At the very last moment, I saw the dog bare its fangs, lunge and snap at my ankle.
My reflexes kicked in and without thinking I jumped out of the way. The dog was unable to sink its teeth deep into my flesh, but I felt a sharp burning pain as I limped away.
“I’m sorry,” yelled the dog owner.
I halted, leaned over and examined the wound. It wasn’t bad, but the skin was broken, there was blood, and the imprint of the dog’s teeth was visible on my upper ankle. It was already swelling angrily.
Meanwhile, the dog was barking like crazy, still lunging at me and I wasn’t about to get anywhere near this guy and his mangy mutt. I’ve seen him before on my morning walk and let’s just say he doesn’t look too normal. There’s a dullness in his eyes that hints at either stupidity, pathology or both.
I limped home, put ice on the wound, then climbed into my car and went back to the block where I was bitten. The dog owner was still there. I pulled up and asked for his name and phone number.
“Did you get bite?” He spoke with a heavy Persian accent, hence his imperfect grammar.
“Yes.”
“Oh, he bite other people. He bite me too.”
I was flabbergasted. Was this supposed to make me feel better?
“Let me get this straight, your dog has a history of biting people and you still walk him where he can continue to attack?”
He shrugged.
Though booked solid for the day, I managed to get an appointment with my doctor when told what happened. He examined the wound, wrote an Rx for an antibiotic and then gave me a Tetanus vaccine.
As Karen and I sat in the exam room we commented that this simple emergency visit to the doctor was in danger of becoming a relic, an example of pre-Obamacare, when physicians were still masters of their own fate. When patients were still free to make their own decisions.
Karen and I have been dismayed that with all the learned critiques of Obamacare—the massive taxes on the consumer, the drug companies, the makers of medical devices, all which will stifle innovation, drive up premiums and degrade health care—there has been precious little conversation on what’s going to happen between doctor and patient.
This relationship is sacred. It is deeply intimate.
But even as I write this article, the Obama regime is hastily assembling 159 new boards, agencies, and programs that will in turn give birth to thousands of new regulations designed to govern the relationship between “healthworker” and “consumer.”
Notice how even the language of the left destroys the individual in favor of the collective.
Just this past Shabbat, Karen and I attended a sheva b’rachot and my doctor and his wife, close friends from synagogue, were sitting at our table. Conversation turned to Obamacare. No one was happy. In fact, everyone was enraged. But my friend the doctor had his head down on the table in a gesture of defeat.
“It’s already happening,” he murmured, a man resigned to his fate.
Later, on the buffet line, I asked him what he was going to do.
“I’ve hired medical consultants. I’m looking at various options that will get me as far out of the system as possible.”
“You mean like a concierge medical service. You won’t accept insurance, just deal with cash?”
He shrugged. He just didn’t know.
My friend loves medicine. And he understands that Obamacare, if implemented—and it is the law of the land—will debase the practise of medicine in favor of a utopian model that is unknowable, unworkable.
This is a monstrous law that expands the power and reach of a federal government that cannot even manage a postal system, that runs Social Security and Medicaid like branches of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.
If Obama gets a second term—fill in the blank.
Regarding dog bite. We’d appreciate reader input.
1. To whom should we report this dog and his owner?
2. Is such a dog usually put down?
3. Should I demand that dog owner pay my medical bills?
4. Or should I just punch him out and call it even.
Ariel Chaim Avrech, ZT'L, May His Righteous Memory be a Blessing.
17 Comments
I was bitten by a dog when I was six. Not doing anything, minding my own business.
Since then, I steer clear of ANY strange dog. I do not trust them, even when the owners insist their dog doesn’t bite. I never understood why dog owners would bring their pets to street festivals, where there are tons of people, the pavement is hot, and there are tons of kids in strollers. Recipe for disaster.
The dog that bit me was quarantined and checked for rabies. You seriously should call Animal Control even at this late date.
Like or Dislike:
2 
0
Thanks so much to you all for your wise counsel. I should have seen this coming but I wasn’t thinking too clearly at the time. The name and phone number the dog owner gave me are false.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
You must report the dog bite, to Animal Control, and insist he be held for rabies testing. That dog might attack again, perhaps a child that cannot move as fast as you do. Insist he pay your medical bills.
What can I say Robert? Last night my disabled daughter went out side of her condo by her garage, with her assistance dog, that helps her walk, to ask some folks setting off fireworks in her street to stop. It is not lawful to have fireworks in that neighborhood.
A neighbor’s dog, unattended mutt of some sort, came over to sniff her dog, a giant of a Newfoundland, a very gentle giant by the way, but the strange dog did something, (body language?) that caused the assistant dog to issue a low warning growl, then the strange dog attacked. My daughter, still holding her dog on her left side, reached out to push the other dog away, and he about took her hand off. Literately, ripped open an artery. About 27 stitches to put her hand back together.
Animal control came and got the attacking dog, and it will be held for rabies testing and then be put down. I haven’t heard yet the Vet report on the assistance dog. Police, ambulance, and animal control all involved.
This is the 2nd unwarranted dog attack in this area this year. Some months ago two dogs attacked a 7-year-old girl and put her into ICU for days. Newspaper never reported the extent of her injuries, but the dogs were destroyed.
The point of this article, medical care: Hopefully emergency care won’t be affected or a lot of people are going to die. You went to your own doctor, but I feel they will soon be out of date.
Like or Dislike:
2 
0
Kohana:
I’m so sorry about what happened to your daughter. That dog should be exterminated. And the owner should be jailed.
Like or Dislike:
2 
1
Service dog is fine except for a couple of bare skin patches where the fur was ripped off. No open wounds. The other dog will be put down, don’t think the owner will though. MT doesn’t hang many people these days.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
Robert,
I have a unique perspective on the Insurance issue. I worked for 7 years in the Billing (Patient Accounting) department of a major hospital – so I know firsthand how the dance with insurance companies is played – reimbursing slowly or denying claims so the patient will have to deal with the issue. I also have a chronic condition that requires a LOT of attention. Thankfully I have insurance so a $40,000 treatment <b>is</b> covered and has allowed me to return to work after a 3 month absence.
Basically reimbursement is already driven by the government via Medicare, and those with private insurance (up till now) can get adequate coverage but I know that a lot of work was done between my doctor who is at a different hospital and the doctor who works at my hospital who administered the treatment – and I feel that any government operation will never allow me to get the care I needed and still need.
I would much rather have an insurance bureaucracy with a profit motive than a government bureaucracy with personnel whose sole motivation is to clear their desk.
I think the best solution was recommended by Senator McCain – open up insurances for direct consumer competition. Imagine if the insurance companies had to compete based on denial percentages to attract consumers.
I fear for my health because of the new legislation – not knowing what will be.
<i>Hakol BiDai Shamayim</i> – all is up to G0d, but relying on a miracle in not a way to live your life!
Aharon Fischman
Like or Dislike:
3 
0
Living in Canada with a single payer situation gives me a unique and infomred perspective. This system works effectively some of the time. Like waiting for a bus, getting a good seat, and redaching your destination without event. Sometimes, the bus is crowded. So, waiting for another is required. The second bus is stuck in traffic. Well, hail a cab. Not permitted. In Toronto and Montreal cancer patients are routinely taken cross border to New York state and/or Vermont for treatment. Sometimes for things as simple as an MRI. The physicians themselves are as adequate, or as inadequate as they are anywhere. The patient to nurse ratio is always an issue. In the last several years Danny williams, Premier of Newfoundland-Labrador required open heart surgery. Mr. Williams is a smart guy. He had it done in the United States. There is also a lie continuouisly perpetuated that this system, in Canada, is more cost effective. Not so. In Canada, there is a national sales tax called the GST (Goods and Services). There are taxes on taxes. I drive a Lexus IS 250. Cost $52,000 Canadian dollars, more or less at par. In Chicago, same vehicle: $37,000. Anyway, this is enough. The idea is clear. I have many friends who look forwrd to the ultimate implementation of the Canadian system. Makes me wonder why I know them.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
4 
0
Barry:
I think we’re all being pushed off the bus now.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
afischmann:
Your perspective is indeed novel and valuable. Karena and I dealt with private insurance for years. It was a pain, but manageable. The Feds are impossible. When was the last time you had a good experience with, say, the IRS?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I feel that even with an insurance company that there ARE rules, as annoying as they may be. When the SCOTUS caved last week I was genually sad and worried.
Email me if you would like to know more about what I have gone though
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
My daugther, living in Edmond, Oklahoma twenty years ago, was bitten by a neighbors dog. A big and brutal animal. My son-in-law shot and killed the thing. I thought then, and think now, way to go.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
5 
0
Normally, I would vote for Option 4, but this sentence ” There’s a dullness in his eyes that hints at either stupidity, pathology or both.” suggests that might not be the best solution. Either you’re A) beating a moron or B) you’re blowing on the fuse of a ticking time bomb. Neither produces the desired results. File a report with Animal Control or drop it and steer clear of the pooch and his moronic owner on your walks.
PJ
P.S. – I almost feel sorry for the dog. His owner is, obviously, not doing his part in the relationship.
Like or Dislike:
2 
0
P.P.S.- I hope the ankle feels better soon! Have a Happy Independence Day!
Like or Dislike:
2 
0
Joe:
As Isaid the owner gave me a phony name and phone number. Which should not surprise me. I have no doubt I’ll see him again. I think I’ll take his picture and post it as a warning. That’s the only shooting I plan on.
Like or Dislike:
2 
0
If you were of a mind you could sue this guy – successfully – a do g with a history of biting? But report him top animal control. At least up here they will take the dog and quaranteen him – decided if by behavior it should be destroyed.
Like or Dislike:
3 
0
Bill:
Can’t sue him, can’t report him because he gave me a phony name and phone number. Why does this not surprise me?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
When I worked as a paper pusher at the Riverside County Public Health Department, the law was (and is) that the doctor treating the dog bite victim must report the incident to the Health Department. If the victim knows who the owner of the dog is, he/she can report the owner to Animal Control. The owner must then prove that the dog has had its rabies shots. If the owner can’t prove that, Animal Control quarantines the dog for 3 days to see if it has symptoms of rabies. If not, the dog is returned to the owner. In my experience, many dog owners will put their dog down in order to avoid a lawsuit. Since the owner of the dog that bit you has admitted that the dog is a serial biter, I would look into whether or not there has been complaints against the owner.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
4 
0