# Dog in Michigan may be killed for jumping!



## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

I don't think this has been posted yet.

Condemned for jumping - sign the petition to save a dog named Heidi - Philadelphia Animal Welfare | Examiner.com

A rescued Doberman in Michigan collided with a stranger, while the stranger bent down to pet her. The stranger then claimed the dog broke his nose and filed a police report. Apparently, the case is being treated like a dog attack and now the family may have to put Heidi down or move her away.

People like this make want to not let people I don't know near my dog!


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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

You never know what kind of person your dealing with. I certainly hope the charges are dropped. I signed the petition.


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## Lmilr (Jan 12, 2011)

Signed.


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## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

I really don't like the wording "Guardian". These people are her OWNERS and not guardians!


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

I find Examiner.com to be so extremely biased as to be nearly unbelievable. 
Is there another site with the story on it?


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## Wolfiesmom (Apr 10, 2010)

It certainly makes a person want to keep strangers from patting their dogs. It makes it very hard to socialize if you have to worry about false accusations.


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## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

Wolfiesmom said:


> It certainly makes a person want to keep strangers from patting their dogs. It makes it very hard to socialize if you have to worry about false accusations.


Honestly, it's exactly what I'm going to do from now on. 

In this country you really have to draw your consequences from cases like these. You need to protect yourself and your dog from idiots like these and simply walk away if strangers want to pet your dog. I'm going to get vests that have big fat signs with DO NOT PET on there. What are the chances that it happens to you? Slim, right? But the chance is there and people like that are out there. 

I'm not even going to argue with people about petting anymore. Just walk away.


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## Caledon (Nov 10, 2008)

What is wrong with people?


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?


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## AbbyK9 (Oct 11, 2005)

> A rescued Doberman in Michigan collided with a stranger, while the stranger bent down to pet her.


This is how I chipped my tooth. Not with a rescue Doberman, but with my Malinois. She was very excited and jumped up just as I bent down to pat her shoulders. Ouch!

I think it's ridiculous that they are treating this as a dog attack, but I also feel like the owners failed their dog. If your dog is likely to jump up if a stranger bends over to pet, you need to have a good handle on the dog's leash (or, better, collar) to prevent this from happening and/or warn the stranger that she will probably jump up. Or, better yet, tell strangers not to pet your dog.

I think the responsible thing would be to offer to pay the medical bills. Obviously, if you broke your nose, you're going to have some pictures or a medical chart to show for it, right? There should be some good bruising a few days after this happens. So if there's a medical bill the person's insurance didn't cover, I would offer to cover that.

I think it's ridiculous this person filed a police report. Why is this something to report to the police? They *should* be sending the owner their medical bill or, at the very most, take the owner to small claims court to cover the medical bill, but a police report is ridiculous.

Anyway. The original story is on the Save Heidi website - Save Heidi Home


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

AbbyK9 said:


> This is how I chipped my tooth. Not with a rescue Doberman, but with my Malinois. She was very excited and jumped up just as I bent down to pat her shoulders. Ouch!
> 
> I think it's ridiculous that they are treating this as a dog attack, but I also feel like the owners failed their dog. If your dog is likely to jump up if a stranger bends over to pet, you need to have a good handle on the dog's leash (or, better, collar) to prevent this from happening and/or warn the stranger that she will probably jump up. Or, better yet, tell strangers not to pet your dog.
> 
> ...


I agree with this. Accidents happen, and I wouldn't sue for even medical expenses- but I have insurance. If necessary, sure paying for medical bills is reasonable. But this has gotten way out of hand!

I read it (on the Save Heidi website) as- the dog popped her head up, not jumped up, idk. Mikko did this to me once, we were on deck waiting for our agility run and I bent down over his head to give him a kiss when he pulled his head up really fast- I thought I was going to lose a tooth!


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## mssandslinger (Sep 21, 2010)

signed!


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## GregK (Sep 4, 2006)

*"The man reported the incident to Royal Oak Police and they are prosecuting this as a dog bite/attack."*

Why? How do they figure? How can *anybody* see this as some kind of attack??? That's ludicrous!!!!


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## ken k (Apr 3, 2006)

I signed, and wrote an email to the mayor, a nice one, just mentioned the dog needs training of some sort, not a death sentence, if i had a nickel for every time a dog has poke me in the eye, ear, nose, its was just a freak accident nothing more, nothing less


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## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

If this goes through, could this set a precedence for the future?


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

How ridiculous. I hope the guy with the busted nose has his picture up in every dog walk area in the vicinity.

I think MI has some fairly strict laws. I know of at least one person on here who had to euthanize their dog for attacking another dog. My friend's neighbors dog attacked their dog, very severely, and they neighbors had a choice of euthanizing or moving the dog out of the county (ridiculous in my opinion...how is the dog not dangerous because he's in a different county).

But this is truly ridiculous. I would move Heidi out of the county so she was safe and then fight it in court. If the guy didn't have any bites or scratches on him that should prove he was not attacked and that it was an accident.


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

So stupid!


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

Update to the story:
Twists and turns in the Doberman jumping incident - Philadelphia Animal Welfare | Examiner.com

This story is ridiculous. Raven broke my nose and gave me a concussion when she was 10 months old by jumping up to kiss me. She's still here. The owner should have had better control but there certainly isn't enough evidence to claim the dog is dangerous.


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

gsdraven said:


> Update to the story:
> Twists and turns in the Doberman jumping incident - Philadelphia Animal Welfare | Examiner.com
> 
> This story is ridiculous. Raven broke my nose and gave me a concussion when she was 10 months old by jumping up to kiss me. She's still here. The owner should have had better control but there certainly isn't enough evidence to claim the dog is dangerous.


Wow. That is quite the update! I really hope the owners aren't lying, especially with having so many people sign their petition.


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## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

So if she pleads guilty and pays the fine she can keep the dog? 
whats all that hazzle about again? Just plead guilty and keep the dog or is there a twist to it that the dog is labeled dangerous and that she's got a record then?


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

I read about this on facebook, but someone local from the area posted that the case was already over and nothing was being done to the dog?
Also, that there was never any move to prosecute the dog, just that the owner received a warning that the dog needed to be kept under control or _IN THE FUTURE_ she might be prosecuted. 
I don't know which side is the truth. Just shows that you can't believe everything you read I guess


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

Where I live, if your dog bites someone, and you can pay a fine (250 for potentially dangerous, 500 for dangerous) you can keep the dog. 
As always this - however it played out - is the owner's fault. 
They seize the dog when/if the owner can't or won't pay a fine, if it's like it is here.
We lived in MI for a year but never owned a dog there.


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Here's another report on it with a bit more info:
Royal Oak woman's online plea to 'Save Heidi' grows | Community - Home



> "It's very visible there were two wounds, one on each side of this nose and one on this chin, just below his lower lip," said David Gilliam, Royal Oak City Attorney. "There is no doubt it our minds that the dog bit him, this wasn’t was a head-but, this was a bite."
> The 45 year old victim was treated at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak.
> "His medical records were shown in court and clearly prove they were dog bites," said Gillam.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

So the owners basically re-wrote history, saying their beloved pooch would never bite anyone, so of course it was a head-butt.

That's why I never trust that examiner.com, they were the first to come out with a "rumor" that a dog was actually just licking a woman who "fell off a ladder" and actually the dog killed the woman (it's owner). All they went on was some neighbor who speculated that the woman fell off the ladder perhaps and the dog was licking her trying to wake her up. Nobody saw the ladder, or anything like it and the coroner's report said she was killed by the dog.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Boogers. I already signed the petition. But whatever. If the man was head butted, it was ridiculous. If the man was bitten, I can understand them prosecuting.

People who do not own dogs, are often a bit unrealistic in how they think a dog behaves. They may feel that the dog rearing up its head is done deliberately, or a dog catching a finger when snatching a tid bit is totally on the dog. I mean it can be, but if you have a number of dogs, and the dog is not given treats by hand often, it is not the dog's fault it has not been trained to take it nice, or to take it nice in the presence of other dogs.

And these types of injuries can be painful, and they may report them to authorities. Depending on where you are located, pleading guilty, when the dog did not attack in any way visciously might cause you serious issues. Here I believe the dog will be labeled dangerous, and to keep a dangerous dog, you must have a six foot kennel with some requirements, the dog must be muzzled when off your property, you must carry 100k liability insurance, and I think another incident is an immediate death sentence for the dog, I think. 

For this reason, if the dog is not guilty, I would not plead guilty. Not everyone has the resources to build the kennel and buy the insurance. 

It sounds like in this case the dog owners are either lying or have been totally misled by the person who was walking their dog. And what do people do when their dog does something that warrants a call from the authorities? They lie and say the dog never... Well, how do you believe anyone?

My little sister had mutts and an English Setter growing up, but never a real dog, oops, I mean, never a GSD. Cujo lept up when she was petting her and got her with his rock hard head, and she really held that against him for a while. And she went out and handed bits of steak leftovers to my dogs outside, and Whitney through the chain-link was a bit enthusiastic about taking it, and connected with her fingers. I am sure it hurt, it did not break the skin, but she felt that was a bite. If we must be so careful with family, how much moreso with the general public.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

Exactly.
We have mouthy dogs come through occasionally and I tell people to be extra careful about letting the public pet the dog, as they might interpret the mouthing as a bite.


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

Over the years I've gotten a few bruises and a bloody nose from getting hit in the face by a jumping dog, but never bitten. 

Too bad that it sounds like the owner may have reinvented history.


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## ken k (Apr 3, 2006)

I emailed the mayor, here is his or hers response, 

Read the rest of the story
People vs Spalding | City of Royal Oak


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

I like the truth without the hysterics.
Thank you.
Wow. Upon reading the report, it sounds like he didn't even want to pet them, but rather was concerned if they were safe enough to _walk_ by! The person holding them was blocking the way in the store!


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## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

msvette2u said:


> I like the truth without the hysterics.
> Thank you.


Yes.


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## GregK (Sep 4, 2006)

ken k said:


> Read the rest of the story
> People vs Spalding | City of Royal Oak


Fair enough.


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