<p>Friend just called me. At her daughter’s college there is a professor who always brings his dog to campus. “Everyone” knows and loves the dog. Her daughter knows the dog. Wednesday morning her daughter goes to professor’s office for something, the professor steps out for a minute and while she is gone the dog attacks the girl and bites her in the face. The professor takes the girl to the emergency room, she has three stitches, professor agrees to pay the bill. The girl does not want to tell security or anyone at the college because she doesn’t want to get the professor in trouble. Her mom is not sure what to do. Any ideas?</p>
<p>Does the dog have a current, valid rabies tag? Is the dog old? Dogs can get a doggie dementia and this could occur again. Canine dementia is treated with Anipryl.</p>
<p>The student has a duty to address the issue. She might also require additional treatment (infection, plastic surgery, etc). Will the professor continue to pay? Additionally the drs office/ER treating her has an obligation to report as well, I believe, to r/o rabies. Unfortunately, she needs to not keep quiet.</p>
<p>ER will make report to County Health Dept, which will verify the dog’s rabies status.</p>
<p>If the dog is current on all the shots, I wouldn’t worry about reporting, but watch out for any signs of infection.</p>
<p>I should learn to never say never. I’ve always said I would never call one of my son’s professors but in this case, I would. I would call and ask for a promise that the dog will no longer come to work with the professor in exchange for not reporting the incident. I just could not live with it if another student was left alone in the office and was bit; that, in my opinion, would be unethical on my part. </p>
<p>Ideally, I would expect my son to do it but I know that professor/student dynamics are such that it would not be easy and could have bad consequences.</p>
<p>Has her mom seen the injury? Just noting that an ER doc will something stitch up a wound, but in her face she might have wanted to have a plastic surgeon do it… When D1 was a toddler, she got a cut on her face and had to go to the ER. The nurse admitting us whispered, “The ER doctor will want to just stitch that up, but if I were you I would ask for a plastic surgeon so it is less likely to scar”. So we did – waited quite a while that night, but the scar is barely noticable 18 years later.</p>
<p>If I were the mom, I would report it. If there are any later complications, she might be glad she did. If, for example, the wound becomes infected or the scarring is signficant and requires later plastic surgery, they may want to approach the college about an insurance claim of some kind. Hopefully not a lawsuit, but if it were my kid, I would make sure an official report was made to the campus police.</p>
<p>Our dog bit my daughter in the face when she was little- didn’t break the skin, but scared her and it hurt.
( she had been petting the dog when she was asleep and had her face down close)</p>
<p>My daughter was about 6, but why would a college student have their face down close enough so that a dog could bite them there?</p>
<p>I don’t think we know the whole story.</p>
<p>Both my professors and my daughters take their dogs to class- but I don’t think it is a good idea in general- at the very least, it is pretty distracting.</p>
<p>intparent-
looks like we pretty much said the same thing.</p>
<p>EK-- the dog could have been on a couch sleeping where the girl also chose to sit. Also, sometimes dogs jump up and lick ppl in the face. For dog lovers this is often perfectly ok. And also the girl could have bend down to pet the dog. If the dog is old, maybe it has arthritis or some back or neck discomfort, and if the girl accidentally pet the dog in a sore spot the dog might have bitten in response. I don’t think there is anything significant that is missing from the story. Doubtful anything mean-spirited happened between the girl and the dog when they were alone, if that is what you might be thinking.</p>
<p>EK, I think it is a horrible idea re: profs bringing cats or dogs.</p>
<p>I have owned dogs all of my life, but as a pet owner I know people are not only frightened by dogs, but many people are allergic too.</p>
<p>I have owned 2 cats, and my 72 yr old mother is scared to death by our 10 lb black cat. </p>
<p>Sorry, I am at a loss for words.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>How a professor who is teaching at a collegiate level is so clueless to not realize the legal risks of bringing the pet.</p></li>
<li><p>How the professor is so insensitive to not realize everybody doesn’t love animals or physically from a medical stand point can be in a room with them for an alloted amount of time.</p></li>
<li><p>How the university allows this at all. Legally they are opening themselves up for lawsuits. Since when did a student sign up for a course and pet fears/allergies become a factor regarding taking the class?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>This is insane and mind blowing to say the least, and that is just from the university legal standpoint.</p>
<p>OBTW, I have a 13 yo cocker spaniel that attacked me while I was grooming him, something I have done his entire life. So bad that I have a scar over my lip. I didn’t go to the ER because I knew if I did we may have had to put him down. When people come to my home, he is kenneled in the home. That is what a true pet lover does. They understand that not everyone loves animals, and they understand that as pets get older they can become the alpha. Their eyes are going, their bones ache, and one quick move can cause them to lunge. They don’t mean it, but it happens.</p>
<p>Xref with you jym</p>
<p>I have to ask how small is this college? I can’t see any prof allowed to bring a pet to work for a large size university. I have an undergrad and a Master, Bullet has both also, our DS is a jr in college, our DD is a freshman, and none of us ever had a prof that had a dog or cat in their class or in their office during student hours.</p>
<p>I have to say I agree with B&P. I have a fear of dogs, not a major one, but I am always very cautious around dogs. If I were a student I would be very reluctant to go to prof’s office knowing there was dog there, but at the same time I would be reluctant to say anything to the prof. </p>
<p>While I understand that for many people having the dog around makes for a more casual, homey atmosphere for many others it is intimidating.</p>
<p>I recall visiting Dartmouth with older s and seeing several dogs in the academic bldgs. We were told that they were allowed as long as they were well behaved.</p>
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<p>The OP said the dog “attacks the girl and bites her in the face.” Dogs lunge quickly in an attack. </p>
<p>Or it could have a been a small dog that she picked up or a larger dog that is near eye-to-eye with a sitting adult. If a person is petting any dog, the dog is only an arm lengths away from their face.</p>
<p>OP-
Does the girl know if this was the first time the dog ever bit anyone?? That is relevant. If the dog has a history of biting then there is a known risk, and the school, not just the professor, might be liable for damages. Is it possible this has happened before and some other student has chosen to “keep quiet”? Just a thought…</p>
<p>It amazes me that colleges add gluten, peanut, and other -free dining halls, prohibit pets in dorms, and yet at the same time their profs feel free to bring dogs to class! I’m a dog lover with a well-behaved dog, but I would never trust him 100% because, well, he is an animal.</p>
<p>OP, depending on how her wounds heal, your D might need reconstructive surgery - will the professor pay for it?</p>
<p>I imagine that private schools would be more likely to allow pets on campus- Our dog loved to go to Reed & they even had a doggie water fountain. Neighbors also used the college to walk their dogs and while I don’t think they all picked up after them :p, I did not see any problems- but they certainly could occur, not just students who are dog phobic or with allergies, but bites, fights between dogs and as I mentioned the distraction.
( I would be distracted anyway- but then I find what I am looking for 
)</p>
<p>I * like* having dogs on a campus, it makes it seem friendlier, and we did take our aged lab to my youngests school last year for move in. I am glad we did, even though it wore her out, she got a lot of attention and got to see where D was going to. ( but with 4th floor, no elevators- she didn’t go in the dorm- we also always had her on a leash or were within an arms lenght)</p>
<p>With a bite that required stitches, I wouldn’t be so worried about rabies, as I would be about an infection. ( I know they say dogs mouths are cleaner than humans, but how clean can they be considering what they put in them?)</p>
<p>I think the prof has been lucky if this hasn’t happened before. If the student wasn’t annoying the dog, there may be an injury or other health problem that hasn’t been identified.</p>
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<p>All five of my Ds have had classes where the prof brought his/her dog to class, four of the five at large universities. I think it’s very common on college campuses.</p>
<p>
Why does the owner of a dog who bites leave their dog alone with other people? If the girl did something that caused the dog to bite, then it is clear that the dog cannot handle that environment. It is the dog owner, not the student, who bears the burden of safety here.</p>
<p>My daughter had a couple of profs who brought their dogs to the offices (though not to the classrooms, as far as I know).
This generally is welcomed by students - makes their interactions with the profs less formal, and many kids miss their own dogs, so they welcome any pet presence… Of course no one got bitten…</p>
<p>And really, if the university has a policy that allows professors to bring their dogs to campus, why would the professor get in trouble for this? If the university allows it, they do so knowing full well that this kind of thing might happen, so the professor should be able to report the incident without any repercussions other than being told to leave the dog home from now on. Why the secrecy on the part of the professor? Maybe this isn’t the first time the dog has bitten, maybe the dog isn’t supposed to be there. Who knows, but asking a student to hide this is inappropriate and irresponsible on the part of the professor.</p>
<p>I love my dogs.
I go to large events with multiple dogs (in the hundreds) almost every weekend.</p>
<p>BUT… any dog that has bitten a human should be wearing a muzzle when in public for the rest of his/her natural life.</p>