Owning a dog involves quite a bit of responsibility. You have to make sure your pet is fed and has plenty of water as well as a safe place to sleep. It’s also important to maintain vaccines for your dog to prevent making other animals and people sick and to keep your pet healthy. Sometimes, a dog could act in a way that is negative toward another person whether it’s out of fear, anger, or another issue that the animal is experiencing. These acts could involve your dog biting another person. If this happens, there are a few legal steps that you should consider.
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1- Find Representation
If the victim decides to take you to court after a dog bite, it’s beneficial to have an attorney who can represent you. This should be someone who works with personal injury claims. Maintain all pictures and records that you have exchanged with the victim, police officers, or legal representatives. Try to stay calm throughout the court hearing. If it’s determined that your dog did bite the victim and an award is granted, it could include compensation for medical expenses as well as pain and suffering.
2- Review the Bite
As soon as a dog bite occurs, you should try to offer as much medical assistance as possible. You could call emergency personnel to come to the scene to provide treatment so that the victim does not have to think about making that call. Try to gather supplies that are needed to help stop any bleeding, such as gauze and warm water to wash the area. This is a good time to take pictures of the bite so that you have documentation of what happened. The victim will likely take pictures as well to provide to an attorney or an insurance company.
3- Keep Up With the Documents
There are a few documents that you might need to maintain after a dog bite. One of these is a copy of your insurance card. You should also give the victim a document with your name and phone number so that they can get in touch with you if they have questions and so that their attorney or another representative can contact you as well. This is also a time to review your insurance documents to determine if there are any deductibles that you need to pay or if dog bites are covered by your insurance company. It could be a good idea to contact an attorney yourself just so that you have someone on your side in order to show that you have cooperated in every way possible. Another important document to have on hand is your dog’s vaccination record and recent details about veterinarian visits. Your dog’s rabies vaccine is one of the most important to have a record of as this could pose an issue if your dog is not protected.
While owning a dog can be fun, exciting, and a source of companionship, it’s important to monitor your dog to prevent unwanted bites from other people. If a bite occurs, try to stay calm while cooperating with all of the parties involved.