Its been a while since I broke up with my ex. We were together for two years, towards the end- he became verbally abusive to me, so I ended it. I also lost my job in the city shortly before this... We had a dog together, we adopted her from the city pound, we used my name is adopt her- so technically she is registered to my name. But he has been caring for her for over a year at this point. Basically when we broke up, I had no job, no money.... I needed to moved back in with my Mom for a few months. I couldn't take the dog because she is a pit bull mix and they are illegal where my mom lives. He agreed to take her, and bullied/ guilted me into agreeing to help pay for her expenses (through heavy manipulation). I tried to find work in my hometown, but ended up getting a better offer abroad, so shortly after- I moved to Japan. A few months after I left, someone visiting my ex's apt accidentally let her out of the house and she went running into the courtyard. There was a 20 pound schnauzer in the yard who has always been very aggressive towards other dogs when he is walked. Once free of any leash, our dog goes past this dog on the sidewalk and is attacked brutally. Being that our dog outweighs this dog by at least 25 pounds- our dog easily puts the schnauzer in check... according to the witnesses, she did not start the fight. Our dog was injured more than the smaller dog but because our dog is a pit bull, he got this huge fine, which he insists I must help him pay. About $1,370. He was also bitten by the smaller dog, and had to have surgery to reconnect a part of his finger back to the digit. He says because the dog is in my name, he can implicate that I am the one responsible for any fines or penalties associated with this... unless I agree to pay him money for her care and for this legal mess he's found himself in. I mean I feel bad that this has happened to him and that our dog had to go through so much- but in all honesty- I had nothing to do with this. I am abroad, and have had no part in any of this, can he legally rope me into this somehow, as he claims he can? Every time I talk to him, I feel so toxic afterwards. I miss the dog, but I really want no part of him. If I cut off all contact, is there a chance he could get the law to charge me with something?
Just turn your head the other way and act like you have no clue about the dog. Say it ran away a year ago and you didnt know what happened to it. If you say that then legally they can't blame you. If so im sure alot of run away dogs would be getting the previous owners in a lot of trouble
I would guess (big guess), that since he agreed to take care if the dog, he is responsible for its actions. Again, that's a big guess. I would definitely a lawyer.
Normally I try to be a little less blunt than this but in this case I won't be. I'd tell him to fuck off. It's his problem and good luck taking you to court. He has to do this little thing called serving you with papers to take you to court. He's full of shit and manipulating you. You have to pay to take care of the dog after a year apart? No fucking way! This is bullshit. Next time you talk to him just say "I'm done with you. Don't ever contact me again!" and forget about him.
I don't think you should be taking advice from random strangers on the internet over this. If you never expect to return from Japan, then you might be able to tell him to go hang with impunity. If you ever hope to return to the US, then you do need to check with a US attorney that there's no way he can fix you with any sort of liability, which will hit you in 15 years time when you fly back. For me, the issue looks pretty clear cut. He agreed to take the dog. His dog now, not yours. He was in charge of the dog, and didn't have it secured, which was why it got out. His problem, not yours. However, I don't know the significance, in the US, of the dog being registered in your name. Nor whether he had any legal responsibility to re-register it in his name when you went to Japan leaving the dog with him. Oh yeah ... and you paid him to look after the dog, but he failed to do so properly and he let it escape. He obviously wasn't looking after it properly, like you paid him to. So why don't you tell him you're going to counter-sue in breach of contract for not doing the job you paid him to do??
I would ignore this guy at all costs, don't answer his calls, don't respond to threat letters, ignore him 100%. And tell all family members to do the same. Either one of two things will happen. Either one he'll just stop bugging you or he'll try to take you to court in which case you can then exploit all the crap he's been doing and say that he's been in care of the dog for the past year. Either that or you can pay someone $1,300 to kill this asshole...
