Orange County Dog Bite Lawyer

The dog must be quarantined just in case the dog has rabies. The owners and keepers of the dog must provide their identifying information to the bite victim as soon as possible. They shouldn’t exceed more than 48 hours. The bite victim should be able to provide the owner’s name, telephone number, and registration number for the dog.

Why Should I Hire an Orange County Dog Bite Lawyer?

We need to know the benefits of hiring a dog bite attorney after a dog attack. You don’t want to nurse injuries without the owner of the dog taking responsibility for the damage. If you have suffered from acute injuries resulting from dog bites, you need to hire an attorney to help you. Hiring a dog bite attorney is great because they will evaluate your claim and tell you whether you should continue with the claim or not. The attorney will also check your past cases and medical signs before they help you get compensation. The other reason to hire a dog bite attorney is if the injuries have caused you to take some time off work. If your injuries cause you to take some time off work, you will lose your wages. Having an attorney by your side is advisable because they help fight for your rights, especially if your employer isn’t supportive enough. There are also instances when the attack may result in you being disfigured. A good attorney will be able to help you get justice through compensation. It is good to contact your dog bite lawyer as soon as the attack happens so that there is evidence of the attack.

Who Is Responsible for Dog Bite Injuries?

Let us discuss the issue of liability when it comes to dog bite injuries in Orange county. When you suffer from a dog bite, you are going to need medical treatment. The cost of treatment should be catered to by the responsible party. This is why you need to understand liability when it comes to dog bites in Orange County. Apart from physical injury, you may also suffer from trauma due to the dog’s attack. If the accident is severe, you may even have to take some time off to heal. It is only fair for the responsible party to compensate the victim for the damages. You also need to take responsibility on your side such that you try to fight off a dog if it happens to start the attack. Failure to this may result in you sustaining additional damages from the attack.

Strict Liability

Under the strict liability statute, the dog owner is responsible for damages caused by their dog’s bites. It doesn’t matter whether the dog has bitten another person or not. This applies if the victim was bitten in a public place or if the victim was lawfully present in a private place. If a child enters a neighbor’s compound to recover their toy, the child may be trespassing, and the strict liability statute might not apply in this case. If the owner had reasons to believe that the dog has dangerous propensities, the owner would be held liable for the attack. Proving that the owner knew about the dog’s viciousness is difficult. This is why you need to hire a lawyer to resolve legal damages from a dog’s attack. The other thing that strict liability covers are the dog bites. As much as a large dog may be capable of doing other things that might cause injury, those other behaviors might not be covered by the statute. We also need to remember that the strict liability statute only applies to the owner of the dog. If the dog attacked you when they were under the care of a keeper, that keeper might not be strictly liable. The other exceptions to the strict liability include if the victim performed a paid service involving the dog.

What Type of Compensation Can I Expect in a Dog Bite Case?

We need to understand the laws governing dog bites in Orange County to determine whether or not we are going to get compensated. You always have to remember that the success of your injury claim is not certain. As much as the responsibility of the dog bite injury lies on the shoulder of the dog’s owner, you are not going to get compensation, especially if you were trespassing at the time of the incident, or provoked by the dog before the attack. Depending on the extent of the attack, a dog victim may be entitled to recover compensation for lost wages, scarring, pain and suffering, medical expenses, and property damages. In other cases, you may find that the bite victim may be entitled to punitive damages, which are usually awarded for the owner’s behavior. If, for example, the dog owner knew that the dog was dangerous and the owner allowed the dog to run around, and the dog happened to attack you, then the jury could ask for punitive damages to apply.