Neighbour attacked our dog - need advice.

[alchemia]

I have the "short" version of the story here, and I will do the "long version" in the next post. I apologise the other one is so long, but I want to provide background, and the situation itself had a lot going on in it, and finally, i have lots of questions about it. I greatly appreciate reading this all and feedback (for those who can)



Short story:

While walking our dog, Mikołaj, tonight, a neighbour (at the opposite end of the block) physically assaulted him without provocation (our dog went passive and did not fight back).

Interfering with, let alone hitting, a service dog (or one in training as ours is), even when off duty, is a misdemenor in our state; intentionally causing injury to one is a felony.

I do not yet know if Mikołaj has injuries. We're keeping an eye on him and will take him to the vet on Monday (or earlier if he suddenly starts have symptoms of concern).

The only witness was the assailant's family member who I doubt will tell the truth (but who knows). Unless Mickey has internal injuries, we have no proof.

Do we:

Just avoid them (not too difficult)

File a Police Report and/or Press Charges

Go over there and tell them that if they do something like that again, we will press charges

Ditto, but instead of telling them, tell the woman that lives there if we can find out when she's around and the guys are not

Ditto, but tell them via a written letter.

Something Else

Please note they have a Rottweiler Puppy. After this, I would suspect they treat her the same or worse. :-(

However, I am also CONCERNED that if we do something, they will retaliate, and having a backyard full of chickens and sheep, which while legal, is a tad uncommon, might appear as an easy thing for them to target us by, either by filing false complaints with the county/animal control, or causing harm to them (eg: throwing poison over the fence etc).

Comments

[amberfox]

I would really, really like to be able to give advice, but all I've got is ::flail::, I'm afraid. My first response would be to suggest you file a police report, or at least consult with the police regarding your options; they might have some suggestions you hadn't thought of.

[amorettea]

I would file a police report and make sure they know your concerns that the neighbors may retaliate. It is better to start a record now than go back if things escalate and try to document what happened after the fact.

[trouble]

This is what I was going to suggest. Even just calling the non-emergency line and asking their advice might be good, but at least getting something on record.