To Report A Dog Or Not

[kawakiri]

Two weeks ago my wife was walking our mini schauzers (both on leads). Another dog (lab/staffie/bull terrier cross) come off the field adjacent to the path, unfortunately the dog was not visible when my wife crossed to the field or she would have stayed on the other side. The other dog was off the lead and attacked one of our Schnauzers, the lady called it off but it needed to be called more than once. The lady asked if my wife was Ok and she said she was as she just wanted to get home. We realised that our dog had been injured, about a 5 cm tear on her belly. This required stitching and some antibiiotics.
I did report the attack to the police but said if I could find the owner and they would pay our vet bill and not let the dog off the lead I wouldn't want to proceed with the report.
I found the owner and she explained that the dog was a rescue dog and it had been attacked itself in the past. However she did pay the vet bill and agreed to not let the dog off the lead.
Today when taking our dog to have her stiches removed I saw the woman again on the field with her dogs (she has three). they were all off the lead and no sign of a muzzle. The field is used by school children as a short cut so I had concerns there also, but she assured me when i mentioned that it was just dogs that her dog had issues with.
I also know the same dog had also before it attacked our dogs had a go at a neighbours Westie and Cairn only to be stopped because he had a stick to fend it off.
My question is should I report that the dog is still being allowed off the lead where other dogs and children are.

[rockyracoon]

I think I'd be inclined to tackle the woman and tell her you're going to the police, it might be enough to prompt her to keep the dog on a lead. Is there a lot the police can do in reality?

[hellywelly4]

I think you should report her. At the very least she should muzzle the dog that attacks other dogs.

[Baldric]

It does sound as if she is an irresponsible owner, maybe in the first instance the local Dog Wardens might be able to have a word, show her a yellow card effectively, before involving the Police.

[lankeela]

I'm afraid the answer is to report her, if a child is there with a dog and it attacks the dog, although it may be ok with children the child may get bitten or worse if it tries to protect its dog. There is no excuse especially as she admits it has a problem with dogs, and you have a recorded attack to prove it. People like this get all dog owners a bad name.

[kawakiri]

Thanks for the replies, I must admit I am really angry with her has she did say she would keep it on a lead. I have checked and it would appear that the dog warden my not be a possibilty according to the council website. I did hear that someone else was thinking of reporting her as they had seen the dog off the lead after they had heard of it attacking our dog. I have a good idea now of when she comes to the field so I may tackle her again about it if I see the dog off the lead. I thought she would be understanding about it and show a little concern being as I know she works at the police HQ.

[RATTER15]

I would report her before another dog or a child gets hurt.

[kawakiri]

A quick update, I let this slip as I saw her on the field again and the dog was on a leash all be it an extender leash. However today a neighbour stopped my wife as she was walking the dogs to see if his dog (spaniel) would be OK with them as it had just been attacked. Yes the same dog and it was on the extender leash. He later found out his dog had been injured and we have given him the details of where the person lives.
I did ring the police and they have created an incident report and will pass onto the local police for our area, but I was informed that they don't usually get involved in dog on dog incidents and advised I contact the dog warden. After checking out our council website they list what their wardens do and do not do and it states: they do not get involved with dealing with dangerous dogs (unless they are stray dogs whose owners cannot be traced). Looks like we will be stuck between two organisations that point the finger at each other.