Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Washington

Property mgmt not protecting resident from dangerous dogs

I live in King Co., WA and my poodle was attacked by the neighbor's 2 dogs on separate occasions. I live in a neighborhood where residents are to comply w/leash laws, and these dogs have been nuisance animals for a long time. The dogs attacked my dog when we were walking on the street. The property mgmt is not requiring compliance with our county regulations for dangerous animals, and is minimizing the situation, so that I cannot safely walk my dog without fearing another attack. I've provided mgmt with copies of the King Co. ordinances, to no avail. The local animal control does not seem to demand compliance. What recourse do I have? I'm being made to feel like I'm unreasonable. The neighbor has yet to even complete a fence, and is not being asked to restrain/contain his dogs according to code. The property mgr also has a dog known to be aggressive, but they have good control of it. They say that nobody enforces the ordinances, so they won't require residents to comply with what I consider to be the law. Please help, as I'm feeling unsafe in my own neighborhood, and no one seems to be concerned about that. My property is such that I cannot fence their dogs from the front of my house, but I did fence the side yards.


Asked on 1/03/05, 11:17 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Elizabeth Powell ELizabeth Powell PS Inc

Re: Property mgmt not protecting resident from dangerous dogs

If you can prove that the neighbor's dogs attacked your dog, sue your neighbor. Perhaps you have vet bills? Perhaps somebody else saw this happen?

If you sue your neighbors, ALSO implead your property manager as another defendant. Sue the Owner of the property as well.

You may not get much more $ than the cost of the vet bills, but you will clearly put defendants on notice that you will not tolerate any further abuse of the laws.

If you want to attract some attention, consider contacting the local news media and tell them your story and that the Animal Control Agency won't help.

That might get things moving. But when polite requests don't produce any results, it's time to bring out the big guns. Or to move. Have fun - Powell

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Answered on 1/04/05, 12:11 am


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