Imagine you are out running and you are chased by a dog. If you aren’t able to get away and the dog bites you, who is responsible for your injuries and potential damages? Dog-bite laws differ from state to state, so what you are entitled to recover and the steps you have to take will depend on where you live. But in general, if you are bitten, it is critical to take some immediate steps so that you can prove both that an owner’s dog bit you and that you sought prompt medical care for any injuries you sustained as a result.
So the question is, what to do when a dog bites you? If you are bitten by someone else’s dog and are injured, the first thing you will want to do is to identify the owner of the dog. That is easy if you are at someone’s house. But if you are out somewhere and the dog’s owner is not around, then it can be problematic to figure out who the dog actually belongs to. If you were bitten, don’t try to get close to the dog again to see if it has tags. Just try to remember the characteristics of the dog, the breed, and where the incident happened.
Make the owner aware that you have been bitten
If you need to seek medical attention, you will want to let the owner of the dog know that you were bitten and to describe the events that surrounded the dog bite. In some states, if you provoked the dog in any way then you might not get the compensation you need; in other states that go by strict liability, you do not have to prove that the owner was negligent or that you didn’t provoke the dog. But making the owner aware is imperative, so that if you have to file a suit, they are aware of your injuries and how they happened.
Seek medical care
If you were bitten at all, then it is imperative that you seek medical care immediately. Most dog bites aren’t that dangerous unless the dog did not have their rabies vaccination or they broke the skin; you do need to take the proper steps to ensure that the bite doesn’t become infected. Seek medical care to have the wound looked at to ensure that you are washing it correctly, and to get antibiotics if needed.
Call animal control
If you were bitten at a friend or neighbor’s house, then you might not want to call animal control. If the dog owner can prove that the dog’s shots were up-to-date, then there might not be a reason to call. However, if you were bitten by a dog and you don’t know who the owner is, or you don’t know if the dog’s shots are up-to-date, then animal control will have to take the dog and put them into quarantine for 72 hours for surveillance. They will need to ensure that the dog is healthy and rabies-free. If you go to the hospital, they might make a call to animal control for you.
Call a personal injury lawyer
If the dog’s owner is unwilling to take responsibility or to compensate you for what their dog did, then it might be necessary for you to call a personal injury attorney. There are times when a person’s homeowners’ insurance will cover a dog bite if it happened at the owner’s home. But you will want to hire an attorney to ensure that you get the compensation you deserve and to negotiate a fair settlement with the insurance company.
If the dog bit you and the owners refuse to pay or don’t have any insurance, then in some states, you might have to take them to court to receive compensation for your injuries. If you can prove your case in court, it is a personal injury one, which means you are entitled to both economic and noneconomic damages.
Although dog-bite laws vary from state to state, with some going by the “one-bite” rule and others following the rule of strict liability, if you are bitten by a dog and injured, the only way to protect yourself is to consult a personal injury attorney. They will have the expertise to sort through the details and get you the compensation you deserve.
