Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

First, call your local animal control office. They may intervene even if the police won't.

If that doesn't work, you can seek a restraining order requiring your neighbor (regardless of how she is or was related to you) to keep the dogs restrained. If you get such an order and the dogs escape again later, she will be in violation of the order. She can then be held in contempt and/or jailed.

Either of these steps should make it unnecessary to move. And you may want to report the officer who said you should to his supervisors; that seems like a pretty outrageous thing for him to say.

And whether animal control helps or not, you can also sue your neighbor for the medical and vet bills her dogs have made you incur. You may also be able to get damages for emotional distress, though without more details I don't know how strong your case would be.

Good luck.

If the dogs have bitten people and have attacked another animal, off their property, they can be declared vicious and put down. The sheriff should know that. File a complaint with internal affairs at the sheriff's dept. and file a civil complaint to have the dogs put down.

You may want to find an attorney specializing in animal law. There are attorneys out there that handle your type of situation and will be able to help you recover vet bills and medical bills you have for your kids in having to deal with the emotional and psychological trauma. In addition, you may be able to recover other damages in connection with this incident. Reporting this incident to animal control is essential. Animal control will investigate the situation and decide whether the dogs should be taken out of the home and put down in light of their vicious nature. You should search for an animal law attorney in your area.