Saturday, November 21, 2009

Emergency room visit

My son was bitten by a dog today. He went to the neighbors house to deliver the Cub Scout popcorn they ordered. Their dogs burst out of the door and went after him! Once we knew the bite had punctured his skin we knew he had to go to the ER. I actually ran over to the neighbors house and told/yelled them that this was absolutely NOT OK and I was taking my son to the ER and filing a police report.

Simon was great at the hospital. They had to flush the wound and bandage it. They apparently don't stitch dog bites. Thank God these people give their dog all their shots or we'd have to get Simon a rabies shot! He has to be on antibiotics though.

We talked to the police after we got home and filed a report. The hospital also files one with the health department. In a few days I can go in to file the formal complaint. I'm sure the neighbors love their dog but a dog that goes after a child unprovoked isn't a good dog and something will be done about it. One of our other neighbors saw it happen (silly me thought it'd be ok for my son to go to a friends house without his mommy) and he already told some of the other neighbors and he said he'd talk to the police for me if we needed it. Gotta love a small community! They even came over after we were home to make sure Simon was ok and they brought him a gift. So sweet!

I took some picture right before they bandaged Simon's leg up. I can't believe what this dog did to my kid. What if the dog hadn't stopped after just one bite? What about the rest of the neighborhood kids?

6 comments:

Scylla said...

Oh poor Simon!
I am so sorry you guys had to go through this! You did the right thing in responding this way. Dogs should not be behaving that way.

Susan said...

Poor guy! That's so horrible. What was the neighbor's response? Was this a dog that knew Simon? If it was then that is even worse than if Simon were a stranger.

You did the right thing by reporting it. You need to protect your children and the other children in the neighborhood. As a dog owner I would expect to be reported if my dogs ever did that & I know that if they ever drew blood like that, that the animal would need to be put down.

When we got Sammy & Lily we paid attention to what breed they were & how likely the breed is to bite and how the breed reacted to people. As a responsible dog owner you need to know your breed and how your dog acts & take the necessary precautions. We don't let strangers that come to the door pet Lily since she is our "guard dog".

In case you didn't know, their neighbor's homeowners insurance should be responsible for all of Simon's medical expenses. That is if the neighbors don't offer to pay out of pocket for it. When we got our homeowners we had to let them know what kind of dogs we had because it affected how much we pay.

ellen said...

The dog that bit him is a French Mastiff. I don't know anything about them other than they're big. I think this is a show dog and it's only 11 months old.

He was a stranger to these dogs. The dogs are always put away any time Simon has been over to their house.

I'm not worried about monetary compensation. If they want to pay for the ER visit and all the follow up co-pays, ok, great. I just want to know that no other children will ever be hurt by this dog. My kid was traumatized by this.

Monica said...

That's awful! Give Simon all our love. You sound pretty traumatized, too, and with good reason. The dog is only 11 months, still a puppy, but I wonder whether he/she has a history of this sort of thing.

Amy Y said...

Poor Simon!!! I hope he's feeling Ok today! Keep us posted on what happens to that dog... I hope it is dealt with!

Aunt Debbie said...

That is so awful. I can't imagine innocently coming to someone's house and being charged by a dog and then bitten. How tramtizing that had to be. It scares me to think that this dog attacked unprovoked at 11 months old; I fear it can only get worse. Simon, I hope you heal well, both physically and mentally. I love you buddy! Aunt Debbie