Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My 4 yr old Sulcata was attacked by a dog yesterday.
He has 3 punctures to his carapace. 2 are pretty small and seem OK but the third is a little more significant and is weeping some. Not bleeding but weeping like "road rash" does.
I have not treated this at all yet, and would like to let it heal on its own but i am concerned about how deep the tooth went in. The puncture locations are as follows (looking down on the tortoise with his head @ 12 o'clock): large puncture 2nd scute up from mid approx 4 o'clock, med puncture 3rd scute up from mid approx 9 o'clock, small puncture 2nd scute up from mid 7 o'clock.
I'd appreciate any advice. Also what is the obligation of the dog owner? Aside from it being on my property, off leash, and according to neighborhood chatter- part wolf, I cant find anything in the local code that covers dogs destroying pets-property and the like. It only seems to cover people getting hurt.
Thanks again. Wish me luck.

EEK! Do you have a sulcata savvy vet that you can go to?
Because it's puncture wounds & they were caused by dog teeth which are plastered in bacteria, I'd see a vet because infection could so easily set in.
Our sulcata was found with bullet holes, we were lucky that there was no infection but her shell wasn't going to heal on it's own, our vet did acrylic work on her to help her heal.
A dog's mouth though oy...all those germs, like I said I'd really worry about infection.

As for the dog owner, have you checked with your local animal control? Where I live it's all spelled out in the city code. If your dog is off the leash, off it's property, & causes harm to another animal person or property, you as the dog owner are liable for it.
In fact in June of this year our next door neighbor's dog was taken away from them by an animal control officer & a police officer then quarantined for 10 days on the word of a minor who claimed their dog had gotten outside her fence & scratched his face.
This is the same kid who would walk up to the fence & badger the dog, kick at the fence, upset her on purpose.
No witnesses to this scratch, we don't even know if it's true that the dog did it, but he had a scratch on his face. The dog was taken & they had to pay $80.00 to bring her home after 10 days even though her rabies vaccination was current & they also had pay a $130.00 fine.
If our city is that rigid, I'd think others would be too so I'd call animal control & ask what can be done if I were you.
If someone else's dog was loose & did this, they should at least pay your vet bill for you.
Please let us know what happens!
Good luck with the healing.
-----
PHRatz