Dog Bites – Advice From a New York Personal Injury Attorney
It’s no secret that in New York City and in other areas of New York State, people are in close proximity to each other. That can mean that when dogs and their owners are out and about, dog bites can happen. We usually think of these things as something that happens in childhood, once, unpleasant but minor. That’s not true, though. Dog bites can be very serious indeed, and if you’re the victim of a dog bite, you need to consult a New York personal injury attorney immediately.
What to do if you are the victim of a dog bite
Collect information about the dog
Get information from the dog’s owner about current shots and general health. This is done to make sure you haven’t been unduly exposed to diseases like rabies.·
Contact animal control or the police if necessary
If the animal appears particularly dangerous or has been quite aggressive, contact animal control or the police immediately to get the animal contained and perhaps quarantined. If the animal has a history of aggression and has bit other people before, this is also something your personal injury attorney in Nassau (see below) will want to know as part of the facts of your case.·
Take pictures of the wound
The first thing you should do if you are the victim of a dog bite is to take pictures of your wound. Do this before any treatment has taken place, because you’ll need pictures of the fresh wound to use as evidence in your case. In addition, gather other facts as necessary person pursuant to your case.·
Get medical treatment for your dog bite, even if you don’t think it’s serious. Even minor dog bites can become seriously infected, in part because they are puncture wounds. Left unattended, these can fester and can become infected very quickly, largely because of the germs present in the dog’s saliva. Your doctor should keep careful records of the treatment received, in case they will be needed for court, later.·
Contact a personal injury attorney in Nassau, Suffolk County, or NYC if your case is serious
If you’ve received medical treatment and your injury appears very serious or may even be disfiguring, contact a Suffolk personal injury lawyer to determine whether not your case has merit such that it should be pursued for settlement or jury award in court. Your lawyer will look into your case to determine whether not it’s serious enough to have caused you significant pain and suffering, lost wages because of missed work, or even disability. In addition, your lawyer will seek to recover damages based upon medical expenses as a result of the bite.
What happens when you contact a personal injury lawyer in NYC?
Your lawyer will review your case to make sure it has merit. Not all dogs bite cases will qualify; if the injury is not serious, your case will likely not qualify for compensation, and this is especially true if you didn’t need to receive medical treatment for the bite.
If you case does have merit, though, your New York personal injury lawyer will agree to take your case on, usually on a contingency basis – which means you do not pay until your case is settled.
For questions about this or any other aspect of the law, feel free to contact me directly at 516.358.6900 or RJaffe@lcjLawFirm.com
