Carter's Doing Fine

We're very happy to report that Carter seems to be doing just fine, showing no ill effects from his attack. He has mostly stopped licking the wound, so we can leave the lampshade off sometimes.

But this morning, we got some sad news. The owners of Homie, the dog that attacked Carter, surrendered him to the city's Animal Control officer on Saturday (the day after the attack). This was actually before any of the paperwork about the attack went through (at that point, we didn't have the owner's information). The Animal Control officer believes the dog was involved in a prior attack on a person (though he did not elaborate). All this means that Homie was euthanized on Saturday after being surrendered. We feel very sad about this. It is not at all what we wanted. They've sent out for rabies tests on him, which we'll hear about once there are results. Hopefully that will come out clean.

That's the sad update on this sad case. Hug your dogs.

The saga continues

We've been trying to get in touch with the owners of Homie, the dog that attacked Carter. We knew that he lived in a particular building, but there are six units in the building, and we didn't know the owner's name. After Jake made several unsuccessful tries of talking to people in the building, he left notes in every mailbox this afternoon. We were not expecting a response, but, to our surprise, the phone rang, and it was Homie's owner. We asked if Homie has had his shots, and she said yes, and offered us the records. Jake went to pick them up so we could copy them to take to the vet. All seemed fine, until, after scanning the copy they gave us, I noticed that while Homie had indeed had a rabies shot, it expired in January of 2009. Jake went back and said, uh, hey, his shots are out of date. Her response; "oh, the shot is good until January of 2009!" To which Jake, somewhat awkwardly had to point out, "uh, that was five months ago."

To her credit, Homie's owner was apologetic, and has asked for a copy of Carter's bill. Once the paperwork at the vet goes through, Animal Control will get her info, and there will no doubt be a fine of some sort, as the dog isn't licensed (he can't be if his shots aren't up to date) and he attacked while not on a leash.

Meanwhile, Carter seems to be doing OK. We have to keep him in his Elizabethan collar, which Lucy, with great distress, keeps calling "HAT!" "HAT!" She seemed very upset, and actually put on her own hat, perhaps in solidarity with the dog, or, perhaps to make fun of him.

back from the vet

Carter is back from the vet, wearing his full-on Elizabethan collar (photos to follow, maybe, though it's so pathetic, it seems exploitative to photograph him). He's drugged up a bit with antiobiotics and painkillers. He had some x-rays, but it seems like there's no serious damage. We'll be watching him closely for the next few days to make sure he's OK.

To follow up on the comment rant, we are also VERY frustrated by the non-leash dog walkers, who claim their dogs are well behaved, when really, they aren't. The dog that attacked Carter today has run at him before, and the owner has done nothing to restrain him. It's very scary, and could have been much worse, too.

Now we have to go find and talk to the owner about whether the dog has had shots (we're guessing he hasn't). It's a very frustrating situation.

Owies

A dog attacked Carter today. Our fuzzy buddy is doing OK. We're still trying to get the details about the attacker, a neighborhood dog that has gone after him before. The owner did not have the dog (who goes by the name "Homey") on a leash, so there are some issues here. We've called Animal Control, and Carter is at the vet right now. He has some bite punctures on his back legs and underside. He's getting x-rays right now. He's been a sweet trooper through it. Updates as we get more info.