Before we ever got Greta, I debated the virtues of the dog park.

But once she came into our home, we went a few times and had so much fun it became a daily ritual. 

In August 2007, we were at that dog park on a Sunday morning romp with other greyhounds, and Greta was bit by another dog. After an exchange of contact information and a trip to the vet, the owner of that dog refused to pay our vet bill.

From August through November 2007, I conducted extensive research and got to know the local Animal Control for the City of Sacramento very well. My goal was to make them enforce the rules posted at the dog park, in an effort to get the other dog’s owner to own up to her dog’s actions.

When that didn’t work, I had to file the papers to take said owner to small claims court. Even then, she owner refused to pay the bill.

In January 2008, I had my day in court, where I presented an overwhelming case. The defendant was even cut off early on because she had no defense–while I had three witnesses who saw her dog bite Greta, and she admits she wasn’t watching her dog!

I subsequently won, and then, finally, was repaid weeks later (including all various fees associated with taking the owner to court). I also became a reluctant expert regarding dog park lawsuits in the process.

While I am very happy with the outcome (justice served!), the fact that I had to wait a full seven months after the incident still rubs me the wrong way.

I know most people are responsible, and most would do the right thing in this situation.

And, as luck would have it, I probably ran into the one individual that’s ever been to that dog park who refuses to do what’s right and take responsibility for their dog’s actions.

But all the time and money I had to invest to earn my victory left me exhausted and swore me off dog parks.

I think dog parks are great in theory, but when something goes wrong, it takes a herculean effort to enforce rules and regulations.

During the ordeal, I used to say that the dog park is, in essence, the wild, wild west–a place where anything goes.

That’s why I’m not going.

(Greta’s wound, which required a drain between the upper and lower bites.)

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

You know what I’m talking about…the collar that’s more of a cone, and makes your dog look like a crazy drunk party-goer who took a lampshade and decided it would make a nice upside down hat.

Fortunately, Greta has only had to wear her “Elizabethan collar”, as the vets so kindly describe it, once. Oh, it’s not a pretty story, and I will share it in a day or two, but the gist is she was bit by another dog at the dog park, and she wound up with a drain and several stitches, and the lovely collar.

And, of course, it happened the day before we were heading to Lake Tahoe for vacation, so here is a pic of Greta’s first experience with Lake Tahoe.

(That’s Greta on the left, fyi.)

All in all, she was a good sport about the whole thing, up until the day before she was supposed to get her sticthes out, when she got all excited and decided to do it herself. That got her a few more days with the E-collar.

Since then, I’ve done some research, and think I may get one of these or these to have on hand just in case.

Hopefully I’ll never need it!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.