Final Update
We received a phone call from The City of Port Moody regarding our complaint about the neighbour’s dog and it appears they’ve officially deemed it aggressive. This results in an increased annual dog license fee and a requirement that the dog be muzzled when in any public area. I don’t believe the dog is actually aggressive but rather it just doesn’t like my dog and my dog doesn’t like it. This does, however, force them to leash their pet and ensures we don’t have a repeat performance. And if we do then things will become considerably more uncomfortable to our neighbourhood a-holes.
I paid a visit to our neighbour a few weeks ago and asked him if he would be paying the vet bill. He was initially obstinate then became increasingly vague about his decision, taking our address for his ‘reference’ with no promise of payment. He mentioned that he had spoken to a lawyer friend who advised him that he would probably lose if we took the issue to small claims, for which I had already completed the necessary paperwork. He’s right. He would have to pay for the vet bill and the $100 filing fee. If the shoe was on the other foot and our dog had attacked and injured their dog we wouldn’t be able to pay his vet bill fast enough or do whatever else was required to make things right. They’re obviously morally bankrupt so we gave them until Friday, April 2 before I deliver a Notice of Claim to the Port Coquitlam Provincial Court.
I called him on the following Monday and requested, for the last time, that he pay the bill. He begrudgingly agreed and asked me if I wanted to come to his home and collect the cheque. I told him to pop it in the mail but you would think he would have walked the half block himself, wouldn’t you? Well he did in the end, delivering the cheque because he ‘forgot’ to mail it and didn’t want us to move forward with the small claim. He also asked me to contact the City of Port Moody and request that his dog no longer be classified as ‘aggressive’ so he could avoid the increased fee.
I’ll wait until the cheque clears before I consider that one which just proves that two can play the asshole game. Ah, the sweet taste of revenge victory.
I’m pleased to see the jerks stepped up to the plate, albiet reluctantly. I hope you don’t call the city to change the status of the vicious dog. If that dog injured your dog in an unprovoked attack, it may very well do that to another dog or a child. The owners only took responsibility for their pooch’s actions when you held a gun to their head. Please consider the safety of your dog, your neighbors’ dogs, and all our children. Is it to worth it to `free` the beast? People who keep dogs that have attacked in the past and choose to keep them, need to pay the price or find the dog another home in a neighborhood where it won’t be exposed to other pets or children.