On October 26th, our beloved 4-month-old puppy Piper was attacked by another dog. Our apartments were holding an event where residents could go to a food truck parked in front of the main office. This is where a neighbor of ours was standing with their dog. Both dogs were on leashes and near their owners when the neighbor asked if they could meet. I agreed because Piper, a 4-month-old puppy, has never had any issues with the many dogs she has met. My mistake was in my assumption that when a person offers to introduce their dog to your puppy, it is okay to meet other dogs and puppies. The dogs were sniffing and in play position, with Piper even rolling on her side two times to show submission. When my order was called, I proceeded to the side of the food cart to pick up the order. This is when I thought the dogs' interaction was over. I did not notice that the neighbor had followed with his dog and was within my immediate vicinity. I turned to put my order in my jacket pocket and heard Piper screaming - this is when I saw that the neighbor's dog had her jaw locked around Piper’s snout and neck. A bystander had to open the attacking dog's mouth to free Piper. Her snout and neck were seen to be bleeding, and she was clearly in immense pain. With another bystander's help, I took Piper up to our apartment, and that’s when it was noted the wound on her neck was significant and she was going to need immediate medical attention. Piper was rushed to the emergency vet and stayed there overnight to get her wounds treated. The other dog's owner was called about covering the estimated costs, of which he could only provide $250.

In our contact with the attacking dog's owner, he revealed he does not have rental insurance coverage - even though our apartments require it. The incident would have been covered under his personal liability coverage, but we cannot claim the incident under our own rental insurance policy, being that he is liable for the damages.

On 10/30/22, we noticed that part of the wound was open and seemed to have died back. The vet that performed the surgery in the early hours of 10/27 said that a portion of the skin being reattached did not bleed a lot during the procedure, and she worried it may have lost its connection to the blood supply and could die back. What we saw looked like that had happened. After sending an image to our vet and making a call to the emergency vet where the surgery was performed, we were informed that we should return to the emergency vet for a 2nd procedure. In the second procedure, they were able to remove the dead tissue and suture the wound with a drainage tube.

Piper's wounds required a follow-up visit to remove the drainage tube on 11/2/22, and suture removal scheduled for 11/12/22.

The total cost for Piper's injuries and follow-up visits exceeds $3,000.

We have reported the incident to our apartment as well as Clackamas County Dog Services, and the dog has had no previous incidents. Due to Oregon's "One Bite Rule," no fine or removal of the tenant/dog will be enforced by Clackamas County Dog Services or our apartment.

It is explicitly stated in our lease, Oregon law, and by both insurance agencies that the attacking dog's owner is liable for all damages. But he has not been able to provide us with the funds and does not have insurance coverage. He is generally non responsive in our attempts to contact him. The only means we have of pursuing the money is through small claims court, which will also cost us. In the meantime, we have to make monthly payments on the cost of her procedure, and in addition to our other expenses, we are in an extremely tight financial situation.

We are not the ones to ask for help in these situations. Still, we are reaching out to our friends and family and those who can help to assist us with the financial burden that has fallen onto us due to another's negligence and inability to take accountability for their actions.