Dog owner offers to pay vet

A man whose dog rushed and bit a tethered dog at Ahuriri just over a week ago said he is upset at what happened and has offered to pay the vet fees incurred by the bitten dog's owner.
He contacted Hawke's Bay Today after reading the story of the attack last Friday.
The mother of the injured dog's owner had said she did not want to make a "big fuss" about what had happened but wanted the man to come forward and help pay the vet's bill.
"It's lucky I caught the story as I will be in Auckland tomorrow on my way overseas so the story was reported just in time for me to read," the man wrote in an email sent last Friday.
He said the dogs had only been in Napier for two weeks - part of a quarantine requirement after arriving from the UK and before going to Australia.
"They had been cooped up so were a bit excited which could be why the boy bolted out of the car before I could get his lead on."
He said the dog had not been let go on purpose - it simply bolted and then saw the tethered dog.
"I immediately called my dog and when he didn't come I ran to get him away and at that point the female (his second dog) jumped out the window to follow me and that's when they started to fight. I got them all apart almost straight away."
He spoke to the woman and asked if her son's dog was okay, and said he would leave details.
Upset, she simply asked him to leave and take the dogs away.
He returned later to see if everything was all right and the woman told him the dog was fine.
It was only after returning home she came across puncture wounds on one of its back legs.
Being told the man was offering to pay the subsequent vet's bill was "great news" the woman said.
"I am really pleased to hear that."
The man said his dogs were not aggressive and had lived with other dogs "and three cats".
He said it was an unfortunate mistake he wanted to put right.