How to protect your legal rights after a dog bite

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This tip is about the how to protect your legal rights after a dog bite. So read this free guide, How to protect your legal rights after a dog bite step by step. If you have query related to same article you may contact us.

How to protect your legal rights after a dog bite – Guide

What causes 4.7 million injuries a year in the United States? The best man’s friend. Our dogs injure humans an average of 4.7 million times a year. Of these bite injuries, approximately 800,000 require medical attention, while 386,000 of these injuries result in emergency medical care and 16 deaths occur annually. The rate of dog bite injuries is highest in children between the ages of 5 and 9, and the rate decreases as children grow. Nearly two-thirds of injuries in children up at four years of age, they involve the head or neck.

Injury rates in children are significantly higher in boys than in girls. These statistics are frightening. Some of these injuries result from a family’s own dog, while other injuries result from strangers’ dogs or stray dogs. If someone else’s dog causes an injury, the injured person may be entitled to file a cash claim against the dog’s owner.

The rights or obligations related to a dog bite are governed by art. 3,342, which states in part: “The dog owner is liable for damages suffered by a person bitten by the dog in a public place or lawfully in a private place, including the dog owner’s property, regardless of the dog’s past willful misconduct. or the owner’s knowledge of such malice.” In other words, if a dog causes an injury, the owner is responsible, except in limited circumstances.

How to protect your legal rights after a dog bite

The law protects your right, and the rights of your children, to be safe from dog attacks on or off your property. Also, a dog owner has responsibilities when their dog causes injuries. After a dog attack, there are 3 general guidelines for you to follow:

Report the incident to authorities dealing with animal control issues in your jurisdiction, such as the animal control department, humanitarian society, dog guard or police department. Don’t assume the hospital report has anything to do with your right to be safe. The hospital is reporting for a different purpose: health statistics, not animal control enforcement.

Cooperate with animal control authorities and ask them to hold a “dangerous dog hearing”. This can result in penalties being imposed on both the dog owner and the dog itself.

Talk to an attorney about filing a civil lawsuit against the dog’s owner. A claim will alert your insurance company and owner (if any), and could also result in one-of-a-kind penalties for him and his dog. More importantly, a claim can result in substantial compensation for you or your child, including not only past and future medical treatment, but also advice, if needed, and additional money that can give you or your child a fresh start.

To claim your rights, however, you need to take appropriate steps. A dog bite victim needs to do the following things to protect their rights:

Identify the dog. In an extremely serious case, this might involve obtaining and analyzing a DNA sample, which would require the immediate involvement of a lawyer.

Get the name and address of the dog’s owner, if possible. If you can, get the dog’s license information.

Obtain the name, address and telephone number of any potential witnesses. You may have to return to the crash site and knock on doors. homes and business. You should also revisit the accident site several times around the same time the accident occurred, as people may have a habit of going to the same places as part of their daily routine.

Take pictures of all your wounds, bruises and bloody clothes. (See Photography in dog bite cases.) If possible, obtain insurance information from the dog’s owner. (To see How to find out if the other person is insured.)

Get your lawyer while the facts are fresh! The facts of your claim must be proved; the extent of your injuries must be established. As obvious as the facts and injuries may be to you, they will not be obvious to an insurance adjuster sitting at a desk in an office building a few weeks or months after the attack. Also, doctors are more interested in curing you than proving the nature and extent of your injuries to an insurance company, so proper documentation should be asked of them at the appropriate times. Your attorney will obtain the necessary evidence and monitor your medical treatment so that the insurance adjuster understands exactly what has happened and will give you an adequate amount of money if possible.

Keep your attorney before participating in any lawsuit involving the dog! The laws of most cities, counties and states allow local authorities to determine whether a dog is dangerous and, if so, the dog’s fate. This is often called “dangerous dog hearing,” but it also goes by other names. Because “dog-cutting” procedures can unwittingly compromise a victim’s rights, she should not communicate with animal control authorities until her attorney has reviewed city and county ordinances, gotten the department’s commitment on which laws and procedures they will follow and you are satisfied that the issues addressed below will be resolved fairly. If a victim receives a subpoena, their testimony is required, making it all the more important to immediately consult a lawyer – because a subpoena must be obeyed, to the letter. (See Dog Bite Victims Need a Lawyer for “Dog Court.”)

The victim should never do the following:

Do not sign anything! Yes, you can usually sign the hospital admission paperwork (as long as you haven’t been bitten in the hospital itself). However, do not sign anything presented by any insurance company, the dog owner, or the owner or other owner of the property where the attack took place. Do not write or report to any insurance company, dog owner, landlord or other property owner.

Do not hesitate to consult a lawyer! There are laws called “Statutes of Limitations”. They say that you lose all your rights unless you file a lawsuit within a certain period of time after sustaining a personal injury. So call a lawyer as soon as possible. (See Beware of the statute of limitations!)

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