Should We Do Something? (LONG)

You could offer to foot the bill for a trip to the doctor.

I don't necessarily agree that one dog bite requires the death of the dog. Now if the dog bites again or has bitten before, that's a different story.

If the bite is as serious as you say, the dog has had no shots, and the parent is refusing to seek medical treatment, call the police. This could be an "imminent harm" situation, and the police may be able to get the child care in the most efficient manner possible. I wish DVMMOM would weigh in...animal bites can be extremely serious, even life threatening if not treated, especially for a young child. Don't wait for something terrible to happen to this child. Who cares if you cause drama?? I would take that over a dead child any day.

I think the most important, immediate issue is to get the injury treated. I would focus on that and not the dog issue. If I were you, I would speak to the dad personally and offer to pay for the doctor's visit to get the injury stitched up. Or research the area to find out a state or county-run facility which must treat patients even if there is no insurance. Then call the dad with the information. I wouldn't even bring up a discussion about the dog because it will be used as a distraction and the family will probably become defensive. There is so much going on in this child's situation that you can't control and you won't be able to fix.

If you offer to pay and offer information and the dad still does not do anything, then I would call child services. The family may not want to get the wound treated because the doctor probably will report the dog situation to child services. If child services is called, they will send out a social worker within 24 hours. The social worker will deal with the injury and will also look into the dog situation. But family will probably figure out right away who called even though it's anonymous so expect that the family may never speak to you again. And let your spouse know.

Good luck!

The kid needs medical attention and the dog/incident needs to be reported to the authorities. As others have said (and you don't have to be a vet to know this), dog bites can become dangerously infected and dogs can carry rabies. I say call the police and report what you have seen, and I would hope they would get someone out there to make sure the kid gets seen by a doctor. Hospitals cannot turn away a case like that for inabilitity to pay - or at least they shouldn't.

If the boy was antagonizing the dog, it is his fault he got bit. The dog is an animal and being tied, had no way to get away from the boy. I don't think the dog should be put down (in this case but I don't know the history). If the boy was not antagonizing the dog and the dog bit him then I would agree with you on this point.

The boy needs medical treatment...how to get it is tricky. Can you talk to the BIL or the boy's father? It may be easy to clear up now but if they continue to wait it could get really bad. When does school restart? Is there a local clinic or would they potentially qualify for medical assistance from the state?

Ignore the dumb dog... go to the doctor.

I ended up inthe hospital for 11 days... a week after going to the ER and getting the bit irrigated, loaded up on antibiotics, and completely seen to.

First it was just a little red (on day 6). Then my whole arm went red and green. Wheee christmassy. In about 3 hours.

Hullo, gangrene (and they said there were 10 other active infections). Multiple surgeries got it cleaned out, as well as IV antibiotics round the clock, and some antivirals that made me feel like I was burning from the inside.

I was 11 years old. ((That was the joke, if I'd been 15, it would have been another 4 days)). 11 years, 11 days (no REAL correlation, btw., just how long it took to stomp on the gangrene and infection.

If my mum hadb't been checking my arm 3x per day (and outlining the red), I'd probably have lost my arm if I'd managed to live. It was ER (second time) and immediately prepped for surgery, and in surgery an hour later.

CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS ARE FREE / AVAILABLE TO ANYONE REGARDLESS OF THEIR ABILITY TO PAY.

They'll try to work out a payment plan for you if you can pay slowly over time (even $20 a month), if not, there are scholarships. NO CHILD should ever die due to lack of medical care.

As a 'teen' he STILL counts as a child.

There are something like SIX children's hospitals in maryland!!!

Maryland is a small state. Head over to Johns Hopkins Children's Hospital (or another one). Just go. Get him seen.

________

If they're not in MD... just tell me the state, and i'll send you the CH nearby. But he needs to go.

I don't think the dog is the issue. If the kid was antagonizing the animal, it reacted and defended itself.

What needs to be addressed is the child needing medical attention. Have you discussed this with your husband? It's his family, he should be dealing with this.

I would go to the parent and the BIL and tell them your concerns, and insist they seek medical treatment. If they refuse, tell them you will have no choice but to notify the authorities.

If the dog is not up to date on vaccines, he probably also has not been vaccinated against rabies properly. Rabies is 99.9% deadly for humans. This kid need to see a doctor and soon! He needs to get Rabies shots and the wound needs to be taken care of before it becomes too infected or the kid turns septic.
Yes, you should report the animal to animal control and tell your BIL if the boy isn't at the ER within a reasonable time frame you will call CPS (the time frame should be hours, not days!). Then follow through.
If your county/city doesn't have CPS lines staffed I would even consider it appropriate to call the police and report a child with medical need and a dangerous dog...
Good luck!!

Seems to me that the property owners homeowners insurance would cover the medical bills so there probably is insurance, just not health insurance.

I don't know how you would call animal control anonymously. I don't know that they could go onto private property on an uncorroborated call. And if they came to my house with a story about an anonymous complaint, I would simply tell them to get the he** off my property. Without a warrant, they have no legal authority based on an anonymous call.

These are your in-laws. Before you do anything, you should talk to your hubby.

If you want to do something anonymously, call CPS about the child living in a trailer home with no electricity and running water. That should get a caseworker out there and then the caseworker can "notice" the injury all on his/her own.

Good luck. This is a sticky situation!

I'm wondering why was this 11 yr old antagonizing a dog until the point where the tied up dog bit him?? Is he special needs? Was this a cry for help? Do you think he will do it again? I'm less worried about the dog unless he has already bit someone or bites again, I'm worried about the boy and his wound. Print out some info on infected dog bites etc and give to the father.

Has the dog had its rabies shot is the big question. If there is no proof this
kid needs rabies vaccine fast.

You should talk to dad and tell him that you have seen the wound washed and dressed it and kindly suggest taking the kid to the free clinic to have it looked at. Also have the information to the clinic available to give to him, hours, driving directions etc. and even offer to drive them if you really want to get involved. And yes I would report the dog bite, reporting it won't necessarily get the dog taken away or put down, but if there is another incident then this one is on record and the authorities know about it so they can and will prevent it if there are further problems with the dog. more than likely that boy needs a tetnus shot! OMG! i would take my kids to the doctor if a dog didnt look right and licked my kid on the hand, let alone bite them! lol but I knoweveyone does not have that option available.
OH, PS, no CPS, i really dont think its necessary at this point! but keep an eye on the kid...

Well, I think it is too late for stitches but has a trip to the doctor to make sure its not infected is most definitely warranted. Has the dog had all its shots? If not, then again, the doctor would have to address what needs to be done. I suspect the animals has NOT had its shots and that could be why no one wants to do anything. It puts your in laws and BIL in a very dangerous spot legally. .

I don't necessarily agree that if an animal bites it automatically gets put down especially when the kid admitted he was antaganizing the dog. The dog reacted in its defense. Most dogs that are kept tied up tend to be more aggressive.

I would strongly urge your BIL to pay for the bill. I would also let him know that as the owner of the dog, he is responsible for any actions the dog takes. Regardless of what the young man did, the dog injured him

Hi, M.:

Let me remind you and others what our duties are:

1. The duty of parents and elders to protect, teach, feed, clothe, and provide shelter for children.
2. The duty to provide insofar as possible for the needs of the helpless--the sick, the crippled, the injured, the poverty-stricken.
3. The duty to maintain the integrity of the family structure.
4. The duty not to promote or participate in the vices which destroy personal and community life.
5.The duty NOT to aid or abet those involved in criminal or anti-social activities.
6. The duty to support personal and public standards of common decency.

These are some of our public and private duties. It is the duty and responsibility of all adults in this family structure to look out for this 11 year child as well as the 16 year old child. They are not doing it. Shame on them.
We are American citizens and this is what we fought and died for and still fighting and dying for our freedom/liberty. We also have duties and responsibilities with this freedom, personal morals and virtue.
I don't see it being demonstrated except by you.
Yes, the family, all of the members have failed this test, they deserve and F.

Call CPS and the dog catcher.
Somebody needs to stand up for what is right.
Good for you.
God bless you for standing up for justice for this child.
D.

I think you should call animal control. Not sure how you could force medical treatment, but he sure needs it.

Um, there's a lot going on here. But why is the child not on medicaid? I mean, don't they know about that? The children should be on medicaid. This suggests that they don't even get regular check-ups...

Definitely call animal control. You can do it , they won't tell them who called on them. You can also call child services , they have to investigate each report. That's actually neglect and it's illegal! With all do respect I am suprised you or anyone has not already done this for the sake of the child. Child services will also keep who reported the neglect very private.

Soooo..this is the first bite?

Seems like the kids are aware this isn't a "friendly doggie."

I'd be more concerned with the fact that this kid hasn't had the injury treated. Has he no health insurance? Or did they just not want to take him to the doctor? Either way, THAT seems neglectful to me.

Call animal control. Do you know if the dog's vaccines are up-to-date? If it has rabies, this bite could be fatal if left untreated. The boy needs to go to an emergency room ASAP. Only a negligent father would deny a child needed medical care.

most imprtant thing right now is the boy's injury. They aren't taking him for treatment because either they cannot afford it, or they don't want anyone to come and investigate the dog and quarenteene him. Also if they come to pick up the dog, which they probably will since it most likely hasn't had his shots, they will find the conditions that the boy is living in (no water or power) and may actually call CPS about that. Heck, they may have thought about alll of these thigs prior to making the choice to not take the boy for medical treatment. Then again, they may not have thought about any of it, and just didn't think it was that big of a deal. Either wqay, the kid's bit is what needs to be addressed NOW.
I would do everything in my power to convince my BIL that he needs to get the boy to an ER and TODAY. If the kid's injury gets infected, or worse, if he ends up needing an amputation or even were to die from it getting septic or so badly infected or getting rabies from HIS dog biting him, guess who is liable? Does he realize that? Not only the boy's father would be in trouble for not taking him to the hospital, but your BIL as the dog owner can be charged with involuntary manslaughter. He needs to understand how very serious this can be. If he does by some miracle have proof of the dogs shots, great. Bring them to the ER. If not, they won't automatically put the dog down. They may quarenteen the dog for 10 days from the date of the bite. Then they will make a ruling as to what happens to the dog. First bite, and depending on where and how it occured, probably not a death sentence. (also if the boy and his family don't want the dog destroyed) If it's not the first time, well, he may not have a chance. Honestly if the dog has a history of biting though, why would he want to keep him? I would just really focus on the boy and seeking treatment. No hospital ER will turn you away for treatment, especially with a child or teenager. They can't, it's against the law. (well, at least not unless they are private) Find a big hospital and suggest they take him there. Children's hospitals will usually care for kids and teens for free if you have no ins. and cannot afford care. They write it off. Good luck!! I hope he is ok! <3

I think the first priority is to get the kid to the doctor. If there is a risk of rabies (among many other things), that is fatal if not treated. Somehow, by driving him yourself, calling 911, calling CPS, somehow -- this kid's gotta be in the ER.

Once he's there, he'll be tested for animal-transmitted illnesses. If he's gotten one, then yeah, animal control. If not, it might still be a good idea to call animal control, but the kid's gotta be priority #1.

Have you thought about talking to the boy's Dad? Maybe he doesn't realize how bad it is. If the boy's Dad truly can't afford it have you thought about offering to pay?