DOG, CAR, LEGAL HELP!!!!!!!?

Question

MY DOG GOT OUT AND GOT HIT BY A CAR MY DOG IS FINE JUST A LITTLE ROUGHED UP...THE OWNER OF THE CAR WANTS US TO PAY FOR THE" DAMAGE TO CAR" A DENT THAT MY DOG DID SUPPOSEDLY BUT THE THING IS MY DOG IS CHOW CHOW HES REALLY NOT THAT BIG...THE DRIVER SAID MY DOG DID WITH HIS HEAD...AND WE ARGUE IF THATS TRUE THEN MY DOG WOULD BE MORE HURT...MY QUESTION IS THOSE HE EVEN HAVE A CASE

Answer 1

if it got to court or anything they would have to prove that's how the car got damaged...I think hes bluffing to get money out of you. Sounds very illogical that damage was occurred by hitting your dog..especially if the person was going the speed limit...tell him no, your dog didn't do the damage.

Answer 2

He does for the recklessness of the dog and ownership, but i saw this EXACT case on tv and Judges will most likely throw out the case. Thats a  tough one. It most likely wont happen

Answer 3

Probably not. Make sure you take your dog to the vet immediately to get it documented that he has no substantial injuries and get a copy of the vets report. Take pictures of your dog and of where the accident happened.

Worse case scenario, you will have to pay for half because of "negligence" on your part for your dog getting out in the first place. But you can always argue that the driver wasn't paying attention and if they were nothing would have happened.  

Answer 4

unfortunately, as frivolous as it seems, the other party may have a case.   They still have to "prove" that your dog did the "damage" in question, but the fact is that your dog is your property and as such, you are responsible for all actions of your dog.

an extreme case to make the point, ...our dog trainer advised that we teach our dogs not to jump on people (paws up in a friendly manner, as people can SUE you for this behavior!  crazy, but true (from what i understand).

you can probably search the web to see if there are other situations similar to yours and get a sense if there's some sort of precedence for a case like this.

on the bright side, however, suing is not a fun or fast process.  if the damage is very slight (under $500) you might just hold out and see what the other part does.  if they serve you papers, offer them a few hundred dollars to settle outside of court.  if goes to court, well, then.. the judge or jury will decide.

bottom line is that it's your dog, so you are responsible.

=)

Answer 5

Legally, I can't say for sure.  But this is what insurance is for.  He makes a claim through his insurance company for damage to his car.

It seems silly that the car would be more damaged than your dog!

You would have a similar claim for any vets bills you incurred.

I suppose he could come after you for damage to the car, but it just sounds far fetched.  Tell him to make a claim through his insurance.

Answer 6

Who knows?  If he testifies in court that the dent was not there before the collision, and that it was present after the collision, and the only thing he hit was the dog, the judge could very well believe that.  If you want to argue about the damage the dog could cause, you will need an accident reconstruction specialist who can weigh the car, weigh the dog, find out the speed it was traveling and then determine if the energy needed to cause that dent could be accounted for by that car going that speed and hitting that dog.  How all that will shake out its your guess.  You might have insurance coverage, such as home-owner's liability coverage.  If so, tender the defense to the insurer and let them figure it out.