Part 1 of 3—Safety & Responsibility at the Vets
Imagine this: You’ve booked your dog in for surgery, let the clinic know he’s anxious in unfamiliar surroundings, and walked him on a leash around the carpark to help him settle.
You're expecting the vet to come out and assess how they’ll handle your dog, but after 20-25 minutes with no update, you head inside the clinic to ask about the delay. You leave your 13-year-old son outside by the car, holding your dog by its leash.
The vet comes out of the clinic ahead of you. As the vet walks across the carpark toward your dog and your son, your dog barks, lunges, misses—then lunges again and on the second lunge, bites the vet badly.
Now, the local council is prosecuting you, and arguing that the law requires your dog to be destroyed.
Who’s responsible? Opinions were divided when this real-life case went to court.
There were big lessons - important lessons - for all involved, that came out of that incident. See the next post for what happened in court.