Intersting article in USA Today.

It reminds me a of Border Collie named Buddy whose owner contacted me about giving up the dog because his lawyer neighbor, was suing Buddy’s family for damages and to have him put to sleep after Buddy nipped one of their children while the kids were playing with the dog and a stick. Both families had two kids and the four boys were in the fenced yard with the young dog. No adult was present and the child did require medical attention to his arm.

Buddies family was devastated and called me to see about giving him up to New England Border Collie Rescue. I told him that we couldn’t take a dog with a known bite history, even if, as the owners had suspected, the dog was being teased and the entire incident was an accident and the dog really meant to bite only the stick.

These owners fought their neighbors in court and with every dime available to them. They hired the most well known and infamous Animal Rights Lawyer that money could buy and sent the dog away to be trained for two months. The trainer took the dog home with his own children and was one of the sworn witnesses. Not only that, but they got a HUGE petition of neighbors who vouched for the dog, then less than 2 years old at the time and they had at least 100 people come to court for them not once, but twice after the other party was a no show in court the first time around.

Buddy won and got to stay in his home. Both parties were out considerable money. The dogs family also sold their home on the beach to be rid of their next door neighbors.

Border collie- $600 dollars

Cost to keep dog – in the six figures

Look on you’re the neighbor's face when the verdict was read-priceless