While all of us love dogs for the faithful companionship they provide us, even the most submissive of them may snap under specific conditions. As a result, every year, millions of people around the world are bitten by dogs. It is important to note that a dog bite injury may have significant financial, medical, as well as legal ramifications. Therefore, there are several important steps to be taken after a dog bite.
Initial steps after a dog bite: Immediately after suffering a dog bite, the victim must initiate the following steps.
- Medical care: Immediate medical care is essential, particularly for puncture wounds, and injuries that are even more serious in nature. Even if the dog has been vaccinated against rabies, a puncture wound may lead to an infection. If possible, take some photos of your wound before the treatment starts.
- Information exchange: After the incident, try to contact the caretaker or owner of the dog to verify the vaccination history of the dog.
- Find witnesses: If possible, try to find individuals that may have witnessed the entire incident. Eyewitness accounts can be extremely useful if there is any need for an insurance claim or a lawsuit.
- Animal control: File a report with the local agency for animal control. This will not only help prevent future dog bites in the area, but may also help your case.
Documenting the incident: After suffering a dog bite, one of the most important tasks is to document everything in detail. Document all injuries, including the visible ones as well as their effects, such as impaired mobility, pain, trauma, or inability to do certain things. This can be done in several forms, including medical records, journal entries, photographs, and other written records.
Documentation of the correspondences, witnesses, insurance company, and other parties can be critical while dealing with a lawsuit or an insurance provider. You should also maintain proper records of all expenses resulting from the dog bite, such as travel costs, lost wages, and medical bills.
Contact a dog bite lawyer: As dog bites are extremely common, you may find many dog bite lawyers in your area with extensive experience of handling lawsuits, settlements, and insurance claims related to dog bites. Many of these lawyers have a track record of arriving at the correct and fair compensation for many dog bite victims. Most of the US states have their own dog bite laws, and the lawyers can assess the probability of success of the victim based on these laws.
Hiring a dog bite attorney also helps deal with the insurance company of the other party, and negotiating a justified settlement. This can be useful because these attorneys are well acquainted with the procedures of insurance companies, and are well aware of the best arguments.
Explore your legal options: In order to ensure the required medical care and legal outcome, an individual must have a clear idea about what should be done after a dog bite. However, it is very difficult to understand which of the state laws apply to a specific dog bite case. These laws have a lot to do with the compensation types, and the likelihood of the victim to receive full settlement.
A study conducted by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) suggested that approximately 4.7 million dog bite cases take place every year in the United States. More importantly, about 800,000 of these bite victims end up requiring medical care. This brief article will not only help the victims take proper care of their injury, but be knowledgeable about seeking claims and settlements as specified by the law. Remember to take proper care of a dog, as dogs will often act out if they do not have all their needs met and feel loved by their family.
