I write this as a cautionary tale. If you are a dog owner, being aware of the situation when you report dog bites of ANY kind may save you some grief and major aggravation. Or it might make you rethink reporting a dog bite at all. Here’s what happened.
I was recently moochdocking with some friends on their ranch in Auburn, California. While I was there, they got the cutest little 10-week-old puppy, a mix of Lab and Border Collie. See the photo of Juju below.
While playing with the puppy at home, my friend got a tiny nick in the skin from those little needle teeth all young puppies have. The puppy did not “bite” her. The puppy is not aggressive. They were playing. Furthermore, the puppy has had her shots.
A few days later my friend’s very minor wound got infected because, well, this is a ranch and she cares for chickens, and donkeys, and a garden irrigated with water that wildlife defecates near or in. Any number of reasons could have caused the infection.
She went to the doctor to get antibiotics and here’s where the trouble started. She was honest with the doctor about what started the problem, the playful nip from the puppy that barely broke the skin.
BIG MISTAKE.
By law, the doctor had to open a formal investigation. Yep, this juvenile delinquent puppy now has a permanent legal record.
No, I am not kidding.
Not only that, an Animal Control person showed up at the house the next day and spent nearly two hours there. When I saw the truck coming up the long rural driveway (this is farm country), I thought to myself, “This can’t possibly be because of the puppy.”
It was.
They originally wanted to quarantine the dog for 30 days. The Animal Control guy could see how silly this all was, but he still had to do his job and treat the situation as if my friend had been bitten by a vicious dog. To his credit, he at least worked with my friends and got the quarantine at home period down to a week, which will allow them to go on their long-planned upcoming vacation.
The puppy is now on house arrest. However, my friends were told an Animal Control officer will still have to come back next month for a follow-up visit.
What happens when your dog bites while traveling
I was curious what would have happened if the puppy had been mine. I am traveling in my RV. What if I could not stick around for the entire month? Would I be stuck having to find a way? Would they take my dog away?
Rules on dog bites vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, so this answer may or may not apply everywhere. But I did inquire of the Placer County animal control person who visited the ranch regarding Juju about what would have happened had the puppy been mine.
He said that, in that case, I would be under the rules of wherever my permanent address is. But regardless of where I lived, he would need to report the incident to animal control there, the dog would still have a permanent record, and I would need to comply with the rules or restrictions surrounding dog bites in my home county.
Common sense eventually prevailed
I do understand why these rules are in place in order to protect the public from dangerous animals. But come on. A little common sense can go a long way. This was not actually a dog bite situation.
Not that it is the Animal Control employee’s fault—he is just doing his job.
In the end, it all worked out and some common sense prevailed. After determining that neither dog nor human was sick, Animal Control released Juju from house arrest. The mark on her permanent record got amended to reflect the true nature of the incident. But this was after a number of weeks had passed. I can’t help but think what a major hassle this would have been had I owned the dog and this happened while traveling. Not to mention having to coordinate long distance with animal control in my home county hundreds of miles away.
My friend later talked with her dog trainer about the incident. The trainer was not at all surprised. She advised if anything like this happens again to just attribute the injury to something else or to a “stray dog that ran away.”
She advised my friend to never say your dog bit you (or, in this case, broke the skin), even if it was an innocent accident.
Now I am not advising you to take that advice and lie to authorities. But, after witnessing this absurd spectacle over an accidental playful nip from a vaccinated 10-week-old puppy, I know what I would do.
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Glad common sense prevailed.
This type of thing happens all the time with puppies and is to be expected. The puppy was not aggressive, but just being a puppy. Did the person actually instigate the bite by getting too playful?
Common sense would dictate to thoroughly wash the area, apply antibiotic and a band aid.
This has happened to me quite often with my dogs and my daughter’s three when they were young. Get over it and enjoy the puppy!
I also agree about NOT telling the medical person it was a dog bite and if you do, let them know them circumstances.
If you tell, the circumstances do not matter. That was the point of this article.
Interesting article but kinda oriented towards a Stick and Bricks location. I would like to see an article on “nuisance ” pets( and their inconsiderate owners) at campgrounds. Whether aggressive, incessantly barking (currently in a WV State Park w/18 sites and 8 barking dogs), or dogs crapping in other’s sites, and what can be done to remedy. Most of the dog owners that I have met over the past 15 years are indignant when you diplomatically point out their dog is a nuisance to fellow campers. Whether the old retired couple or younger individuals with kids, it seems their blinders are on when it comes to their dog.
We have articles on this, and not oriented towards sticks and bricks if this happens on the road, which I addressed.
After my sister lost a long-time dog, she opted to rescue an adult dog. But still wanted the puppy experience without the 24X7 experience. She volunteers at an animal shelter and exclusively works with puppies. Puppies rarely bite, but just like human babies, they mouth everything – with really sharp teeth. And paw with really sharp claws. She knows to thoroughly wash regardless if she thinks they broke skin.
She did wash. As I explained, this is a ranch, any number of things could have caused the infection.
Yep, that’s the first place I thought this probably took place.
Amazing that this person didn’t know to wash with soap, clean water, and a wash cloth. That goes for scrapes and especially road-rash too. One hundred years ago people would die from infections like this, but now we take them for granted and let cuts and scrapes fester. Basic first aid is a lost science for the common man.
She does know about that. But an infection happened nonetheless.
Please don’t ever say a stray dog did it – you may be in for some painful rabies shots yourself!!
She does know about that. But an infection happened nonetheless.
I was bitten by a German shepherd while on a scheduled service call. I went to emergency and had wound cleaned and stitched. Dog was taken to vets for mandatory 10 day observation. In the meantime, animal control investigations found I was the 4th person he bit. He dog went home and within 10 minutes bit a 5 year old when he put his hands into a cyclone fence. Immediately taken back to vets where he was put down. Maybe a muzzle would have prevented that. Its just not rabies you have to worry about!
Ouch! Sorry. As I said I get the reasons behind these laws, but a little common sense can go a long way.
This is a good awareness article…not just for this particular situation but for those of us traveling with dogs. Never really thought of a non-bite situation and how that could be mutated by poorly written laws, which are common, to compel even reasonable people to have to act unreasonably.
Many people at campgrounds want to approach and pet our dogs, especially young children. More and more I have been politely refusing the contact. While both of our dogs are well adjusted to meeting people and other animals, it is always possible that something minor could happen, as in the article, and in today’s litigious society it’s not worth it to allow the contact.
Welcome to the authoritarian world of today. I use to work for a state health department and the use and application of commonsense was expected. However, in todays world there is NO gray area of enforcement, government insists on ridged enforcement of regulations. There is no room for situational judgement.
Common sense has no place within the law. Lawyers spend every day of their entire career trying to remove common sense so you HAVE to use them to “Interpret” the law, for a fee, of course.
Yep, things like this happened. I got the receiving end of animal control when my dog was one of a few dogs that got out of a friend’s house and ran to the sidewalk to “visit” a pedestrian walking her dog on a leash. All the dogs ran and danced around her dog, some sniffing but some nipping. Normal dog greeting with some doggy tension thrown in. We got all the dogs under control, everyone apologized, we thought all was resolved. Later she (well her husband) accused us of having vicious dogs who bit her, because there was a single “tooth collision” that broke her skin. Not a bite, just a single bump sustained in the middle of the doggy chaos. Took a month of schmoozing to resolve. Luckily it resolved fine. But another case of common sense not prevailing. A single tooth bumping the skin is not a bite, but the law doesn’t know that.
Anytime I play with dogs or cats of any age I expect to come away with scratches and tooth marks because I like to rough house with pets. Now I know to never reveal the source of any injury to “authorities”
Good Grief. I had so many scratches and bites from my latest puppy and from my sons puppy. It is to be expected.
The bite I got from a dog on my first day as a census worker is another thing and a REAL dog bite.
Good advice, Cheri; thank you! We got dog #3, an 8-week old aussie/border collie mix, yesterday. He replaces #2 who died two months ago after loving us for 15+ years. We do travel with our dog and will keep this story in mind; thanks again!
I’m so tired of people putting down California, the state that subsidizes a whole lot of other states. They don’t mind being “welfare” states and not paying their fair share but they sure love to put down the state that supports them. If you don’t like our laws then don’t take our money either. Many states have illogical laws to the naked eye. When your child gets bit by a dog there is a reason it has to be investigated. It doesn’t always work out the way it should but the reason behind it makes sense.
California, LOL!
Glad it turned out ok.
I wonder what would happen to all these numbskull bureaucrats who make these ridiculous regulations if they had to get real, honest, productive jobs?
Apparently (according to lawmakers) one can have the intellectual ability to succeed in 8+ years of medical school but not have enough sense to know when a dog bite is serious enough to be reported to authorities and when not.
This was an unbelievable expense and amount of paper-shuffling over what should have been a common-sense, let-it-be situation.