Who is responsible?
Every year more than about 5 million people in North America are bitten by animals. Some of bites are serious enough to go and see a doctor. Majority of these types of personal injury are caused by dogs. Yes, our lovely pets can hurt us very seriously. Indeed, they are all predators in the first place. Fortunately, dogs rarely engage in a continued attack on a person. More likely a dog bites quickly because of misdirected protectiveness, fear or nervousness. It is in the dog's owner responsibility to take proper care of the animal and prevent biting accidents. That is on what all states are agree: owners of dogs, not the individual dogs, are responsible when biting or attack occurs.
Know your legal rights
An emergency room of a hospital is, probably, the best place to go when a person is injured by an animal. Indeed, every year about 800,000 bites require a medical attention. When first pain is gone and stitches are applied there will be a bill from a hospital. You will probably consider that you are entitled for some compensation. And you are absolutely right! Your ability to recover compensation depends on where you were bitten or attacked because laws concerning animal and dog bites vary between cities and states. In some instances, a homeowners insurance policy will cover and pay you for damages caused by animal or dog attack or bite. But in any case, the dogs' owners are in most cases responsible for paying all injury related bills. They are legally responsible to prevent their pets from injuring people. If an animal hurts someone, the owner will probably have to reimburse the victim for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and lost wages. You should know that the law allows to fight back while being under animal or dog attack. These include all required measures of stopping the animal, even killing. But, as mentioned earlier, dogs are rarely unstoppable.
If you were injured
Even in a case of a minor scratch, and, of course, when someone is bitten, you need to get name and phone number of animal's owner. If there is a witness – get their information too. Sometimes you can consider the accident as a minor one, but later everything can change. Then you should seek for a medical help. And do not forget to keep all medical records because you will probably need them. If the accident has gone that far that you are treated by a doctor, you are definitely a candidate for reimbursement. These medical records and witnesses accounts are your only documents. Animal control authorities should know about the accident too. This is especially important if the animal's owner is not known. You are absolutely need to be sure that the dog is healthy. The dog's owner should provide a prove of current rabies vaccination. Otherwise authorities will try to catch it to be quarantined for seven to twenty days in a dog pound.
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Animal & Dog Bites
