Animal Bites

Every year, thousands of Americans are bitten by animals―most often dogs. In many cases, a person bitten by an animal may have a legal right to recover damages from the animal’s owner or another responsible party.

If An Animal Bites You

The first thing you should do if you are bitten by an animal is to seek immediate medical attention. If you are not treated, an animal bite can cause serious injury, infection, and even death if the animal was diseased. Once you have been medically evaluated, you should also consider consulting a lawyer with experience in animal bite cases. Attorney Howard B. Herskowitz will be able to tell you whether you have a legal claim, and what damages you may be able to recover. You should keep detailed information about the circumstances surrounding your animal bite. You should provide the name and phone number of the animal’s owner, witnesses and neighbors’ names. Also, be sure to take photographs of your injuries and the area where the strike occurred, when possible.

Owner Liability for Dog/Animal Bites

In deciding who is responsible for damages from an animal bite, the first thing to determine is: who is the owner of the animal? Some states impose what is known as “strict liability” upon animal owners whose animals bite or attack others. Under the theory of strict liability, an owner is legally responsible (“liable”) for an animal bite, regardless of whether the owner did anything wrong with respect to protecting others from attack. Under this theory, even if the owner had no reason to know that his or her animal was dangerous, if the animal bit someone, the owner would still be liable. In other states, the owner of an animal can be held liable for the injuries it inflicts, provided that the owner knew (or had reason to know) that the animal had “dangerous propensities.” In other words, if an animal owner knows that his or her animal is dangerous and could cause injury to a person, the animal owner can be held liable for the animal’s harmful actions.

Determining whether an owner knew of an animal’s “dangerous propensities” can be difficult. The first question that often arises in making this determination is whether the owner needs to know of the particular animal’s potential for harm, or whether the owner only needs to know that type of animal is potentially harmful. For example, when a person has a pit bull as a pet, does that mean the owner knows or should know the pet will be harmful, just because, in general, pit bulls can be harmful?

Potential Defenses in Dog/Animal Bite Cases

There are instances in which an owner of a vicious animal might not be held liable for an attack by the animal. For example, if the animal owner adequately warned other people that