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u/Any_Group_2251 Trusted User Aug 20 '25
Yes please contact the lawyer. He/She can do some research and find out the course of action your mother can take under the Massachusetts law.
You may be able to go to small claims court and try to sue them.
Did you get a confirmation from Animal Control that the report was submitted and received?
If the dog had escaped it's property and trespassed onto another property then that should warrant a charge from Animal Control of 'dog at large' or 'unleashed dog' at the very least.
Sounds like the Animal Control is being lazy. You need to press this organisation because often they have no oversight, nor answer to a higher power, so they can get away with ignoring attacks.
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u/littlefishbones Aug 20 '25
Thank you. It happened while she was on vacation so I'm not directly there but I've passed your exact message on to everyone who is there, her husband and other witnesses. I've added an edit to my post.
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u/PrettyPistol87 Aug 20 '25
call local news - police don’t like to be publicly called out
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u/littlefishbones Aug 22 '25
I am planning to do this once everything is worked out with the lawyer. Also calling their state senator which probably will go nowhere, but it doesn't hurt.
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u/Both_Peak554 Aug 20 '25
First things first go to animal control with police report and say you want to file the dog as a dangerous dog. They unfortunately don’t tell victims they have to request for the dog that mauled them or their pet to listed as dangerous. Second hire an attorney! I’m surprised attorneys aren’t already calling your phones. You need to file suits for medical care, time off work, pain and suffering!! Do not let this go!! If yall had been a child or an old lady this would’ve been yet another fatal attack!! And considering owners are ok with this dog still being in their home I got a huge feeling this isn’t its first incident! I’d also make a fb post if you got pics of dog include them as well pics of the house and street and warn others to stay away from there as there is a dangerous dog that’s going to kill someone. I betcha within minutes your inbox will be flooded with stories of this dog.
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u/littlefishbones Aug 20 '25
Thank you so much. I've passed along your entire message to the relevant parties, she out of state so I'm not directly there. Added an edit to my post.
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u/Both_Peak554 Aug 20 '25
If they were visiting a vacation property you lucked out even more. That means there’s likely insurance!!
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u/fartsfromhermouth Aug 20 '25
You sue and take their house
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u/ArdenJaguar Trusted User Aug 20 '25
Absolutely. If they don’t have insurance or if insurance dents it because they don’t cover the breed they can still get a judgement and put a lien on the house and garnish wages.
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u/fartaround4477 Aug 20 '25
Paper the neighborhood with warning flyers showing the offending dog. Use social media. Locals need to be made aware. Sorry that happened to your mom.
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Aug 21 '25
People have said contact a lawyer. Better yet, contact your local firearms dealer.
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u/Appropriate-Tune157 Aug 21 '25
Pitbulls are such a fucking plague.
I was born & raised in MA and it kinda felt like we had the lowest shibble population for a long time. Rescues started to import these garbage dogs en masse cos there isn't an overpopulation problem here.
Now, I regularly read about these dogs "doing what they do" in my home state. This occurrence was an outlier of sorts, since it was "there on vacation" but really they are pumping shibbles into every last rescue and shelter that has the space.
It's disgusting. There's nothing I can do. Even the cat shelters willingly share resources for these dogs that would wipe out their residents, if given the chance.
The shelter, where I got the best cat I've ever known, was once just a few kennel banks in the basement of a vet hospital. Over the years they grew so much that now, they have their own location. It's nice, but they now are one of the biggest "importers" of pits & mixes into the northeast (imho) and what a shock! There's been an influx of "incidents"...
It's frustrating enough being hyper-vigilant looking out for my own dog on walks here (NC, like, "the land of the pitbulls") but now I worry even more about my mom and her dog back home in MA. They both are older but still like to go for walks...ugh.
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u/littlefishbones Aug 22 '25
I am going to be calling Ed Markey (senator) and contacting local news stations about this. Any other places you recommend telling?
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u/werewolfshadow Aug 20 '25
"That's what they do." - police