Hi Trezza. What you need to do, if possible, is to try to keep it from happening again. You need to find out what your local leash laws are and exactly what is required of each pet owner as respects confining and/or restraining their own pets. If your city or county has a leash law, which I'm sure it must, you need to know how it reads and how it protects you in this kind of situation. A good place to start is with your local District Attorney's office. First, find out your rights. Secondly, make a report or at the very least, contact local law enforcement and/or your local animal control office. It sounds like you know where the loose dog lives. Get it on record that this has happened. It's especially important if it was the same dog both times. But, it should be reported in any case. The DA or the animal control people or both, should be able to give you the specifics of how the law applies in your area. They can also tell you what recourse you have, if it happens again. It's very unfortunate that the offending dogs are probably going to be the ones who suffer because of irrresponsible owners, as is so often the case. But, something like that cannot be allowed to continue, unreported and unchecked. The next dog through the area might be a very tiny one and have a very different outcome, probably fatal. You will be doing yourself and other dog owners a big favor by getting a good interpretation of your local law and by getting a report on file. If the authorities will give this owner a warning, it might save a lot of heartache in the future, including for his own dog. I hope this helps but if you have further questions, just let us know. Patricia
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