Articles Posted in Dog Bites

Over the weekend, about 9,000 veterinarians from all over the country and world will assemble at the Georgia World Congress Center for the annual convention of the American Veterinarian Medical Association. The event kicked off on July 31st, and is expected to run through August 3rd. Atlanta will play host to thousands of animal experts from around the world, who will discuss animal welfare issues, including food safety, behavior modification, and advances in veterinary medicine. They’re also expected to focus on dog bite prevention.

Earlier this month, an Atlanta woman suffered serious injuries in a dog bite attack involving pit bulls. She was merely walking down the street when the dogs jumped at her. The owner of the dogs has been cited for about 20 violations, including improper restraint, canine on public property, canine on private property, failure to display rabies and vaccination tags, and failure to provide adequate water and shelter. The owner of the dog had been out-of-town, and a friend had been caring for the animals. Under current Georgia law, many of these violations will be sufficient to hold the dog owner (and possibly the person who was caring for the dogs while the owner was away) liable for the injuries caused by the dog attacks. It is important that the legal process be allowed to play out and that the dog owner’s have a hearing in court to determine whether they are guilty of the leash laws and other statute violations fo which they have been cited.

With some of the best animal and dog experts around the country gathering in Atlanta over the next couple of days, as a Georgia dog bite lawyer, I would like these vets to bring more attention to the problem of dog bites in Georgia. There’s definitely a need for greater awareness, especially when it comes to the care of certain breeds, such as pit bulls, german shepherds, chow chows and Doberman Pinschers, to name a few. I notice that too many people jump at the chance to rear these animals. However, very few possess the resources and the skills necessary to train these dogs.
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An Atlanta woman was brutally attacked by three pit bulls in Douglas County earlier this week while taking her morning walk on a public sidewalk. Although the dogs’ owner was out of the state at the time his three dogs attacked, Douglas County’s Solicitor-General has cited him with 20 misdemeanor charges. The Solicitor General is contemplating whether to also criminally charge the caretaker, whom the owner claimed was in charge of the dogs while he was away.

Dogs display three types of aggression: prey, pack, and defense. When dogs are in packs, especially if not adequately socialized when they are young, they can become aggressive towards people, whether provoked or not. The “pack-mentality” is simply the social attitude of dogs and how they fit in the group, but carries with it the danger that one member of the pack may become aggressive simply because of actions by other dogs in the pack. Perhaps as this incident shows, the three dogs could quickly have been led to jointly act aggressive because of an act of the other.
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Preventing a dog bite in Atlanta could be simply a matter of socializing your dog. That doesn’t mean that a well-socialized dog will never be involved in attacks. Any Atlanta dog bite lawyer will tell you that there are no ways to accurately predict animal behavior because it isn’t an exact science. There’s much about animals, including pet dogs that we don’t know, and it’s impossible to completely predict exactly what will tick them off, and make them bite.

I came across a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week, about dog socialization. Socialization of dogs may be one of the many things that a dog owner can do to prevent the risks of a bite. Most emphasis on responsible dog ownership centers on feeding, training and exercising these animals. While all of these are important, it’s also essential that you expose your dog to a variety of people from an early age.
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When Atlanta animal control officers respond to the scene of a dog bite, whether it is a dog biting another dog, or a dog biting a human being, they do not have the powers to impound the animal. All they can do is cite the owner of the dog for failing to control a vicious or dangerous animal. Obviously, it’s not uncommon to find victims of such dog bites become utterly frustrated at what they see as lack of punishment for the dog owner.

Last week, two pit bulls that were running loose at a home in Kennesaw in Cobb County managed to escape the yard, and get into the yard next door. There, they attacked the family pet, a hapless poodle, that had little chance against the pit bulls. The poodle’s owner and animal control officers who arrived at the scene, tried to pry the jaws of the dogs off the poodle, but were not successful. The poodle was seriously injured, and died.
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Atlanta dog bite lawyers have found Georgia’s dog bite laws leave a lot to be desired. First, there is a lack of complete protection for victims of dog bites. Several states have strict liability statutes, which means that the dog owner can be held liable in a bite, even if it was the very first attack by the dog. In Georgia however, there is a “one bite free” policy. For the owner to be held liable, it falls on the victim to prove that the dog was vicious, and that the owner had knowledge of the dog’s aggressiveness. Fortunately, there are other ways to prove liability under the law.
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As a loving parent of two young girls, I am deeply concerned about the recent surge of Atlanta dog bite cases in 2010. As a Georgia lawyer who specializes in representing dog bite victims, I am outraged at the number of dog owners who break the law and allow these attacks to happen by failing to control their dogs. There are two things you should know up front: (1) these dog attacks (which are happening in and around Atlanta quite frequently) cause serious long-term injuries; and (2) the dog owner is responsible to the dog bite victim for all of the damages which flow from the attack.

Once a dog attack occurs, the first inquiry is: which dog control law applies? In the greater Atlanta area, there are a number of animal control laws (or leash laws) which may apply. For instance, in the Atlanta area, the applicable law which we use to establish liability on the dog owner, can be a code from one of the cities we live in such as the City of Atlanta, City of Decatur, Marietta or a county law such as the laws in place in DeKalb County, Fulton County, Gwinnett County, Clayton County or any of the other surrounding counties.

Once the applicable jurisdiction is identified, the next step is to establish the dog owner’s negligence and liability for the injuries. This is done by proving that the law (or code) was violated and that the violation caused the injury. Often, this is not hard. Most codes essentially require the dog owner to either keep the dog adequately contained on the owner’s property or keep control over the dog when it is off the property. Hence, with few exceptions, if the dog attacks someone (usually a defenseless child), it is impossible for the owner to argue that he complied with the law. In other words, if the dog owner had complied with the law and had the dog under control, the dog would not have been able to attack.

Unfortunately, many dog owners break the law, giving their unfriendly dogs the opportunity to attack. These attacks are often on defenseless children and result in serious injuries.

Many Atlanta children are left with permanent physical and emotional scars. For instance, as this article is being written, 8-year-old Erin Ingram lays in Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. She has undergone 3 surgeries after being attacked by two aggressive American Staffordshire terriers (Pit Bulls). You do not have to look any further than recent blogs on this site to know that this scenario is far too common. An Atlanta child being mauled by one (and often more) Pit Bulls.

These children often sustain deep and permanent scars on the face, lips, forehead, neck, arms, legs and hands. This requires extensive and painful plastic surgery to correct, if possible. Many times, it is not possible to remove he scarring and the child must walk around with these scars for life. Many young children suffer permanent psychological wounds and require long-term treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, fear of dogs, fear of going outside, and depression caused by their scarred appearance.

These injuries are severe and the negligent dog owner should be held fully liable and must fully compensate the victim’s family.
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Sadly, another Atlanta child has died after being injured by a pit bull. A 5-day-old baby girl was crying in her crib when the dog (in what investigators deemed to be an apparent attempt to help the baby) climbed on top of the crib and crushed the baby’s skull. The baby died at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta after doctors valiantly tried to save her young life. Four other Georgia babies were being treated for pit bull bites when the baby was brought to the hospital. After a thorough investigation, the police and investigators determined that this was an unavoidable accident and not the result of negligence or the result of the pit bull being vicious or dangerous. The baby’s mother was in the room seconds after the dog, but it was too late.

This case really is a tragic accident and one that will not result in a lawsuit because it was a family accident in the home. However, most dog attacks occur in the neighborhood or at local parks or business establishments. When someone is attacked under these circumstances, there is a real possibility that a lawsuit will ensue.

As noted in a previous article, when spring arrives in Atlanta, so does dog bite season. As an experienced Atlanta injury lawyer who has helped clients recover for injuries suffered in dog bite cases (and as a concerned parent), I hope and pray that Atlanta-area moms and dads are especially careful to keep their kids out of harm’s way. Please do the following if you or your child is bitten by a dog or other animal:

A seven year-old Marietta girl was released from Egleston Children’s hospital in Atlanta after being treated for over a week for injuries she suffered after being attacked by a vicious pit bull dog. In a common scenario involving dog attacks in Georgia, the young girl was walking alone when the dog snuck up on and attacked the child. The young victim suffered a severe leg injury and was fortunate to not have suffered other injuries that are common in these types of attacks such as bites and wounds to the face, lips, arms, cheeks and head.

As was the case here, most dog bites occur in children, with the highest number seen in boys between the ages of five and nine years old. The head and neck are the most common site of bites in children up to age 10 years, most likely because a child’s head is close to the level of a large dog’s mouth. The arms and legs, particularly the right hand, are the most frequent site of injury for older children and adults. In addition to wounds on the face lips, arms, cheeks and head, a dog bite can lead to a range of other injuries, including scratches, deep open cuts, nerve injuries, crush injuries, and tearing away of a body part. Even though all of the injuries are significant, most often the victim suffers from emotional scarring that is, many times, unbearable. If anyone has been attacked by a larger pit bull, you know how frightening the actual attack is. Vicious dogs usually do not run to attack you while barking. They usually sneak up silently and viciously attack without notice or provocation. This causes fear and confusion while the victim is being attacked. It also leads, in many cases, to post-traumatic stress disorder and other emotional damages stemming from the attack. Finally, many dog bite victims have a life-long fear of dogs after the attack and must undergo many years of psychological counseling in order to deal with this terrible condition.

The owner of the pit bull involved in the attack discussed above was cited under the Cobb County Ordinances for maintaining a vicious animal and not properly controlling the animal. Under the current laws, the owner is legally responsible for all injuries caused by the attack if she is found guilty of the animal control charges. While many Georgia injury lawyers are still under the impression that this type of attack is subject to the “one bite” rule (i.e., the dog owner is not liable unless she knew based on a prior attack that the dog is vicious or had a propensity to attack), this is not the current state of the law in most parts of Georgia.
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This is dog bite season, and with increased numbers of dog bites occurring in Georgia comes a need for information for the victims. You should consider doing the following if you are bit by a dog or other animal:

(1) Identify the best you can the animal that bit you. This is important for a number of reasons. First, it may save you the trouble and pain of having to undergo rabies treatments. Second, the animal’s owner may be legally liable to you for the damages you suffer because of the incident. Finally, the animal may pose a danger to others if left in public, and you should make sure that the proper authorities investigate the situation so that they can make appropriate arrangments to safeguard the public.Find out the owner’s name, the dog’s name, or anything else that will help you later identify the animal. Also, take a picture of the animal, if you can. This is always helpful.
(2) Seek medical attention. Complications from dog bites are rare, but potentially deadly. If you are a victim of a dog bite in Georgia, you should seek medical attention for you injureis as soon as possible after the attack. Once you see the doctor, make sure to follow the doctor’s advice. This will greatly reduce the possibility of potential complications and a disastorous outcome. Also, this is an important step to document your injuries. Many clients under treat as they may feel it is not necessary, however this only works against you if you want to bring a lawsuit later on. This is especially troublesome if the injuries worsen over time.
(3) Seek to find out the animal owner’s name, address, telephone number and drivers license number, if he or she will give you this information. It would also be helpful to know the owner’s insurance company and insurance agent’s name. Once the insurance information is determined, the claim should be set up with the homeowners’/dog owners’ insurance company to make sure that the claim will be honored. As with many other types of personal injury claims, obtaining a complete copy of the insurance policy is one of the first steps that the plaintiff’s lawyer will take, in order to properly pursue a dog bite case.

While it is important to note the size and type of the dog that attacked you, this is not really a determining factor as to whether the dog would be considered to be a “dangerous animal”.  The most important factor in this regard is whether the dog has bitten someone before or if the dog has attempted to attack and innocent bystander without provocation in prior instances. If this is the case, the dog will be considered vicious in the chance of succeeding in any lawsuit based upon the dog tag is substantially increased.

This information should help you if suddenly become the victim of a dog bite.
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