Neighbor's Dog enters my fenced pasture is seriously hurt

[GotDogs]

My neighbor's dog, a (approx. 7 month old Aust. Cattle Dog) entered my fenced pasture and was severely injured by my rottweiler.
The property setup where this occurred : Our pasture is 1.2 acres, fully fenced with 5 ft high three rail, backed by 14 gage welded wire to the ground. Three gates access this area, two of these are 10 foot wide double gates each is latched and secured with a steel drop rod which drops into a steel casing impeded in asphalt, the gate latches are then pinned with a carabineer. This secures the latches from opening unless removed. The same method is used on the 4' man-gate. Each of these opens onto our property and away from the road and neighbors home.
The neighbors dog was never contained to his property, but allowed to run free and unrestrained in the neighborhood. My dogs are always contained when on my property. They are either inside my home, kenneled in the outdoor or indoor kennels, off leash but enclosed inside of the fenced pasture area, or on the training field. Never are they allowed off the property unsupervised.
The neighbors dog dug small amount of earth then pushed underneath the wire fencing, entering our property. I had been inside our house for twenty minutes, upon returning to the pasture to bring my dogs inside I could see that my male rottie was holding something in his mouth. It was the neighbors dog. It was completely limp and I believed it was dead. I crated both of my dogs and immediately ran back outside, the injured dog was attempting to stand. I had my cell phone with me and immediately called my vet, telling him that I was bringing this dog in now. The neighbor was not at home and I did not have his telephone number. The dog was rushed to my vet's facility, all available life supporting measures were taken, I stayed with the pup for sometime then left for my home at 6:30 pm. The owner was still not available, and did not contact me until 8:30 pm. This incident occurred at 2:00 pm. The little aussie lived as a result of the immediate care that was given to him. I paid my vet the cost of the care for that day, which was about $400.00.
My dogs have no prior history of attacking anything, they are people friendly. Both dogs have been to basic and advance obedience and hold the AKC Good Citizen Certificates.
I've asked the neighbor to reimburse the $400.00 in fees, he has refused. To add insult to injury he is now saying if I pressure him to pay my $400.00 in costs he will sue me for his additional vet bills ($2,000) related to this incident. Has has stated that he will say that my dogs came onto his property and attacked his dog after digging out of our pasture. (remember, he was not at home when this occurred) In addition, he has said that he will assert that my dogs are vicious, that I knew that they were vicious, and that I should not be allowed to keep them.
I've been told that if I do nothing and just let it go, eating the my costs for saving the pup, I will have set a precedent (taking responsibility) for anything similar that might occur in the future.
I've gone over this event again and again in my mind, I can not find any thing that I have done that makes me responsible for this. Small claims court is the only option at this point if I want to recoup my money. What would you do? (on a side note: ten weeks after this incident the neighbor ran over his dog, killing him.)

[LavenderRott]

Personally, I would have notified both local law enforcement and the local animal control agency when the incident happened. I guess it is too late for that now though, however something to think about should your neighbor get another puppy that he needs to take such great care of.

I think, since this happened a while ago and the injured dog is now dead, you might want to just forget about the $400. If your neighbor should get a new dog, every time you see it off the neighbor's property, I would report it to authorities.

If your neighbor comes after you for the remaining vet bills, I would think that your CGC certificate and any statements from friends, trainers and your vet would be very helpful.

[Judi W]

First of all you had good reason to know that the neighbor did not value his dog so your idea that he would reimburse you for care you volunteered was not realistic. That is evident by the fact that the dog ran at large. Most states allow a dog to be killed if it is found on another's property where livestock is present. Whether killed by a shotgun or a home dog should make no difference. What you do at this point depends upon how long you want to live with the stress and disagreements. It just might be a $400 lesson that next time, get out a shovel.

[lblax]

Originally Posted by Judi W

It just might be a $400 lesson that next time, get out a shovel.

i would look him in the eye and tell him my 400.00 saved your dog and if you dont want tto pay me i can still sleep at night.. too bad it cost you 400.00 to find out what kind of person he is.. then just let it go

[Cash]

It sounds to me that you tried to do the right thing by this dog in getting him to the vet ASAP, regardless of what your rights are. I probably would of done the same thing.
It certainly isn't right that your neighbor just cost you $400 so he could proceed to seal the deal on this dogs fate with his car.

I wouldn't hold out too much hope on getting your money back.
I agree. Let it go if he's not coming around. The bright side is that YOUR dogs are ok.

[JeanT]

I think you did the right thing even though it cost you $400.

How long ago did this happen? The reason I ask is that your neighbor sounds like such a scumbag that he may try to sue you anyway if he hasn't paid the vet and the vet tried to collect from him.

There will always be the statements that you made to the vet and vet office personnel about how this happened. I'm sure they will remember. Save your cell phone bill that will show the times of your telephone calls.

I'm assuming that you've got a decent relationship with your vet. You may want to mention the lawsuit threat that your neighbor made not having anything to do with the vet being (or not yet being) paid by your neighbor, but rather to cement in their memories what you said actually happened. That will be almost as good as having a police report stating what happened, maybe even better.

It's mind boggling how you did everything possible to see that your dogs were protected yet you still have to be concerned about a neighbor like that.

[Major]

Please stay with the OP's story and do not add unrealistic fantasy scenarios. Unrealistic fantasy scenarios do not help answer the questions that were asked.

[RottiNkids]

Doing the right thing is in itself it's own reward. You did the right thing! Extract the lesson from the loss and go forward.

[Platzz]

1st - Don't ask for legal advice on a MB. Spend the money ande runthis by a lawyer for yyour peace of mind. Also, find out your legal rights in your state concerning dogs at large on your property(neighbors)

2nd - you did what you felt wa s right in your heart, a very unselfish act of kindness. Let it go and move on with your life.

3rd - If your ever in any situtation like this again get Law enforcement involued if for no other reason than to protect your good name...and your dogs.

[HUGGYBEAR]

First of all the neighbors dog had no business running free; I get SOOO tired of that crap if its a lab or aussie or some other type of "friendly" breed its ok for them to run free, but if our dogs get loose then its an issue! Anyway I think you should sue him, just for you to have had enough caring in your heart to take the intruder to the hospital AND pay for the care deserved a thank you note stuffed with reimburstment and interest! Im quite sure you can get the other neighbors to attest to the fact that the dog did run free on a daily basis, take full view pics of your SECURED yard and the hole if still there im sure a rottie sized hole and an aussie sized hole are two totally different things... As for his "vicious" claims there are behaviorists that can test and certify your dog to be of good temperment, ALSO if he has any obedience legs, titles or even a class completion those can be proof in itself. It's up to you but for me 400.00 is too much to give away on a dog that isnt my own..........But him running over his own dog was his punishment in itself.

[Bucky's Mom]

Originally Posted by GotDogs

My neighbor's dog, a (approx. 7 month old Aust. Cattle Dog) entered my fenced pasture and was severely injured by my rottweiler.
................The dog was rushed to my vet's facility, ............ The little aussie lived as a result of the immediate care that was given to him. I paid my vet the cost of the care for that day, which was about $400.00.
................. Has has stated that he will say that my dogs came onto his property and attacked his dog after digging out of our pasture. (remember, he was not at home when this occurred) .)

Now why in the world would YOU have taken HIS dog to YOUR Vet if the incident happened on his property? How would you even have known about it?

His dog was out and about unsupervised while he wasn't even home.

Your kindness saved the dog - his carelessness first had the dog injured then killed it by running him over.

I think I would just accept that I am out $400.00 and just make sure to have a paper from the Vet documenting the story as it really happened.

As for precedence - I think it was more a kind gesture.