[prettypariah]

Hi all,


I am new here and unfortunately brought here via a bad situation....

I have a 3 year old 1/2 American Staffordshire Bull Terrier and 1/2 French Bull Dog named Faye. Faye is socialized and very friendly.

In June we moved in to an apartment that is a bit unusual. the apartment is on an old Victorian three story house. this house has not been renovated to be apartments. However there are six of us here renting. My boyfriend, Faye, and I rent the first floor. the other four people live together and rent the second and third floors. there is a foyer when you walk threw the main door and stairs to go up to our neighbors apartment and our floor is separated in to two sections, our living room and the bed, bath, kitch, etc. so when we are watching T.V and have to go to the bathroom, or when Faye need to go to the bathroom we have to walk threw the Foyer to get there. One of the guys upstairs has a cat names Clyde. Clyde is never upstairs. the guy that owns him says he can not contain Clyde because Clyde will rip up the carpet. So, Clyde is constantly in the Foyer on our floor hissing under the door at Faye. This drives her crazy. when the guys upstairs first moved in it did take some getting use to. before they moved in Faye never even thought of going near the stairs to the upper stories. We made them off limits for her in preparation of the guys moving in. After they moved in we were taking Faye to the bathroom by holding her by the collar and was not expecting Clyde to be waiting for Faye to come outside. faye got out from my grip and chased after the cat. My boyfriend and I chased after Faye and there was no fight but we restrained Fay anyway to take her back down stairs, and as soon as We had a hold of Faye the cat walked right up to the dog and slashed her across the face. slicing her retina, and under her eyelid. Chalking this up to there being two animals in the house and this is something we will all have to learn from, we said nothing about the ER vet bills we ended up paying due to the infection Faye got in her eye from the cat.

this leads me to our current issue. about four or five months ago we were taking Faye to bed and saw the cat on our bed. My boyfriend quickly put Faye in the bathroom and we went to coax the cat out of our apartment. this is a good time to tell you out front door does not latch when it is shut, so it can simply be pushed open. we could not find the cat after we got Faye in bathroom and went to get the cat, the cat was gone. we looked some more and assumed the cat ran out of the apartment. We let Faye out of the bathroom and the cat was still in the apartment. Faye went after the cat. My boyfriend grabbed faye and I opened the door so the cat could get out. The cat ran upstairs and hid under a bed. About ten minutes later the guy that owns the cat ran outside with the cat saying the dog bit a large chunk out of the cats hind leg. there was no blood on the dog no blood in the apartment and from what we saw there no real fight.

ever sense then we have come to find out this gut is suffering from post traumatic stress from being in Iraq. We found out he also has several loaded guns in the house including a Dessert Eagle. and he had started have very obvious "bad" days where we would come downstairs to yell at us from things like having company over on the weekend even though he had company upstairs at the same time. so we eventually ended up walking on eggshells when we were home.

we were told a week or two ago by one of his room mates that he hates living here and is moving out in March. today he moved out and upon moving out his last load of stuff he old stopped by to tell us he wants us to pay his vet bills because his G.I. bill was cut. He told us he has a lawyer drawing up paper work to prove to us that in the state of PA it does not matter where the incident happens. the animal that is capable of causing the most damage to the other animal is automatically at fault. He also said he doesn't want to take us to court.

I am not expecting anyone her to know the law, but does anyone have any advice or a direction they can point us in? We are both very worried about what he can legally ask from us? I have no money to give him or to acquire adequate legal council. However, if we have we will find a way to make it work if that is what we have to do.

there was never a report filed with the police or with Animal Control.

I would greatly appreciate any advice at all.

thanks!

[Purple]

Monday morning, I would put a call in to your local animal control and ask them about that PA law, as they would know best.

[Galadriel]

I can't say for sure, but I would suspect you are not at fault. Your dog was confined in your apartment and his cat intruded. Is your landlord not obligated to fix your door???
I second Purple's suggestion that you call your local AC. You may even be able to access some of the info online under the city or county website. Many animal control departments have laws and ordinances on pets posted.
Good luck!

[Grizzly]

Originally Posted by prettypariah Hi all, I posted this in the wrong forum, so I am reposting in a more appropriate one. I am new here and unfortunately brought here via a bad situation.... I have a 3 year old 1/2 American Staffordshire Bull Terrier and 1/2 French Bull Dog named Faye. Faye is socialized and very friendly. In June we moved in to an apartment that is a bit unusual. the apartment is on an old Victorian three story house. this house has not been renovated to be apartments. However there are six of us here renting. My boyfriend, Faye, and I rent the first floor. the other four people live together and rent the second and third floors. there is a foyer when you walk threw the main door and stairs to go up to our neighbors apartment and our floor is separated in to two sections, our living room and the bed, bath, kitch, etc. so when we are watching T.V and have to go to the bathroom, or when Faye need to go to the bathroom we have to walk threw the Foyer to get there. One of the guys upstairs has a cat names Clyde. Clyde is never upstairs. the guy that owns him says he can not contain Clyde because Clyde will rip up the carpet. So, Clyde is constantly in the Foyer on our floor hissing under the door at Faye. This drives her crazy. when the guys upstairs first moved in it did take some getting use to. before they moved in Faye never even thought of going near the stairs to the upper stories. We made them off limits for her in preparation of the guys moving in. After they moved in we were taking Faye to the bathroom by holding her by the collar and was not expecting Clyde to be waiting for Faye to come outside. faye got out from my grip and chased after the cat. My boyfriend and I chased after Faye and there was no fight but we restrained Fay anyway to take her back down stairs, and as soon as We had a hold of Faye the cat walked right up to the dog and slashed her across the face. slicing her retina, and under her eyelid. Chalking this up to there being two animals in the house and this is something we will all have to learn from, we said nothing about the ER vet bills we ended up paying due to the infection Faye got in her eye from the cat. this leads me to our current issue. about four or five months ago we were taking Faye to bed and saw the cat on our bed. My boyfriend quickly put Faye in the bathroom and we went to coax the cat out of our apartment. this is a good time to tell you out front door does not latch when it is shut, so it can simply be pushed open. we could not find the cat after we got Faye in bathroom and went to get the cat, the cat was gone. we looked some more and assumed the cat ran out of the apartment. We let Faye out of the bathroom and the cat was still in the apartment. Faye went after the cat. My boyfriend grabbed faye and I opened the door so the cat could get out. The cat ran upstairs and hid under a bed. About ten minutes later the guy that owns the cat ran outside with the cat saying the dog bit a large chunk out of the cats hind leg. there was no blood on the dog no blood in the apartment and from what we saw there no real fight. ever sense then we have come to find out this gut is suffering from post traumatic stress from being in Iraq. We found out he also has several loaded guns in the house including a Dessert Eagle. and he had started have very obvious "bad" days where we would come downstairs to yell at us from things like having company over on the weekend even though he had company upstairs at the same time. so we eventually ended up walking on eggshells when we were home. we were told a week or two ago by one of his room mates that he hates living here and is moving out in March. today he moved out and upon moving out his last load of stuff he old stopped by to tell us he wants us to pay his vet bills because his G.I. bill was cut. He told us he has a lawyer drawing up paper work to prove to us that in the state of PA it does not matter where the incident happens. the animal that is capable of causing the most damage to the other animal is automatically at fault. He also said he doesn't want to take us to court. I am not expecting anyone her to know the law, but does anyone have any advice or a direction they can point us in? We are both very worried about what he can legally ask from us? I have no money to give him or to acquire adequate legal council. However, if we have we will find a way to make it work if that is what we have to do. there was never a report filed with the police or with Animal Control. I would greatly appreciate any advice at all. thanks!

You say it was 4-5 months ago that it happened and there was no type of report filed by the owner of the cat, it seems like it would be hard for him to hold you responsible. At this point I would not admit to any guilt since you say there was no blood or any sign of a fight in your apt.I 'm sure there are people on this board that can give you some helpful accurate advice.

[prettypariah]

thank you!

[Rai_77]

Whatever you do...don't go on one of those judge tv shows! They are notorious for hating pitbulls.

At any rate...doesn't sound like the guy has much of a case. What evidence does he have? None. Any any that he might have is circumstancial at best.

My advice? Don't worry a second about it. Have you even been served yet?

[prettypariah]

thank you for responding.

The landlord knows about the door. it has a dead bolt. they told us the dead bolt was their solution. although this is a solution, it doesn't help when we are home and Faye has a bathroom emergency having to put the leash on her take her to the other door and then unlock the dead bolt to get to the back yard. we are keeping it dead-bolted now. Hopefully sense he and the cat are now gone as of today we can stop unlocking the door every time we need to go to the other rooms.

[Purple]

This might have some useful info:

http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/dawson...y/pa_cruel.htm

[prettypariah]

no we haven't been served yet. he said he is having his lawyers drawing up the paper work. and we are poor. we don't have lawyers to draw up paperwork.

as for a Judge T.V. show....We are not looking for 15 minutes of fame. we just don't want some D bag walking into our lives and because of her bread start throwing around demands because we are assumed, automatically at fault for anything animal related.

[bahamutt99]

JMO, I wouldn't let this guy hard-ball you. The whole thing is a bit confusing to read, if you don't mind my saying so, but it sounds like you were technically right. If he wants to take you to court, it sounds like you have a good case against him, and provided the statute of limitations hasn't expired, you can countersue for the damages to Faye's eye.

[prettypariah]

sorry for the difficult read. I am still a bit motional. I've been shaking and seeing red sense we had this confrontation today. The basic point I was trying to make is, his cat was in my apartment and he told us he cant stop that and it is still our fault because of the bread of our dog (not in so many words). and then we find out he has all of these other chemical problems because of the war and it all seams like this is a byproduct of a much larger issue. I just don't want someone angry with an unrelated situation demanding money or for my baby to be put down. it all scares me as a parent.

[Galadriel]

Sweetie, he sounds like kind of a drama queen. People threaten to file law suits against other people all the time, but it never really happens. It's a scare tactic to try to get something for nothing. If it was 4 or 5 months ago, he's already paid the vet bill. They tend to frown on treating an animal when there's no money exchanged for services. Has he ever given you any proof that he took the cat to the vet? Seen a vet bill?
He's gone now, blow him off.

[Bella_n_Romos_MoM]

I agree with Galadriel...If this happened 4-5 months ago then the vet bill has most likely been paid. It sounds like he wants $$ and is trying to BS you. he says his lawyer is drawing up papers, but in the same breath, that he doesnt want to take you to court. Sounds like he is trying to scare you.

[Rai_77]

Originally Posted by prettypariah no we haven't been served yet. he said he is having his lawyers drawing up the paper work. and we are poor. we don't have lawyers to draw up paperwork. as for a Judge T.V. show....We are not looking for 15 minutes of fame. we just don't want some D bag walking into our lives and because of her bread start throwing around demands because we are assumed, automatically at fault for anything animal related.

Being poor doesn't mean you are defenseless. If you haven't been served yet, don't worry about it. The person can say they are drawing up all kinds of paperwork...but until you have been served, it's just dramatic b.s., it's all meaningless until you have that paperwork in your hands.

[Michele]

Also, it sounds like the setup is not legal. The landlord needs certain permits to renovate a house into three apartments. And EACH apartment has to have it's own private entrance.

As far as this guy telling you to pay the vet bills, I think he's blowing off steam. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. And check out the links Purple posted up.

[maryellen]

Move. find another place that doesnt have a common door, or a tenant that lets his cat roam in others apartments.. do NOT go on tv with a judge, as you WILL Lose... dog vs cat even if cat is in your apt you will be responsible for not controlling your dog..

[CoolHandJean]

Sounds to me like the guy was the irresponsible pet owner, not you, so maybe you can use that in your case, but from the post, I have read above. Sounds like people have given you some good advice. Let us know how it goes.

[prettypariah]

The boyfriend here. Just so you know, we will NOT be going on a TV judge show, not sure where that came from. But does anyone know, definitively, what the rule is in PA if an animal enters another animals domicile when it comes to fault? I have heard multiple versions, some same the cat/owner is at fault for invading/not keeping tabs on the cat and going into another persons property. Now someone mentioned they think that a dog is always at fault versus a cat no matter where it takes place. Now, if it was common ground (ex. a park) and both animals were off leash it would be one thing, but there has to be a limit. The dog needs a place of safety to relax as we all do without intrusion. I mean please, do they have a chart of fault somewhere when it comes to animals? A dog is always at fault versus a cat? Come on. What if a pet mouse ran into an apt with a cat and the cat ate the mouse? Who's at fault there? The cat for eating a mouse or the mouses' owner for not protecting the mouse enough to keep it out of that situation. So anyone who can help out with the right answer there please let us know.

Thanks!

[Rai_77]

Originally Posted by prettypariah The boyfriend here. Just so you know, we will NOT be going on a TV judge show, not sure where that came from. But does anyone know, definitively, what the rule is in PA if an animal enters another animals domicile when it comes to fault? I have heard multiple versions, some same the cat/owner is at fault for invading/not keeping tabs on the cat and going into another persons property. Now someone mentioned they think that a dog is always at fault versus a cat no matter where it takes place. Now, if it was common ground (ex. a park) and both animals were off leash it would be one thing, but there has to be a limit. The dog needs a place of safety to relax as we all do without intrusion. I mean please, do they have a chart of fault somewhere when it comes to animals? A dog is always at fault versus a cat? Come on. What if a pet mouse ran into an apt with a cat and the cat ate the mouse? Who's at fault there? The cat for eating a mouse or the mouses' owner for not protecting the mouse enough to keep it out of that situation. So anyone who can help out with the right answer there please let us know. Thanks!

Have you called your local AC and asked them? I did when my dog attacked a neighbor's stray cat. Turns out that since we share the yard, both animals have just as much right to be in the yard, so the fault would be 50/50. Of course, since the stray isn't licensed and microchipped (law in my city), it would be treated as a wild animal (since neighbor isn't being legally responsible for the cat), and no fault would be found. This isn't in PA, but the AC knew the law for my area, and they should know it for yours. You can call and just ask, without giving them any identifying details.

[luvapit]

ok, I'm wondering why his GI Bill would have been cut? Thats a little strange in itself, unless he failed ALL of his classes? Even then, its a little weird for it to be cut, once its been earned and given to you. But besides that point, this guy really needs to go get help, if he hasn't already, or I'm thinking he may be just an ass throwing around excuses as to why to make people feel bad for him.

As for the animal situation, if he couldn't keep HIS animal contained, it should be his fault if anything happened, seeing as it wouldn't have happened if it was properly contained. That should be all his problem. For you, as said above, don't admit fault. You said you didn't see any blood on the dog or in your apartment, so where is the proof it happened there, and not while the cat was outside roaming around? Or even something that could have happened around the house. If that cat is that crazy, he could have gotten Feliway or something for it, or maybe lived somewhere where that cat would have more room.