Dog Attack Reveals Broken System
On Wednesday evening, July 29, my 88-year-old mother-in-law started down her driveway to get the mail. She never made it. Half way down the drive she was attacked by the next-door-neighbor’s dog.
The animal mauled her legs before the surrounding neighbors heard her screams and came to the rescue. Several hours in the ER ensued during which she received multiple stitches, pain medication and antibiotics.
The runaround we have received since this incident occurred has been a nightmare. One I wouldn’t wish on anyone!
The night of the attack, the hospital had the family fill out paperwork regarding the bite. They told us this information would be sent to the Health Department. Next morning, we contacted the Health Department in hopes they could answer the plethora of questions we had. We were told to contact the Dog Warden. Upon contacting the warden, we were told that his hands were tied and we must call the Health Department. Thus, it went for an entire day, each agency claiming that the other had the answers and offering no guidance.
We had important questions: Was the dog going to be seized? We didn’t feel safe at our mother’s, wondering if the animal might return for another attack. Was the dog licensed? Most importantly, did it have a current rabies vaccination?
We finally put the Deputy Dog Warden on the spot. Was the owner of the dog going to be cited? “No, not unless you want us to cite him.” In disbelief, we told her, yes, we would like a citation issued.
The answer to whether or not the dog was licensed came the following Monday. “No, it was not.” This news made us very nervous, for if the owner wasn’t responsible enough to license his dog, then it probably did not have a current rabies vaccination. Again, on day 5, we begged the warden to seize the dog and were referred to the Health Department yet again.
According to the Health Department, a letter was mailed to the owner on Friday, two days after the attack. Since it was a weekend, the letter would not arrive until Monday, five days after the bite. The letter states that the dog must be quarantined for 10 days and observed for signs of sickness (rabies), after which the owner fills out a form and mails it back with information on the dog’s health and proof of vaccination.
Despite our despair that this process was far from prompt and that we had a fear that the owner might make the dog “disappear,” the department offered little sympathy and stuck to its guns.
To sum things up, as of Aug. 10, 12 days after the attack, we still have not received confirmation from the Dog Warden that the citation has been issued. He did confirm, however, the dog has indeed disappeared. Without a dog, we do not know if it has rabies, leaving us with the agonizing decision of whether or not to have our poor mother endure the painful series of shots given to prevent the disease.
In a last-ditch effort to get some answers, a two-page letter that we sent addressed to the three Geauga County Commissioners on Aug. 7 went unanswered and possibly undelivered.
I could go on and on with the frustrating details and talk about the hours we have spent on the phone going back and forth from agency to agency. All I can say is we are left with nothing but frustration at the inability of our county’s government to function properly.
Because of our persistence at attempting to get answers, we have been made to feel like the villains. Yet, however you look at it, there is still an old woman in terrible pain and a vicious dog at large that may attack someone else in the future.
I simply ask, “How would you feel if this was YOUR mother?”
