[lange]

I have a scenario and hopefully you've heard or known of something that has happened that is similar to this.

Scenario: You have a dog in your yard and your neighbor has a dog in their yard. Both dogs dug holes along their dividing fence which leads to dog A getting into dog B's yard. Let's say dog A gets hurt at the hands (or PAWS) of dog B.

Who exactly is liable for that?
And does any other circumstance you can think of make a difference?



I hope that wasn't too confusing..

[nattiej1976]

gosh hard one, I would have thought though even though both dogs were digging etc, the one that got in and through that hole is then the dog at large and out of control from its owners property.

This is exactly why we dug a channel and placed bricks in under the new fences, so no one could dig through.

[Lunareclipse]

Both people are if both people want to take responsibility. Both parties should have been watching their dogs. If they were both responsible dog owners, that's the way it would be. If they want to play the blame game, then they will find any excuse to find fault with the other person or the other person's dog.

[lange]

Originally Posted by Lunareclipse

Both people are if both people want to take responsibility. Both parties should have been watching their dogs. If they were both responsible dog owners, that's the way it would be. If they want to play the blame game, then they will find any excuse to find fault with the other person or the other person's dog.

Both are liable because neither was watching their dog?

[Lunareclipse]

Originally Posted by lange

Both are liable because neither was watching their dog?

That's the way it should be, but it's not. Everyone has to play the blame game. Nobody will stand up and be responsible for their own actions or lack of actions.

[piratekitty]

well I know what I would do If it was my dog that injured someone elses dog. I would offer to pay for vet bill if there was one. I dont care how the dogs got together thats just the right thing to do. I did have this happen. My neighbors mastiff busted threw our fence and was in our back yard this summer when I came home. My dogs greeted me at the door acting weird. When I looked into the back yard there was the huge Mastiff looking back at me thur our slider. Hunter, my min pin went flying thur the doggie door yipping at her heels. She the Mastiff couldnt get away fast enough, and back thur the hole in the fence where she had broken thur she went. No dogs were hurt. I had to laugh with relief, because not even a year before Hunter had survied a attack from a Rot. So when I saw this huge Mastiff In my yard, I didnt want to see Hunter in the mouth of a dog again. We repaired the fence.

[dogs rule]

Both neighbours should be held accountable. Just because one dog got under the fence(maybe the smaller of the two?) doesn't mean that one was the one that started it all.
If we can have our dogs get CGN certificates (canine good neighbour), then I ask, why can't we have HGN (human good neighbours)????

[Collie_Holly]

Originally Posted by nattiej1976

gosh hard one, I would have thought though even though both dogs were digging etc, the one that got in and through that hole is then the dog at large and out of control from its owners property.

I have to agree. Although, it is pretty tricky. I would think because the one dog got into the other dogs yard, it would be the liability of the dog that got in eventhough the other dog was digging as well. If you do find out the true answer to this, let us know!

[cigwyllt]

I agree with everyone else - morally it is a joint responsibility if both dogs are involved but legally or for the purposes of insurance it would be the responsibility of the owner whose dog had entered the other property I guess.

Mind you, I would question how a dog could be outside alone for long enough to dig under a fence?

[lange]

Thanks to you all for replying. I was looking for answers on legal liability verse moral obligations.

It's actually been interesting trying to figure out where the liability "more than likely" falls. The specifics of the scenario seems to be the key in finding the fault. I don't think there's a cut & dry answer so I went with the one that makes the most sense. I also kept searching online for similar legal issues. The laws between countries, states and cities vary and depending on how the event took place, it seems judges would have to use their own judgment in these cases. From what I'm getting, it seems that in this scenario the blame does lie with both neighbors only because both sides where negligent in allowing the creation of the holes, purposely or not.

The reason I brought the whole thing up is because just recently something similar happened which led me to wondering who & when someone is negligent & liable.

For us, our neighbors dog came into our yard. At first I didn't know how it had happened since we do allow Kuma to dig one area in the yard. She tends to dig in the warm months, it's an area we consider their hideout. (FYI Cig, you've never seen Kuma dig she builds trenches in a few minutes)

I walked our neighbors dog back to his yard (a cocker spaniel x poodle). I came back into our yard, covered the hole and placed our big storage bench on top of the spot. Then I used my garden fence around the remaining side of the fence as a precaution (Kuma's big rump can't get over it).

Later that evening I let the dogs back out and a few minutes later heard yipping/crying. Sure enough the dog was back. I had left a 5 inch gap between the fence & the bench and he managed to still come up. Again, I took the dog back and talked with our neighbor. It seems his little guy is driving him nuts. Tearing up the doors in the house, digging up all over the yard, including his recently dead dogs grave, pooping in the house, and on the complaints go. He says he's the most hyper active dog he's ever owned. I kept repeating myself telling him my concern was that his dog could get injured & that Kuma can very well hurt him. But he kept jumping in that HIS concern is that he has to keep bathing the dog because he keeps digging & getting dirty. lol Sorry but our neighbor usually has me wanting to pull my hair out when I talk to him. This guy is an obnoxiously cranky person who's only known to complain about anything & everything, from his "good for nothing kid" to the Sun being too bright. He's much older & has had a ton of health issues along with personal psychosis. ok so I'm exagerating a little one the psychosis...Anyway it did turn out to be his dog digging. It was probably easier for him getting through because we had recently taken up the day lilies that bordered that side of the fence, there's no garden fence there so the dogs had squashed them to nothing-ness over the summer. We've been hit with a lot of rain for days on end so the ground was probably easy for him to get through.

After all this I've butted the bench right up to the fence and he hasn't been able to get through again but it's only a matter of time he digs a new spot. I really don't want any problems with Kuma hurting the little dog. We have chicken wire that we're going to be burying under the fence come Sunday but I'm not sure if it'll work to stop his dog from getting in since you usually put in along the diggers side?...Plus it's a wooden privacy fence so I'm not yet sure how I'm going to be connecting it to the fence..

[CorkyMax]

I know you said that the neighbor mentioned what a hyper dog he has, etc.--He also mentioned how his dog dug up the 'companion?' dog's grave which was just buried recently---Wonder if there is some kind of connection here since it happened about the same time as his dog dug under your fence? Is his dog missing the other dog? Also maybe he is lonely because the other dog is gone and wants to be with another dog (yours). Lol, maybe your neighbor needs to get another dog to be with this dog of his---or maybe not--double trouble--might backfire. I have no real answers but wanted to say--Can you use a staple gun to attach the chicken wire to your wooden fence?

[lange]

His old dog died towards the beginning of summer and it wasn't until after that that he got this new dog. I do think the dog is lonley and just has a lot of energy to burn and wants to play. I could tell each time he was in our yard. I feel bad for the little guy. If we only had Wrigley I wouldn't mind letting him come by to play but I can't do that with Kuma. She has too many triggers being on her own property.

Yes, the staple gun should work!!!! Now it seems so obvious. ops: Thanks C/M!

[CorkyMax]

Don't know if it would stop the digging but feeling sorry for the neighbor's dog---maybe you could 'schedule' supervised play dates with Wrigley going to the neighbor's yard---Maybe if the neighbor's dog likes to play with Wrigley, it would satisfy his lonliness and either calm him down or tire him out. If he gets enough of Wrigley and also knows he is going to come see him on a regular basis--he may not dig to get over there but just wait till Wrigley comes over if he expects him to.

[Lara's mom]

Interesting...That is exactly how my Bailey came to be except that the male springer spaniel had romance on his mind and dug under the fence for a tryst with a border collie who happened to be in heat at the time!

[lange]

C/M, if only it were a different neighbor. This one is too temperamental, he wouldn't want Wrigley over. The best thing I can say is that he (neighbor) is a big dog lover when it comes to his guys. I remember he used to always say his kids would freak out when he died because he was leaving his estate to his dog! lol ..It was sad that he had to lose him, he loved him very much.

Originally Posted by Lara's mom

Interesting...That is exactly how my Bailey came to be except that the male springer spaniel had romance on his mind and dug under the fence for a tryst with a border collie who happened to be in heat at the time!

I never thought of that! Lol Good thing mine are both fixed. Can't imagine what an Akita/Spaniel/PoodleX would look like. LOL