But beneath the calm surface, an unexpected disruption shattered the peace. The neighbor’s dog, uninvited and unchecked, invaded their sanctuary, turning a moment of happiness into a test of patience and understanding.
This week, I(28f) hosted a family gathering. The people there were my sister and her family(4 in total), my brother and his wife, my boyfriend, and mine and his parents.
I live relatively out in the country, so it’s not exactly common for whole properties to be fenced, usually it’s just fences for animals.
Since it was nice out, we ate lunch outside. Some of the food wasn’t immediately brought inside after we ate, including some deserts that were mostly chocolate, and a bit of fruit. I figured the food would probably be fine being left out for a little bit, and if not it could just be thrown away.
The food was covered, too.
After we ate, we went down to the small pond that’s on my property for a little bit(probably half an hour/45 minutes). It has a nice dock and view of the trees, and is a great place to spend some time.
When we got back up to where the food was left, the neighbors dog was on the table, eating the food, and had ripped the covers off.
I got my neighbors and they apologized, but asked what the dog had eaten. I told them, and some of the food was toxic to dogs(chocolate, grapes, etc).
They started freaking out and rushed their dog to the vet. Yesterday they contacted me and asked if I would pay the vet bills. Their dog survived, but needed extensive care and had wracked up quite a bit in vet bills.
I offered to pay a quarter of the bills, but they wanted all of it, because the food she ate was mine. I told them if they hadn’t let their dog on my property it wouldn’t have eaten my food.
They said that it had accidentally gotten out and they didn’t mean to, and that I should pay all the bills. I then made a remark about how they should pay for the food the dog ate, but they weren’t amused and got more upset.
I told them a quarter or nothing, and they’re still upset about it and want me to pay more. I did leave the food out, though.
Conclusion
The original poster (OP) is facing conflict with her neighbors after their dog consumed toxic food left outside following a family gathering. The OP accepted partial responsibility for leaving the food unattended but believes the neighbors are fully liable for failing to control their pet on her property. This creates a standoff where the OP feels unjustly asked to cover 100% of the veterinary costs.
Given that the OP facilitated the situation by leaving dangerous food accessible, but the neighbors are ultimately responsible for their dog’s actions on private property, is the OP ethically or legally obligated to cover the entire cost of the resulting veterinary bills, or is the responsibility shared due to mutual negligence?
Here’s how people reacted:
If they want to play it like that, tell them to attempt to claim the vet costs from your home insurance….. who will immediately laugh in her face and tell your neighbour to give her head a wobble if she thinks you’re responsible for injuries to her unattended animal.
Why ever on earth would you owe damages because of her carelessness?
Also tell her she needs to have a fence installed at her cost to prevent further incidents of this nature.
Pay them nothing not even a quarter. If you pay them even a small amount they must use that legally against you to get more money . They might say that this small money is an admit ion from you that you accept it was your fault.
It was an accident, but the accident’s source falls to them. Accident or not, they should’ve kept a better eye on the dog.
It’s only fair that if they want a full payment for their mistakes, they should recoup you the food. After all, you’re not getting it from the dog.
The fact that the trouble the dog got into happened to be on your property doesn’t make you responsible here.
It’s the responsibility of the pet owner to keep their pet safe. Full stop.
Think about it this way, it’s like blaming someone for getting wet and damaging their leather jacket when they walked onto your lawn while the sprinklers were running. I wouldn’t even give them 25%
It was their responsibility to keep their dog in their yard. Don’t give them any money at all.