The common phrase, “A dog is man’s best friend” is not always the case. When a dog is in the hands of a negligent owner, or is caught in a frightening situation, it can lash out in a way that can cause serious injury or even death to its victim.
Every year, dogs bite more than 4.5 million people. Approximately 20 percent of those require medical care and out of those, 27,000 will need reconstructive surgery. In 2017, 39 people in the U./S. were killed by dog bite attacks. Three of those killed were children living in Texas.
If you or someone you love, perhaps your child, was the victim of a dog bite in Austin, you deserve compensation for the damages you incurred. That may not always be easy, but at Eric Ramos Law, we can help.
The dog bite was the result of the owner’s negligence in failing to exercise reasonable control of the dog.
The owner knew the dog had either acted aggressively or had bitten someone in the past.
In some cases, if the dog is known to be “vicious, dangerous or mischievous,” and you prove the bite resulted from this known nature, Texas courts will apply strict liability principles and hold the owner liable for having a dangerous dog. This classification may be applied to a dog that is known to have bitten before.
At the Austin Law Office of Eric Ramos, we take very seriously the harm suffered by a dog bite victim. We also know that very often, the owner of the dog is a friend of the family, so the victim is hesitant to file a legal action to collect damages.
In most situations, the owners are covered by their homeowner’s or renter’s insurance policy. At our law firm, we generally will not take a dog bite case unless the dog owner has insurance. We can generally settle the case through fair negotiations with the insurer.
Your current and future medical expenses, including reconstructive surgery and rehabilitation if required.
Current and future lost wages due to time off of work, or lost earning capacity for the future.
Compensation for life-long scarring or disfigurement.
Seek immediate medical attention. Do this even if the bite does not seem serious. You need to be sure the dog is immunized against rabies. You may need a tetanus shot. Also, infections commonly arise from a dog bite. This is true whether the bite resulted in a puncture wound or laceration.
Get contact information from the owner. Find out how to contact the dog owner and their insurance carrier if possible. Take a picture of their photo I.D.
Document. Document what happened by taking pictures of the scene where it happened, of the dog, of the surrounding environment, and particularly of the injury.
Report the bite to law enforcement. This needs to be done to preserve evidence and to have an investigative report prepared. The police will determine if the dog’s immunizations are up to date and, if not, quarantine the animal to be sure it does not have rabies or some other infectious disease.
Contact the Austin dog bite and animal attack attorneys at the Law Office of Eric Ramos for a free consultation. If you cannot come to us, we can likely arrange to come to you. Our phone number is (512) 648-4311.
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