I’ve been waiting to write about this topic for over a year now. It’s not like me to have a filter, but in this case, money was involved. And, my ass cares about my money. I’ve worked hard as hell to get where I am today. So when someone comes into my life and tries to take money from me (unnecessarily), you bet your ass I’m protecting myself.
Here’s the story.
A walk to remember
Back in February of 2020, before the world turned into the Twilight Zone, I was walking my dog Coco in the early morning. Coco is now 12, an old lady with gray hair, achy hips, and skin tags hanging off her that look like chewed up gum. Breath that will kill you with one lick. But Coco is a sweetie. While she has no clue of her size (she thinks she’s a Jack Russell), she is a gentle dog who has never shown any aggression towards humans.
Ever.
So, I’m walking my old lady around the neighborhood. I have my earphones in, listening to some self-development book as I make my way down the sidewalk. I notice a woman walking towards me but think nothing of it. Coco is on my left-hand side, close to the path of the woman. We walk past each other, and I don’t stop at all. I continue to walk on, listening to my book.
After about 10 seconds, I swear I hear someone yelling at me, so I turn around. The woman who I just passed by, was looking at me. I took my headphones out and asked her if she said something?
“Your dog just bit me.”
Um, what? Really?!
I didn’t believe her because we literally crossed paths, and I never stopped. Coco never tugged me in a direction. I didn’t break stride. How could she have bitten her? But I couldn’t just keep going. Social rules meant I needed to stop and talk to her.
I walked back up to her and apologized. Because I thought that’s what I should have done. I asked her if she was ok, and she pulled up her pant leg. She showed me a scratch on her shin. The skin was broken a bit, but…..it didn’t really look like a bite to me.
I told her as much. I said that it looked like Coco might have bumped into her with her mouth open and maybe her front teeth hit into her shin? There weren’t any puncture marks. That would explain why I didn’t notice anything when walking. I mean, if Coco bit her, I would have felt something….but I didn’t.
The lady was insistent that Coco bit her. So, I gave her my contact information because I assumed that’s what you do in these instances. I didn’t know if she would need my help with anything. She said she was going to go to MedExpress to get it looked at in case she needed antibiotics. Social rules made me tell her to keep me updated so I did.
Later that day
The doorbell rings. A cop is at my door. WTF? Apparently, I was reported to Humane Services and they were putting my geriatric dog on quarantine for 10 days as a preventative in case Coco had rabies. My poor dog. Literally the highlight of her day was going on walks with me. Now I had to keep her in the house. She was so confused. Following me around, waiting by the door to go out.
I felt so damn guilty.
The next day I still hadn’t heard from the woman, so I texted her to see if she was OK. I was surprised Humane Services was involved without her getting ahold of me first. I did give her all my info after all. She said she was sore and that she ended up getting a tetanus shot as a precaution. I guess it’s standard procedure or something to report a bite. That was it.
It escalates
I didn’t hear back from her at all. Two months pass by. I thought the incident was done with. Then the letter came. She was suing me. Umm…what?! Why not just ask me to pay for your med bills? I would have. Even though what you showed me was a scratch. I’m not an asshole. If you feel like you need to go get a tetanus and get checked I’ll back you the money. Just ask.
But no, she never asked. She just hired a lawyer and that was it. Should I have offered? I guess? I don’t know….I was never in this position. I gave her my info. If she needed the coverage on her medical bills, she just needed to ask me. But she didn’t and I didn’t blatantly offer.
Then, her daughter basically called me a POS in our community Facebook page. She didn’t say my name in her post, but she warned everyone in our community about my “vicious” dog. That people need to be on guard, and she questioned my statement I made to her mom that my dog has never bit anyone. Listen, my dog is no angel. I don’t trust her around other dogs, but she is a lover of humans. She snuggles like she’s one. She has never hurt a human.
The kind of people that sue
I’m honestly in awe that someone would sue me for 15K over the incident that occurred. That’s not a typo. She sued me for $15,000. When her medical bills were only $400.
What in the actual fuck?!?!
I really tried to stay positive during this whole ordeal and not judge. I tried to remain light-hearted, but that shit pissed me off. It didn’t help that all of this came to a head as the pandemic was causing so much uncertainty in the world. Maybe that’s partly why she sued? Maybe her finances were being hit because of how the world turned upside down? I don’t know. All I know is I would have happily paid her medical bills for the “harm” that my dog caused if she would have told me she needed help. I don’t see why she felt compelled to hire a lawyer.
Because she hired a lawyer, and was asking for $15K, I asked for counsel. My lawyer told me to turn it into my homeowner’s. “They will handle it”, he said. I felt relieved.
That relief didn’t last long.
Homeowner’s sucks
My homeowner’s conveniently does not cover pet bites. So, the woman suing me could only get money from my liability coverage. Or something like that. This whole part of adulting (legal stuff) is blah blah blah to me. Point is, she wouldn’t get the $15K from my insurance. They would only cover her medical expenses. If she wanted more, we would need to go to court, and I would be paying out of pocket if found guilty.
But, after receiving the payment from my insurance, there was radio silence. Then, eons later, the claim was closed. This woman hired lawyers to get $400. Something that I would have given her if she would only have contacted me instead of Murphy & Murphy.
So stupid.
For a small minute, I felt vindicated that this lady only got that amount of money. Serves you right, asshole!
But then, another letter came in the mail. A letter from my homeowner’s telling me they are no longer covering us because of the dog bite.
Fuck my actual life.
If you’ve ever been dropped by your insurance, or been unable to receive coverage, you know what I went through. It’s hard AF to get homeowner’s if you have a dog bite claim. No one wants to cover you…unless you get rid of the dog.
I literally cannot do that. I would die of guilt.
After months of trying to find coverage, I was finally able to get a policy, for over double what I paid before and one that does not have ANY liability. That means that my insurance will not cover a bite next time and it will not cover any medical claims if someone gets injured on my property. This makes no logical sense to me. Why am I paying MORE when you aren’t even covering the situation that causes me to be high risk? So. damn. annoying. And, you only paid a $400 claim! I have paid in at least 8x as much as that since being covered under that policy. Why am I giving you money if you drop me so easily?!
Lessons learned
I am finally writing about this now because the claim is closed. I was worried that if I wrote about it sooner, and the case went to court, that I could screw myself somehow.
The incident happened in February of 2020 and I finally had closure the end of May 2021. It was 15 months of uncertainty and irritation at humans and the insurance industry.
I wanted to share my story and give you some advice in case you ever find yourself in a similar situation. Keep in mind, I’m not a lawyer or an expert. Just someone that got screwed.
1. Take pictures – if someone claims your dog bit them, take photos of the injury. I didn’t do this and I kick myself in the ass for it.
2. Do not hand out your contact information- if the person wants to sue you, they can without proving you are liable. If you give them your information, you are basically saying you are guilty.
3. Avoid using your homeowner’s if you can – they will drop you like it’s hot and it’s hard as hell to get coverage after. If you can settle it on the side, do that.
4. Avoid humans – they suck. Seriously, there are people out there that will find any way to get money they do not earn. They don’t care how. Also, when you are walking your dog, just avoid people.
Sitting here now, a year and a half later as I write this, I’m still baffled by the whole ordeal. I wish I would have moved over into the grass that day and avoided that woman. I wish I would have taken a picture of her leg so I had proof of the injury. I wish a lot of things.
But wishes aren’t action and I can’t change the past. I have to move forward and learn from this. It’s not easy to take the high road and move on. I’m trying. This post helped me deal with some of the anger I had.
Hopefully it helps someone else, too.
Omg ? the girls were just telling us this last night! Funny thing is I kinda remember the story, but I didn’t know it all! Karen is bat shit crazy! Poor coco some people irritate the he’ll outta me and just do stuff to get money! Also the fact that someone try’s to Sue you four months later is f****** insane like wow!!!!
Great read ?
Krissy, I personally think she had ulterior motives that day. I would have ask for her medical papers to see what she was being treated for. Also, why did she not move out of the way instead of walking right into Coco. She is not telling the truth, that is why she took the $400.00 and didn’t pursue it any further. She is the POS, not you!!! Glad to hear its all behind you. Love you guys, can’t wait to see you!!!!
Scum Bags!!
?
This is so crazy. Glad it’s resolved but sheeeesh! What a nightmare.
Hii Krissy!!
So I came in to this again to read this I could not even the rest because this asshole lady pissed me off!! Excuse my language but what the fuck!!! That’s a bunch of bullshit poor coco! That lady can fuck off wow!! I’m so sorry!
Complete Scum Bags!!!