Your Dog Has Bitten Someone: How To Organize Your Defense

If your dog has bitten someone and you are facing a potential lawsuit, it’s important not to panic. Before you do anything, it’s important to know what your legal obligations are. For example, you should determine if you are legally liable for the injuries sustained by the victim or not. If you are, the first option is to try to compensate the victim out of court.

Most times, this option does not work as a majority of the victims assume that the only place where they can get justice is the court. When it comes to going to court, you have no choice but to organize your defense. Whether it is civilian or police dog bites, this means hiring the best possible dog bite attorney to lead your defense.

Generally, your defense will be with respect to these four theories:

1. Statute of Limitations

This theory puts a time limit for a victim to file a lawsuit, often two years. If the victim allowed the time limit to expire before filing the case, then it’s easy for your defense lawyer to ask the court to dismiss the lawsuit.

2. Affirmative Defense

If the victim was trespassing at the time of the attack, your defense attorney can argue that the dog was performing its duty of protecting the home. This theory also includes proving to the court that the victim ignored signs of viciousness demonstrated by the dog, for example:

• A consistently barking dog

• Foaming in the animal’s mouth

• A dog trying to get off its yard

3. Contributory Negligence

This theory allows your lawyer to argue that the victim contributed to the harms sustained. The reasons to give include:

• The victim hurt the dog by either stepping on the animal’s tail or falling on it.

• The victim ignored the warning signs (such as “beware of dogs” or “Vicious dogs” and still approached the dog against those warnings

When evaluating a victim’s negligence, children are often held to a considerably more lenient standard because they are less likely to appreciate the dangers that a proven dog may pose. In fact, in most states, children below a certain age are exempted from negligence under any circumstances.

4. Provocation by the Victim

Your dog bite attorney can also argue that the victim provoked the dog and this led to the attack. Provocation applies to:

• Chasing the dog

• Hitting the dog

• Yelling at the dog

• Riding the dog

As a dog owner, you have to be familiar with the dog laws in your state. With a great lawyer by your side, you can expect the trial to go smoothly. The attorney will apply these four defense theories to your advantage.