it.

Best things is to ring local dog warden if you are worried - they will be out like a shot with all the press about dog attacks latley - would be awful if it was a dog attack and it struck again. Our local dog warden is very good at things like this - not like rubbish RSPCA - if there is a nasty dog about they come sharpish. maybe they can get hold of it - from what the postie has said there is obviously one about.

Poor JRT - I hope he is resting comfortably no - my sympathies to you all.
 
I'm sorry but how can it be a pure staffy if it was tall with long legs...
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I'm not having a 'go' at lurchers, OH has 2 but lets be a little bit realistic about what they're capable of depending what they're crossed with. Softest things with humans but not with quarry, it could have even confused the JRT with a cat.

J, even if it was a one sided fight I'm sure the little mite would have still made quite a noise.

Was he PTS or is he still alive?
 
I would get everyone to keep a look out for this dog and if someone does see it loose in the road, if it is ok with humans i would act as if i found the dog and keep it until maybe you could see how it reacts to another dog that way you could see if it would of been capable of doing the injurys.You'd soon know if the dog was ok with other dogs or not,you could then hand it over to the police or if you know the owners address go to them and let them know it's loose and that's it's showing signs of agression to other dogs and that it just so happens a dog was fatally attacked and that they should be careful as if someone does witness it fighting again the dog could be put down.
Hope that makes sense,i have found strays in the past but luckily they were ok with other dogs,could you imagine an aggressive stray wandering your local park it could attack you and your dog,awful image. A dog like that really does need to be caught as a child could be killed by it or something
 
I'm not sure that because this dog may or may not have attacked a JRT, then it deserves to be branded a potential child killer!
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Fair point I suppose your right - I just happened to know a lurcher in that colour - which is what brought it to my mind, the only prob with thinking it was a staffy/bull was that it appeared taller than I usually associate with that breed, having said that it wasnt really as tall as a lurcher...
 
Its a fair point that the dog isnt necessarily aggressive towards humans, but with 30 horses stabled on that road and 6 other dogs that can I think of, not reporting seems a bit disrepectful to the safety of the animals on that road...
 
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