More Thoughts from an Orange County Dog Bite Attorney
Dog bites are among the most common reasons why people consult with personal injury attorneys, though car accidents are number one on the list. Why do these cases occur so often that you can find ads specifically for a dog bite lawyer? The reasons go well beyond the sheer number of dogs in the state of California.
The Potential Financial Cost
Personal injury cases allow someone to sue for the damages they’ve suffered. Their damages include but are not limited to medical bills, vet bills (if relevant), lost wages, and pain and suffering. A dog bite might be dismissed as a nip, but it could easily lead to stitches and an infection. A dog bite attack that leads to multiple bites or serious tears can land someone in the hospital. It can also lead to claims of emotional pain and suffering, since nightmares about the dog attack could be considered disabling. This makes dog bite cases large enough for many attorneys to take them on a contingency basis, and the potential payout makes it worthwhile to hire an attorney to defend you.
The Issues Dealing with Insurance
Your homeowner’s insurance may or may not cover the claim someone files against you when bitten. For example, insurers generally don’t cover any claims for dangerous breeds, citing the significant risk of bites by such animals. It doesn’t matter how sweet you think your pit bull is, because your property insurance simply may not cover anything the dog does. If the dog has been trained to protect you, you could be at increased risk of a lawsuit, too. On the other hand, you could be entirely liable for the damages if you didn’t control your dogs. For example, you could be sued if your dogs have a history of getting out of the yard and running around. If your pets have bitten other animals or people in the past, you will either see your insurance premiums go up or get canceled.
This is why you must take reasonable and ordinary precautions to protect others from the animal as well as document them. And it means you must prove that others provoked the animal or intentionally bypassed these protections to protect yourself from a lawsuit. The classic example is when the dog attacks someone breaking into your home. The would-be assailant doesn’t have a personal injury case, because they were in violation of the law trying to break into your home. But you could face a criminal injury case if your dog gets out and tries to bite a jogger or mauls the dog someone else is walking.
The Potential Criminal Repercussions
Dog bites can lead to criminal cases, especially if it is a repeat offense. For example, causing an animal to fight another animal can lead to criminal charges. Ordering your dog to attack someone else’s dog to maim it and cause emotional distress to the owner could thus lead to animal cruelty charges as well as a personal injury case. After all, you’re liable for the vet bills for the injured pet and emotional harm to the owner. If your dog is classified as dangerous because it has bitten or attacked others before, you could be charged with a crime: failure to control a dangerous animal. Depending on the circumstances, this could be a misdemeanor or a felony in California. You could be charged with negligent homicide if your dogs have killed someone.
Note that if you’re attacked by such an animal, you can file a personal injury suit in civil court in addition to filing criminal charges.
Should you experience a dog bite and need legal help, please contact Orange County’s dog bite lawyer, Kyle Scott in Tustin, CA. 714-544-1460. As we say (and we mean it), if you are hurt, we can help!