When a dog bites or otherwise attacks, you might suffer severe and painful injuries.
Some bites may be minor, but others cause extensive damage to the skin and tissue, resulting in significant scarring or even nerve damage. Infections are also possible, as a dog’s mouth may carry harmful germs.
Indeed, dog bites can be traumatic experiences, possibly leaving you with anxiety or a fear of dogs.
How Can a Duluth Dog Bite Attorney Help You After a Dog Attack?
Under Georgia law, you can seek compensation from the dog’s owner if you are seriously injured by a dog bite or attack as long as you meet specific requirements. Your attorney can help you determine if you have a strong case and explain your options for recovering damages.
What Is a “Serious Injury” in a Dog Bite Attack?
Serious injuries are defined as one or more of the following:
- Your injury necessitated multiple sutures, hospitalization, or plastic surgery.
- The injury led to a death or substantial risk of death.
- You suffered a broken or dislocated bone.
- Your injury significantly impaired your life, including cases of infection.
What if the Dog Was Not With the Owner at the Time of the Attack?
The owner can still be held liable if their dog bites someone while running loose, especially if the dog is doing so in violation of local leash laws. This is because Duluth requires that dogs be leashed when in public.
However, the word “owner” can also mean the person who is in control of the dog at the time of the attack. So if the dog was out with a dog walker, a friend of the owner, etc., that person might be liable for the bite.
Additionally, veterinarians, dog groomers, and other caregivers may be liable if they are looking after a dog who bites or attacks someone else.
What Should You Do After a Dog Bite?
Your first reaction will probably be to get to a safe place away from the dog. If a person accompanies the dog, they will usually help out by trying to get the dog away from you.
Once you’re reasonably confident the dog can’t bite you again, check yourself for injuries and seek medical attention if you have any, even if they seem minor. Even a small bite could become infected or develop complications.
Additionally, some injuries may not be painful at first but could cause more problems later on.
If the dog is with a person, ask for their name and contact information. We know this can be difficult, especially if the dog is still behaving aggressively, but if you can get this information, it will be very helpful to your claim.
If the person takes their dog and runs off, you shouldn’t chase them, the last thing you need is another dog bite. However, you should make every effort to get a description of the person, the dog, the direction they headed, and what kind of vehicle they left in (if they weren’t on foot).If you can take a picture of the dog and owner with your phone, that could be beneficial when we try to track them down.
You will need to call and report the dog bite to your local Animal Control office so they can investigate the matter. They may cite the owner, and the dog will need to be quarantined for ten days if the bite drew blood.
The quarantine period is necessary to ensure the dog doesn’t display any signs of rabies, whether or not it was vaccinated. A rabies vaccination may not be necessary for you if the dog is vaccinated, but you should check with your healthcare provider.
After you’ve reported the bite and received medical care, please contact a dog bite lawyer to learn your options for recovering your medical expenses, lost income, and other damages.
What if a Dog Bites You With No Owner in Sight?
These situations can be more complicated. You still need to get away from the dog safely, but that may be difficult without the owner’s help reining the dog in.
If you’re in a public place like a park, bystanders may help you out. You should try to get the names and contact info of any witnesses to the dog attack, even though the dog isn’t theirs; witness testimony could be very helpful in a situation where there is no photo or video evidence.
If you’re alone, you may have no choice but to run away from the dog or find some way to put a barrier between the animal and yourself. Once you’re safe, call 911 if you need an ambulance or ask a friend or relative to drive you to the hospital.
Make a report with Animal Control, and give them the clearest description you can of the dog and where you last saw it. Animal Control will search for the dog and will probably cite the owner for allowing the dog to roam off-leash (if they locate the dog and owner).
While Animal Control will do their utmost to find the dog, they may have other dogs to search for and little evidence to go on. In some cases, they might not locate the animal, and some dog bite victims assume they won’t be able to seek compensation in these situations.
However, it’s still a good idea to contact a lawyer about your case. Sometimes, our investigators can track down the dog and owner by canvassing the area where you were bitten and asking around.
If the dog is regularly in that area, it’s likely that some local residents are familiar with it and may know what house or building it lives in.
What if the Dog Doesn’t Bite You but Still Causes a Serious Injury?
Surprisingly, many dog injuries don’t involve bites. In fact, overly friendly dogs cause a number of injuries, usually from jumping on a person who then falls down.
Another common scenario occurs when a dog growls or charges at someone who runs away but trips and falls.
The fact remains that the owner or person in control of the dog is responsible even if the dog wasn’t acting aggressively or never bit anyone. We can still seek damages for your serious injuries.
What if You Are Injured on Private Property, Such as a Friend’s Home?
Frequently, clients tell us that they don’t want to sue their friend or neighbor. They may understand that the dog was only being friendly or perhaps viewed them as an intruder in the friend’s home.
They don’t want to cost the friend or neighbor money, but they can’t afford the medical bills and other expenses on their own. If this sounds familiar, we encourage you to speak with a dog bite lawyer to learn your options.
In some situations, a homeowner’s insurance policy will cover dog bites that occur on the property, in which case, your friend or neighbor won’t have to pay out of pocket for your medical care and other costs.
Sometimes, we find that the dog has previously bitten or threatened others and has been classified as a “dangerous dog.” This means that they have either bitten someone, killed a domestic animal off the owner’s property, or showed strong signs of aggression that a reasonable person would view as an imminent threat.
Gwinnett County requires that owners of these “dangerous dogs” maintain $100,000 in liability insurance in case the dog injures someone. They also have to follow other precautions like keeping the dog in a secure facility on their property and posting “dangerous dog” signs on property entrances.
What Do You Have to Prove in a Dog Bite Case?
You will need to demonstrate that one of the following is true:
- The owner knew or should have known the animal was aggressive or dangerous.
- The owner was negligent in preventing the attack. This usually means they failed to take common sense precautions or violated local laws, most commonly, the owner allowed the dog to run off-leash.
If you’re not sure you can prove one of these points, your dog bite lawyer may be able to help by gathering more evidence in your case.
How Can You Get Help From a Duluth Dog Bite Law Firm?
Please contact the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm for a free consultation about your case. We’ll review the Animal Control report and your medical records, answer your questions, and lay out your options for seeking damages.
These may include medical costs, lost income, permanent disability, pain and suffering, and other losses associated with the dog bite or attack. Your initial consultation is free, and if we do take your case, you won’t owe us anything until we win or settle it.
Attorney Ali Awad founded the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm, and it soon became one of the fastest-growing personal injury law firms in the country. Mr. Awad is dedicated to helping injured people and their families and has recovered millions of dollars in compensation for his clients.
In his spare time, he posts no-nonsense legal advice for more than a million followers on social media. If you would like to work with his professional legal team, call (470) 323-8779 today.
