My Dog Was Mauled and Almost Died. What the Other Owner is Doing Now is So Rude It’s Unthinkable.

Pay Dirt

June 19, 2026 6:00 AM

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Our advice columnists have heard it all over the years—so we’re diving into the Pay Dirt archives to share classic letters with our readers.  Submit your own questions about money here . (It’s anonymous!)

Dear Pay Dirt,

Three weeks ago, my husband and I were grilling at my sister and brother-in-law’s house. We brought our dog, Lulu, who stayed by my side. Their next-door neighbor opened their back door, apparently without looking, and let their pit bull out into their backyard. It made a beeline for Lulu.

The dog mauled her. She almost died, but the emergency vet was able to save her with multiple blood transfusions and surgeries. The bill was over $4,000. It could be more depending on how her wounds heal. The neighbor did provide his cell number and rabies shot documentation, but he stopped responding to my texts and calls when I told him what the vet bill was and asked him about payment for it. He hasn’t responded in over two weeks, and my last attempt to contact him was a week ago. I’m ready to take him to small claims court.

I told my sister, and she and my brother-in-law have been begging me to drop it. Their neighbor is already glaring at them every time he sees them, and they fear an escalation. They are offering to pay Lulu’s vet bills. The money is only half of it, though—I want to hold this scumbag responsible for what he did. Every time I look at my poor girl, I’m angry and horrified at the thought of this happening to another dog or even a child. Animal control only gave a warning as this was the dog’s first documented bite, but having to pay up could be a deterrent for his owner. My husband initially was with me on going to court, but now he’s reconsidering. He thinks that we should probably defer to my sister and brother-in-law’s wishes on this since they’re the ones stuck living next to this guy indefinitely. What’s the right thing to do here?

—Unsure

Dear Unsure,

I’m siding with your husband for a couple of reasons: Your sister and brother-in-law have to live with the neighbor long-term, and you do not. Your need for revenge does not outweigh their need to live peacefully in their own neighborhood, and it doesn’t sound like they have a problem with the neighbor.

Secondly, I’m very sorry about Lulu, but it is not a moral or literal crime to accidentally let your dog into your own backyard. It does not make the neighbor a scumbag; it was obviously an accident. If the neighbor’s dog had some history of attacking people or other dogs—and it sounds like the dog does not—there’s no reason for the neighbor to have anticipated that his dog would react the way he did.

I understand that you’re upset and you want someone to pay, literally, for what happened to Lulu, but you are making all kinds of assumptions about the character and motivations of the owner, and I’m not sure they’re warranted. If you do want to drag the guy into small claims court,  depending on the state you live in  it might not be enough that the event happened and you might have to make an argument that the owner was negligent/and or knew that their dog was likely to bite.

I would feel differently, if say, you were in a public park that required leashing and the dog that attacked Lulu was off-leash. That would be negligent on the owner’s part. But what happened here just sounds like an unfortunate accident, and you need to find another way to deal with the trauma of seeing Lulu hurt.

—Elizabeth Spiers

From: I’m Ready To Go To Court Over A Dog Attack. But No One Is On My Side . (September 15th, 2023).

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Dear Pay Dirt,

My only sister, my spouse, and I are talking about purchasing a vacation property together that we would all use as well to rent out to offset costs. We live in a part of the country where many families have a cabin that has been passed down through the generations, and we are looking to create that for our own family. We know that business dealings with relatives can be risky, so I’m writing to ask if you have any advice on what topics to discuss that might get missed in all the excitement and how to keep our candid, loving relationship intact. I love this idea in theory but want to look at it objectively.

—Vacation Ready But Objective

Dear Vacation Ready,

It’s good that you are anticipating possible friction in your relationship with your sister if you choose to own a vacation property together because without a lot of structure and guardrails, that can easily happen. The most important thing you should do if you choose to proceed is have an agreement in place that articulates what will happen if one of you wants to sell or ca…