#dogbitemasters

Thousands of people are victims of dog bites, every year in California. Victims are not aware whether they should file a lawsuit against the owners or the people responsible for the dog who attacked? Most victims are not able to receive an evaluation for their case, and they end up paying costs for their own losses and medical expenses, rather than receiving the deserving damages for the attack.

Each dog bite attack case is different from the other. Each case has different facts, involves different people and different dogs and the injuries are different too. Hence it is very important that each and every dog bite attack case should be evaluated thoroughly by an experienced dog bite attorney, before filing a lawsuit or undertaking any legal action.

Below mentioned are criteria, which a victim or his family can evaluate and decide whether they should proceed with a lawsuit or not:

The Facts

Any evaluation of a dog bite case, firstly depends on the facts. Some of the questions which can help in gathering the facts are:

1: Where did the dog bite attack happen?

2: Was it on public property or private property?

3: Were you attacked because you were trespassing?

4: What was the breed or type of dog?

5: Did you do anything to provoke the dog for attack?

6: Did you receive medical treatment after the attack?

7: What kind of injuries did you suffer?

A lawsuit depends on the actual facts of the incident, after receiving the facts, the lawyers can start the analysis of the dog bite injury.

Witnesses

When gathering facts of the attack, it is really helpful if you have witnesses to the incident. These witnesses can speak for you and mention what happened and how the victim was wronged.

Liability

A dog bite attack evaluation is dependent on the possible liability of the defendant. In California because it is a strict liability jurisdiction, which means that the dog’s owner is liable for any dog bite attack, excluding some exceptions.

Insurance

A dog bite attack evaluation needs to also analyze whether the dog’s owner, or the person responsible for the dog at the time of attack, was insured at the time of the attack. The absence of insurance cannot stop the victim from filing a lawsuit and claiming damages, however the absence can limit the amount the victim can recover.

Damages

Every injury case always involves damages. A person will not undertake a legal action, if he/she has not suffered a loss of any kind. A victim of dog attack can face losses like medical costs, loss of income, emotional loss (pain and suffering) etc.

An organization known as “For Kids’ Sake” has taken upon an initiative called the “Safety Around Dogs Program”. As a part of this program, they have compiled statistics pertaining to dog bite attacks on children in the United States. Listed below are some of the shocking statistics: 

1: Almost 50% of the children aged 12 or below have been bitten by a dog once.

2: Almost 80% of the fatal attacks by dog, have been on children.

3: Around ¾ of the cases of dog bite injuries on children below age 10, are on the face.

4: Children aged between 5 to 9 years of age have faced the highest number of dog bite attacks.