What happens to the attacking dog?
- Most of the time, nothing.
- Sometimes the animal control department conducts a hearing and decides that the dog is a dangerous dog. If this happens, there will be restrictions on where the dog can be kept, what kind of leash is required when it goes out, and how it has to be fenced in. If the owner of the dog violates any of these restrictions, or the dog gets out without a leash, it is possible that the animal control department will seize the dog and put it to sleep.
- In rare cases the animal control department conducts a hearing and decides that the dog is a vicious dog. If this happens, the dog may be ordered put to sleep or removed from the city.
What does Ken Phillips do that affects the attacking dog?
- Most of the time, our clients love dogs and do not want anything done to the attacking dog.
- Sometimes our clients become terrified of the attacking dog, and in those cases we work with the client to give the animal control department enough information to take the dog off the street.
- Very rarely, Ken Phillips will file a lawsuit right away, and ask the court for an order that the dog be removed from the premises, or actually put to sleep. This only happens in extreme circumstances. For example, in one case the victim had a 30% mental impairment because of the effects of post traumatic stress, which was being caused by the continued presence of the three attacking dogs next door. Mr. Phillips filed a request for a court order requiring the removal or destruction of the dogs. The dog owner filed paperwork at court to have the victim's motion dismissed. After a hearing, the Judge decided that Mr. Phillips' request for this order was proper from a legal standpoint, and a new hearing date was set. Before that hearing took place, there was a mediation, at which the dog owners decided to put the dogs down, because they got a chance to see the psychologist's report and they realized that their dogs were really, really hurting their neighbor, the victim.
Investigation of the history of the attacking dog
In many cases, it is important to know the history of the attacking dog. If the dog previously attacked humans, the conclusions pertaining to liability, comparative negligence, compensation, punitive damages and enforcement of a judgment are quite different. See Investigating the Attacking Dog, and Legal Rights of Dog Bite Victims.
