my son was attacked by 2 dogs over the weekend. As a result, EMS came and rushed him to the hospital. The dogs bit him and ripped off his helmet. We have an eye witness. JoCo animal control was able to capture both dogs and they are quarantined for 10 days. According to Joco animal control, even though we have witnesses of the dogs attacking and biting my son, the owners can pick them up after 10 days if they show no signs of rabies. This doesn't make any sense to me! The dogs are not in a fenced yard; they are allowed to roam free. Why would dogs who have attacked a child be allowed back out Please know that I am the "Ellie Mae" lover of animals, and hate when animals are not taken care of in a responsible way...but when my son got attacked I turned into mama bear! Are there any laws about animals not being returned to their owners if they have attacked?
I am sorry that happened to your child!! How awful and scary!! Can you please tell us where this happened so that others can be aware of where these dogs roam?
I would think that a county agency that deals with animal control would know the laws and thus follow the letter of the law in its dealings.
I am not a big fan of lawyers but I would get a good one right now to not only keep this from happening again but to take care of financial needs of your son.
Since there was an attack by these two dogs there should be a determination by the county on whether to classify them as "dangerous" as stipulated under state law. You should officially request this determination be made in addtion to contacting a good civil attorney as Hugh suggested. It is unfortunate that the only thing the law requires in such a case is that the animals be confined to the owners property, but the owner is still liable for any injuries and once the animals are classified as beign a danger the owners are guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor if the animals are allowed off the property. Thus the only real teeth to any confinement is monetary. The owners and their insurance carriers should be made aware of the situation. Most insurance carriers will drop coverage if a dangerous animal is kept and that may work better than anything else at this point in time.
A couple questions-- Where did this happen? On your property or the dog owner's? or in the street? Have the dogs been reported before? Have they attacked before? Were the owners aware their dogs were out? I have experience with both a dog attacking my family and unfortunately my dogs biting someone there is a lot that goes into how things are handled
