Two days ago two dogs attacked my Mom's cat. He'll make it, but he had puncture wounds, four fractured ribs, and lung contusions. So he was in the "Kitty ICU", on oxygen and receiving IV fluids and painkillers. The vet bill will be over $1000, and hopefully Tom will be able to come home today.
I'm sure there are other people on the forum who have had this sort of situation... I'm wondering how you handled it? I'm looking for wisdom here, so that we don't create more of a problem than we already have.
Relevant details are:
-Neighbor A moved in next door to Mom last year, and has a small dog which he hardly ever lets out.
-Neighbor B has lived across the street from Mom for almost 50 years, and his dog had attacked neighbor A's dog last year, causing similar injuries to Tom's.
-Neighbor C lives on the next block and he lets his dog roam loose all the time. He's the brother of Neighbor A.
-We have a leash law. This is a suburban area where the long narrow lots back up to a creek, so there is a lot of open land down there.
-Neighbor B had been walking his dog (unleashed) down by the creek, and took a shortcut back up to the street along the lot line between Mom's house and another lot, when his dog and Neighbor C's dog ran after and attacked Tom. Nobody witnessed either dog actually biting Tom; by the time Neighbor B ran after the dogs to where the cat was, he saw both dogs were trying to get Tom, who was trying to hide under some bushes right against the foundation of Mom's house. Neighbor A ran out when he heard the commotion and saw his brother's dog still in my Mom's yard, and Neighbor B trying to kick that dog away from Tom (having already re-leashed his own dog).
Complicating all this is that Mom is 86, widowed for ten years, and is in poor health. She's still able to live at home due in part to the kindness of her neighbors, who do help her if she needs small tasks done, such as taking out the garbage.
And it's not like she has an extra $1000 to pay the vet bills. So the bills will be put on my credit card, but...
... Who do you think should be responsible for the bills? How should we handle this?