Legal Options in Dog Bite Cases

Every year, animals attack millions of Americans. A few of these incidents are little more than annoying. But most cause serious physical and emotional injuries.

Physically, dog bite knockdowns usually cause head injuries and severe broken bones. Then, when dogs bite, their teeth cause deep puncture wounds as well as severe tearing lacerations. Emotionally, many dog bite victims develop an unnatural fear of all dogs that permanently limits their activities.

Because of these severe and permanent injuries, an Oceanside personal injury lawyer can obtain substantial compensation for these victims. This compensation usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering.

Dangerous Dog Classifications

Many California dog bite attacks involve dogs that have bitten people before. If that victim reported that prior attack to authorities, they usually give the animal one of the following two labels:

• Potentially Dangerous: A dog can be classified as potentially dangerous if it has attacked a person or another animal twice within a three-year period or it’s bitten someone once and caused minor injuries.
• Vicious: If a dog has ever severely injured or killed someone even once or attacked another animal or person more than twice during the previous three years, that dog may be classified as vicious.

These classifications could be relevant in one of two ways. First, if you are injured by a dog that is classified as either potentially dangerous or vicious and the owner did not take the precautions required by law, the subsequent attack could lead to criminal charges against that dog owner.

Second, and more importantly for an Oceanside personal injury lawyer, if you are injured by a potentially dangerous or vicious dog, the owner was aware of the dog’s potentially dangerous or vicious nature, and chose not to do anything about it, the liability case against the dog owner is stronger, opening up more legal options.

Dog Bite Options

If a vicious dog bites an owner, negligence is usually an option. Owners have a duty of care to control vicious animals, usually by restraining them according to the law. If a breach of duty causes injury, an attorney can obtain compensation in court.

Actually, most dog bite cases settle out of court. Many of these cases settle before an attorney must file legal paperwork. Owners of vicious animals who fail to control them appear not only negligent, but also reckless.

The negligence per se rule may apply in some of these cases. If an animal restraint law violation substantially causes injury, the owner could be liable for damages as a matter of law.

However, if a potentially dangerous dog causes an injury, or the dog hasn’t attacked anyone previously, the strict liability law is usually the best approach. Owners are automatically liable for dog bite damages, unless the victim provoked the dog or a few other limited exceptions apply. Provocation, which is almost akin to torturing, has a very narrow meaning in this context.

Many attorneys sparingly use the broad strict liability law because many pet owner jurors believe it imposes an unfair risk on owners who rescue dogs with troubled backgrounds.

Count on a Hard-Working San Diego County Lawyer

Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a confidential consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Oceanside, contact the Pursley Law Firm. We routinely handle matters throughout SoCal.