How to Handle a Dog Bite Injury 

Dog bite are stressful and can be expensive to treat, and if you are bitten by a dog in your state, you need to know the dog bite laws of your state. So let’s answer some commonly asked questions about the dog bite laws in your state to help put your mind at ease on the off chance that somebody in your family is bitten by a dog — or your dog bites somebody.

A dog bite lawyer is going to be able to tell you that under law the owner of the dog is responsible if their dog bites a person; this is great news for somebody who is bitten by a dog. The dog owner is responsible if their dog is biting people on public or private property including their own home. Some states are very strict and liability and this means that the dog owner will be responsible even if they did not know that their dog is dangerous and their dog did not have a history of being dangerous.

There are very few times where a dog owner is going to be exempt from the responsibility of the liability that their dog biting someone brings. If you are trespassing and you have provoked the dog, the owner will not be liable. And of course if you are bitten by a police dog in the line of duty, that dog is considered to have been working and doing its job and is therefore exempt.

Washington state, for example, is always going to favor the victims of dog bites and the law holds owners accountable for the dog’s actions at all times. This means .if you have your dog out around people, you should be diligent in ensuring that your dog is on its best behavior and is not being provoked by somebody in any way.

There is no statewide leash law in some states, however a dog bite lawyer would tell you that dog bites are very chaotic events and there are a lot of elements to deciding who is liable. So if you are out with your dog, your best bet would be to have it on a leash and have it under your control at all times.

If you’ve been bitten by a dog, you should get medical care immediately because the dog’s mouth has a lot of bacteria. You should identify both the dog and the owner of the dog, being unable to identify the dog that bit you is going to make filing a claim much harder. You should ensure that you get the dog owner’s name, contact information and home insurance information. You should identify anyone who saw the dog bite you, you should collect relevant photos and ensure that you photograph your injuries soon after your attack, ensure that the incident is reported to animal control and contact a personal injury lawyer, such as the dog bite lawyers.