The owner being apologetic unfortunately doesn't guarentee safe behavior from the animal. Unprovoked aggression is extremely dangerous and tends to escalate without professional training for the dog. (Note: I believe almost ALL dogsand their handlers can be properly trained regardless of past behavior or abuse)
I totally understand your dilemma! I would add that you can call animal control anonymously to see what exactly they would do in that case and your area before divulging any details. If you felt their response would be too extreme, you could then decide not to report it.
The owner being apologetic unfortunately doesn't guarentee safe behavior from the animal. Unprovoked aggression is extremely dangerous and tends to escalate without professional training for the dog. (Note: I believe almost ALL dogsand their handlers can be properly trained regardless of past behavior or abuse)
I totally understand your dilemma! I would add that you can call animal control anonymously to see what exactly they would do in that case and your area before divulging any details. If you felt their response would be too extreme, you could then decide not to report it.
You're absolutely right. I don't have a guarantee that the dog will always be contained, and dogs that attack are dangerous. But, the only real guarantee that this wouldn't happen again would be if the dog were removed from the premises, which I believe is way too extreme at this point. The guy has lived there for over a year without previous incident (with us), and little kids run up and down the street all the time with no problem.
I spent some time on our local animal control office's website this afternoon. In the FAQs they address what would happen once a dog bite or attack is reported. If it's a first offense and results in a puncture or a bleeding bite, they require a 10 day quarantine to watch for rabies, and take steps from there either to euthanize or release the animal to the owner depending on results. If it's a minor incident with no real resulting damage, they issue a citation and an officer visits the offending owner.
So, I don't know here. I'm inclined to just say it's done.
Just my two cents, but I would leave it alone at this point. The dog didn't attack a person, it had a go at your dog. Which, while not ideal, is something that happens with dogs, even usually well behaved dogs occasionally. It's not like the doc has a pattern of attacking other dogs, or being aggressive when you pass by. It sounds like the owner will be more careful now, and there's a record of it in case anything else happens. I think that's enough.
Re: Dog Bite
I totally understand your dilemma! I would add that you can call animal control anonymously to see what exactly they would do in that case and your area before divulging any details. If you felt their response would be too extreme, you could then decide not to report it.
I spent some time on our local animal control office's website this afternoon. In the FAQs they address what would happen once a dog bite or attack is reported. If it's a first offense and results in a puncture or a bleeding bite, they require a 10 day quarantine to watch for rabies, and take steps from there either to euthanize or release the animal to the owner depending on results. If it's a minor incident with no real resulting damage, they issue a citation and an officer visits the offending owner.
So, I don't know here. I'm inclined to just say it's done.