By Laura Dutton
It was rather ironically, whilst delivering leaflets door to door offering a reward for the return of my beloved kitten, Nelson, I got bitten by an Alsatian! It wasn’t the type of attack that saw me pinned to the ground having my arm torn off - it was more of a nip through the letter box - but boy what a nip!
As I dragged my hand back through the letterbox to safety I was confronted with the full horror of this ‘nip’. Across my fingers now lay an impressive imprint of canine dentistry! My fingers had literally been punctured by its teeth, blood was oozing, layers of skin were hanging and the pain was searing.
Somehow I managed to drive myself to the nearest ‘non emergency’ hospital, where I was jabbed up for Tetanus, cleaned up and bandaged.
“Did the owner apologise,” asked the nurse. I hadn’t even considered this being the fault of the owner, as far as I was concerned - I walked on to their property and stuck my hand through their letterbox - my fault surely?
Not according to the law - I had a case to sue the owners, but chose not to go down this route - after all I have to live on the same street as these people.
The whole incident got me wondering about many dog owners are actually aware of their responsibilities when it comes to such incidents and how many, if sued, would have adequate pet insurance to cover the legal costs of a claim.
Here are a few tips to becoming a responsible dog owner
- If you have a volatile dog, make visitors aware of this by putting up a ‘Beware of the Dog’ sign
- Install a post box on the outside of your property for people delivering post
- Make sure that when out walking your dog, you always have them on a secure lead.
- You may want to consider fitting a muzzle if your dog is particularly aggressive
- Small children should not be left alone with dogs in the home - or when out walking. They don’t have the experience or strength to deal with a dog should it become aggressive.
Pet Insurance can be not only prove invaluable when paying for life saving veterinary treatment but the right cover can give you legal protection too. You can compare Dog Insurance policies at http://www.moneysupermarket.com/petinsurance/ to ensure that you receive the correct cover for you and your dog.
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