Plaintiff

About a year ago, the dog belonging to my neighbor Claude attacked me and bit my arm quite badly. His dog wasn’t on a leash. I checked with the City, and they told me that it was against the law to leave your dog off a leash. I think it’s really irresponsible to let dangerous dogs like that run freely. A child could’ve been bitten. After I was treated for the bite, I received a bill from the ambulance service and I had to miss three days of work. Every night since then, I have had nightmares. I still feel some pain in my arm.

I went to see a lawyer. He explained that I could try to claim for the damages that I suffered from the dog’s owner, Claude. So I got all of my evidence together: my bills, pictures of my injury, and my medical report. Another one of my neighbors, Eric, came to see me and I learned that he had seen the whole thing. He, too, was upset about what Claude’s dog had done and especially about the fact that the dog was still being kept untied. Eric has two young children of his own. I talked to him about my decision to sue the dog’s owner. He told me that he could be available if I ever needed a witness. I took down his contact information.

I started off by sending Claude a registered letter, called a demand letter. I asked him to pay for the damage that I had suffered. He never answered my letter. I had the impression that I would have to go all the way to court – otherwise he would refuse to pay. I went to the courthouse to see the clerk of the Small Claims Court. The clerk explained the steps that had to be taken. He helped me fill out the forms I had to use to explain the important facts about my run-in with the dog. I gave him my bills, the medical report, the pictures and Eric’s contact information.

A few days later, I got an answer from Claude. His version is different from mine. He especially objects to the ambulance bill. He also argues that I hurt his dog, and even claims that I should pay his veterinary bill! I didn’t notice whether or not the dog was hurt. It’s true that I hit him…so that he would let go of my arm! I don’t see why I should pay for the bill though; after all, I was the one who was attacked.

Finally, I received a notice of hearing, and the date of the hearing was approaching. I called Eric and he promised to be there. The night before the trial, I slept well. The next morning, though, I was very nervous – I doubted my own story and kept forgetting all of my arguments.

At the courthouse, I found the courtroom without any difficulty. There were already plenty of people there. The clerk called our case, but the judge hadn’t arrived yet. She had us take an oath to tell the truth. After that, we waited our turn. I left for a couple of seconds to sit in the hallway and relax, and to put my papers in order one last time.

We finally went before the judge. I explained everything I remembered as well as I could. I gave the judge the doctor’s report, the ambulance bill, the photos and the bill from the post office. I explained what I had been suffering from since the incident: pain, stress, fear of dogs and regular nightmares. After my testimony, and to my surprise, it was the judge who asked my witness, Eric, all of the questions. I thought that I was the one who was going to be asking him the questions, just like on television – but it was nothing like that! The judge knew exactly where she was going. She asked specific questions and wanted precise answers. We then heard what Claude had to say. He didn’t remember the incident in the same way that I did. He wasn’t very kind to me in his testimony, but I restrained myself from talking back. The judge seemed to have things well in hand.

In the end, the judge said she wanted to think about our case and she sent us on our way. She said we would receive her decision in the mail.