Thanks for the advice Mark. yes it was a new neighbor's dog. There were also some witnesses but they are rather dubious. My son is an attorney and he is putting out feelers for a good civil litigator. He is also mad, but is giving good advice right now. His firm decided not to take the case because they felt that they were too intimatly involved, so they are searching for another firm. The mailman offered to give the dog a dose of antifreeze, the neighbor wants to shoot the dog, my dad is very upset and my cousin is getting me a tazer and is going to train me on it. The whole situation is out of control!! The neighbor (whom I hadn't met until last next) approached me and ask what we could do to just make this go away, and would I drop the dog at large charge that was issued through the dog warden. My mother is really upset and boy is she vocal about it. I need to cancel my life for about a week just to catch up! Lisa