Document, document, document.
First step is calling animal control. They likely won't remove the dogs on a first warning but you must file a complaint to put him on warning.
If the neighbor continues to refuse to pay the vet bills, sue him in small claims court. Better yet, file a complaint against his homeowner's insurance.
None of the other stuff matters. I'm married to a veteran but we still control our dogs.

Please report this. If other neighbors question you, show them the pictures of your dog and tell them how terrified your child was. Install a fence on your side so the dogs can not dig under their side and get in your yard. I echo others that suggest bear spray to fend off any future encounters with these dogs as well as not allowing your child to walk the dog alone. Good luck and keep us posted.

This was clearly an attack.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Horrible neighbor. My dod was attacked on a walk (neighbors daughter lost hold of the dog) and attacked my dog. I asked for her address and took my dog straight to the vet. I think went to the house and the Dad gave me his business card. He was not apologetic at all. I took the business card to the vet and the vet said he would handle it. I never saw a bill. Yes, also report to police and animal control.

Sounds like speaking to your vet may also be worth it, OP. The neighbor's homeowners insurance may cover.

I'm so sorry this happened! Your poor son and your poor pup. Get cameras that cover the area (not Ring) up as soon as you can so any future incident will be documented. And do follow up with animal control and the police.

Not OP here- what kind of cameras do you recommend?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course that's an attack. It needs to be reported!

Agree! Please report to the police and animal control. What happened was highly dangerous and need to be reported asap.

I agree with these PPs. It is 100% percent an attack. On a dog not a person, but an attack nonetheless. They escaped from his house and attacked your dog. There is nothing borderline about this situation.

I feel for those two dogs and much more for your neighbor, but this is a dangerous situation.

Your neighbor sounds manipulative and gaslighting.

I am seeing that now too. And honestly that makes me a bit scared to escalate this. He can play a lot of cards including being a veteran, having rescued the dogs from horrible fates overseas, and lastly the number of neighborhood friends/acquaintances we have in common... one of them has already asked me why I have a problem with him, so it sounds like he's already starting to manipulate things. I am going to be the bad guy.

Your neighbor sounds manipulative and gaslighting.

Anonymous wrote:Horrible neighbor. My dod was attacked on a walk (neighbors daughter lost hold of the dog) and attacked my dog. I asked for her address and took my dog straight to the vet. I think went to the house and the Dad gave me his business card. He was not apologetic at all. I took the business card to the vet and the vet said he would handle it. I never saw a bill. Yes, also report to police and animal control.

Sounds like speaking to your vet may also be worth it, OP. The neighbor's homeowners insurance may cover.

I'm so sorry this happened! Your poor son and your poor pup. Get cameras that cover the area (not Ring) up as soon as you can so any future incident will be documented. And do follow up with animal control and the police.

He was gaslighting you. Take him to the authorities.

Also, Animal Control does track dog on dog attacks.

Horrible neighbor. My dod was attacked on a walk (neighbors daughter lost hold of the dog) and attacked my dog. I asked for her address and took my dog straight to the vet. I think went to the house and the Dad gave me his business card. He was not apologetic at all. I took the business card to the vet and the vet said he would handle it. I never saw a bill. Yes, also report to police and animal control.

Call the cops. File a report. Those dogs need to be put down.

OP Again. Thanks everyone for the information. My neighbor was extremely confident this was not a dog attack, strongly denied any responsibility (financial or otherwise), and made me feel like it was a grayish sort of no-fault incident. I've never dealt with something like this before. It sounds pretty black and white after reading through this, and I do plan to contact animal control. Thank you for the sanity check.

You need to report it because if (when?) these dogs attack another dog or a kid again, the owner will not be able to claim ignorance and get off without penalty. There will be a record that he is aware of his dogs aggression and previous attack. The dog won’t get put to sleep for this one incidence don’t worry about that. But you need to have an official record of it so that if it happens again, he is held 10000% liable.

Which part of it you are questioning? It was a dog attack.