Dogs Laws and What Can Be Done?!

[Kitsune06]

My recent experience with a big dog, no leash law, and people with no money but good intentions makes me sad about how ill protected cyclists are when riding on the road. To give quick update: I was riding in a paceline and a big dog darted out across road, attacking our paceline, missing the wheel in front of me but bolting across my front wheel, and I had nowhere to go but down as I hit the dog smack dap in the middle. Sheriffs and Animal Control arrived -- reports filed and dogs caught, but with no leash law and the free first bite law (he didn't bite me), I have no criminal legal action against owners because NO LAW was broken. I am mildly injured, my bike is (I HOPE) only temporarily trashed but needs $$ to repair and the dog owners want to help but appear to have no money and legally they don't have to pay a dime. It is unbelieveable to me that there is NO LAW to protect cyclist riding down state or county maintained roads -- the animal can legally chase and maim without recourse!!

I am sad ... down right depressed. Anybody have experience in this area via living the dog hits bike or other personal or legal stories to share?

Animal Control declared the dog dangerous. They had a vet medically declare the dog dangerous. The dog owners did not fight the finding, agreeing, and signed the dog over to the county. The dog was euthanized under VA Dangerous Dog Statue, code 3.1-796.93:1.

How this affects any financial liability, I don't know. BUT the road is now safe for cyclists, children, and anyone else!

Wait a ****ing minute. I want to know how the dog was declared 'dangerous' and what exactly constitutes 'dangerous'. Just because those dumb***es didn't have a fence or even a cable-tie for their dog, does not mean that his running out into the road to chase something (which is a dog's nature, like it or not) constitutes a 'dangerous' dog.

And oh, yay! The dog was put down. We're all safe. Gosh, I'm so effing happy for everyone concerned. What a bunch of effing hypocrites. Every time I mourn with a woman posting here about how another one of our fur babies has crossed the rainbow bridge, I feel for them and with them, knowing what it's like to lose a pet... but I can not rejoice with you in this 'justice'.

For what it's worth, I lost a dog, was euthanized 'for the greater good' You want to know why? My sister was a little kid, and invited her friend and her friend's mom and little brother in. "Dude" my mom's elderly and arthritic Samoyed was sound asleep in front of the door. Kim, my sis, steps over the dog. Her friend steps over the dog. The little brother stops and hesitates in front of him, because the little bro is too short to so easily step over him. Mom isn't looking and gives the kid a push. Kid steps on Dude's arthritic back leg. Dude wakes up startled and snaps at the kid. 2 stitches in his face. Dude tucks tail and sits in the corner, quietly, knowing he'd done wrong. Mom says it's ok, knew she'd at least partially been to blame. None of us knew they were coming in, or the dog would have been woken up and moved to another room. You just don't do that to an old, half blind dog. Well, they reported the bite to the police, our home-owner's insurance would've skyrocketed (or so I heard from my mom, I was young and didn't understand all the details) long story short, we had to put Dude down because he was "dangerous" though he'd never bitten anyone before, well into his old age, and wouldn't have then, except out of his fright and pain. I had my head on his side and held him, listening to those slow last breaths.

So no, I just don't feel good about this... and I can't feel good about irresponsible dog owners, either. I send my best wishes to the family who just lost their furbaby, because no one knew him/her the way they knew him/her.

[Jolt]

Wait a ****ing minute. I want to know how the dog was declared 'dangerous' and what exactly constitutes 'dangerous'. Just because those dumb***es didn't have a fence or even a cable-tie for their dog, does not mean that his running out into the road to chase something (which is a dog's nature, like it or not) constitutes a 'dangerous' dog.

And oh, yay! The dog was put down. We're all safe. Gosh, I'm so effing happy for everyone concerned. What a bunch of effing hypocrites. Every time I mourn with a woman posting here about how another one of our fur babies has crossed the rainbow bridge, I feel for them and with them, knowing what it's like to lose a pet... but I can not rejoice with you in this 'justice'.

For what it's worth, I lost a dog, was euthanized 'for the greater good' You want to know why? My sister was a little kid, and invited her friend and her friend's mom and little brother in. "Dude" my mom's elderly and arthritic Samoyed was sound asleep in front of the door. Kim, my sis, steps over the dog. Her friend steps over the dog. The little brother stops and hesitates in front of him, because the little bro is too short to so easily step over him. Mom isn't looking and gives the kid a push. Kid steps on Dude's arthritic back leg. Dude wakes up startled and snaps at the kid. 2 stitches in his face. Dude tucks tail and sits in the corner, quietly, knowing he'd done wrong. Mom says it's ok, knew she'd at least partially been to blame. None of us knew they were coming in, or the dog would have been woken up and moved to another room. You just don't do that to an old, half blind dog. Well, they reported the bite to the police, our home-owner's insurance would've skyrocketed (or so I heard from my mom, I was young and didn't understand all the details) long story short, we had to put Dude down because he was "dangerous" though he'd never bitten anyone before, well into his old age, and wouldn't have then, except out of his fright and pain. I had my head on his side and held him, listening to those slow last breaths.

So no, I just don't feel good about this... and I can't feel good about irresponsible dog owners, either. I send my best wishes to the family who just lost their furbaby, because no one knew him/her the way they knew him/her.

I would have to agree. The problem in this situation wasn't that the dog was "dangerous", it was that the owners were irresponsible by allowing it to roam unsupervised. From the description of the incident, there is no indication that the dog was acting aggressively/trying to bite anyone. It is instinctive for a dog to chase something that is moving, which can (and did, in this case) create problems if that "something" is a cyclist who can end up crashing as a result. That's why people need to have their dogs under control, to prevent incidents like this as well as for the dog's own safety (running out into the road to chase bikes, cars etc. is a great way for them to get run over). As for the situation you describe with Dude snapping at the kid who stepped on him, that's a shame. That wasn't an aggressive dog, just one reacting as could be expected given what happened (kinda like if somebody jumped on you while you were sleeping you'd probably shove them off, elbow them etc. automatically). It's obviously unfortunate that the kid got bitten, and that's never a good situation, but personally I would consider something like that an "accident", for lack of a better term.

[Batbike]

So no, I just don't feel good about this... and I can't feel good about irresponsible dog owners, either. I send my best wishes to the family who just lost their furbaby, because no one knew him/her the way they knew him/her.

I am sorry about your personal pet loss and am glad that there are animal lovers, like you, that are passionate about pets. The world needs them!!!

Please understand, it is NOT easy to declare a dog dangerous -- the VA Dangerous Dog Statue is very complex, code 3.1-796.93:1. For your own information, you may want to read it. So, no, this was not a solution to a single incident and no this is not the family upset that they "lost their furbaby". I know, for a FACT, that the family is relieved about the dog, not upset.

There is SO MUCH MORE to the details of this story -- the family, the dog, children, cyclists, vets, law enforcement, etc. It has taken me days to get ALL the details and unfortunately it only takes minutes to share bits and pieces. I have not shared everything, so maybe I should not have shared at all. However, dogs are part of the cycling culture, and it is good to talk about them and how we can protect ourselves, our equipment, and the animals.

Am I happy the dog was killed? No, I do not want to see any animal destroyed; and, yes, I do not want to see any person hurt because an animal is sick and uncontrolled and cannot function in society without hurting something or someone -- that is the main point of the dangerous dog statue. It is NOT a fine line between dangerous dog and cute furbaby -- the line is VERY thick and well padded to protect dogs that are not dangerous. VA is very empathetic to dog owners with the "ONE FREE BITE dog law".

Please continue fighting for furry friends; please remember some furry friends need protection from themslves and others and that is why there are laws.

[Tuckervill]

I love dogs--I *really* love them.

I'm not happy that the dog had to be put down, for the dog's sake. Now that the dog is put down, the owners have little incentive to learn better. Plus, they're probably thinking "that's that" and they have nothing else to worry about.

(I really love dogs. I had to put one of my dogs down 6 weeks ago, okay?) But I don't think the loss of this dog is that much of a tragedy. Someone else could have loved and cared for that dog better than those owners. But maybe this situation will teach those owners that they can't properly keep a dog? Maybe they'll get off scot-free without having to pay any monetary damages and they'll put it behind them. Maybe they'll get the message that they're not good enough dog owners. Or, maybe they'll still want a dog and because of this situation they will spend some time learning how to properly care for it? I just don't think this dog died in vain.

And for the record, I don't believe Batbike was celebrating that the dog was put down, but just that some small increment towards justice was done in her case. I wouldn't come down so hard on her for being happy about that.

Karen

[indysteel]

One comment that I would add to the discussion is that a leash law, in itself, will not necessarily provide compensation for a cyclist injured by a dog allowed to run loose. If the law only "criminalizes" the behavior through the imposition of a fine, then you'd still be stuck pursuing homeowner's insurance or suing in small claims court to recover for any property damage or personal injury. A criminal law at the end of the day only serves to encourage people to restrain their dogs. And if it's not enforced or enforced only when someone is already hurt, it really does very little good.

Homeowners really kill me. I got chased my a little dog the other day who stopped me dead in my tracks. He wouldn't back off at all. His owner ran from his hard and chased him away from me. I told the guy that other cyclists would be coming through since it was a club ride. He admits that he'd already "seen a bunch." Presumably, the dog chased after those cyclists too so then WTF? WHY HAVEN'T YOU TIED YOUR DOG UP THEN? He eventually had to take his belt off his pants and "whip" the dog back into the yard.

Sigh....

[bacarver]

Hi Batbike -

I had a terrible bike wreck June 14, 2005 (only weeks after buying my new Trek 1500). A pit bull ran in front of me. He came from out of nowhere and slammed into my front wheel. I came to an instant stop, did a 360, crashed, dragged, twisted, and sustained all the painful injuries possible. The pain and terror of this kind of bike wreck is horrible. It is a descent into fear and pain that cannot be cast off quickly enough.
The owner was on public aid. He was using the dog as a weapon to get free electricity.
The dog didn't bite me, but I still shudder everytime I remember how it circled me and growled at me as I sat on the ground bleeding and scared beyond my level of awareness.
I did contact my lawyer which resulted in adequate pressure in regard to the owner. We contacted the local politicians, neighbors, and the police. It was a matter of weeks that passed till the man was run off his rental property and his rental trailer was demolished due to being a health hazard.
I could have sued the man, but he has nothing. I concentrated on my recovery.
I am a volunteer at the local animal shelter. I am slowly easing my way into the leadership structure and hope to be a board member soon. I will do my best to make the roads safer for my other cycling buddies.
I hope you heal soon and that your future rides are safe and enjoyable.
Barb