Dog Bites

DECATUR DOG BITE INJURY ATTORNEY

Huntsville Dog Bite Lawyer Near Me

We can help you in Madison, Morgan, Lawrence and Limestone Counties and the surrounding areas.

Have you or a loved one been bitten by a neighbor’s dog in Decatur or Huntsville, Alabama? Are the bills piling up, and the insurance company is giving you the run around? According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 800,000 dog bites require medical attention each year. According to the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh‘s Dog Attack Facts & Figures, that means there are 2,400 dog attacks every day, 100 each hour, or one every 36 seconds. Dog bites often leave serious and permanent physical and psychological scars. When you have been seriously injured by a dog bite, you need to call an attorney. Randy W. Ferguson is Decatur and Huntsville’s premier dog bite injury lawyer. We offer no obligation, FREE CONSULTATIONS. We also have a LOWEST FEE GUARANTEE. Home and hospital visits are available if you are unable to come to our Huntsville or Decatur offices. Call 256-534-3435 or 256-350-7200. We are here to help.

Common Types of Alabama Dog Bite Injuries

Our Huntsville dog bite lawyers pursue cases for many different types of injuries caused by dog bites. These include:

• Abrasions
• Lacerations
• Punctures
• Deep contusions
• Tissue loss and avulsion
• Crush injuries
• Fractured bones
• Nerve injuries
• Sprain / strain injuries
• Scars
• Amputations
• Wrongful death
• Infections such as rabies, cellulitis, and C-carnivorous infections

What to do After a Dog Bite

Make sure to do the following after any dog bite:

• Obtain the names and addresses of witnesses, the dog owner, and the people who had custody of the dog when it bit you.
• Take photographs of the wounds and dog.
• If you suffer a dog bite, it is crucial to first address your medical needs by seeking prompt treatment, which may include wound care and possible tetanus or rabies vaccinations depending on the circumstances. See a doctor to document your injuries and obtain treatment.
• Go to the agency that does animal control in your jurisdiction and make a report. Following medical care, you should report the incident to your local animal control agency with details of the bite, the dog, and its owner. This agency can verify the rabies vaccination status of the dog and may investigate further, including whether the dog has shown previous signs of aggression, and whether the owner has violated local laws regarding pet ownership.
• Additionally, consider consulting with a lawyer who specializes in animal bite cases to explore your legal rights and potential compensation for injuries and damages sustained. They can help you understand the laws in your area and what steps you should take next. Lastly, follow up with your healthcare provider to address any concerns about rabies or other infections and to receive additional care as needed.

Dogs Most Likely to Bite

The Centers for Disease Control studies dog bite incidents, including the types of dogs most likely to bite. The breeds that the CDC considers most at-risk include:

• Pit bulls
• Rottweilers
• German shepherds
• Huskies
• Alaskan malamutes
• Doberman pinschers
• Chows
• Great Danes
• Saint Bernards
• Akitas

Damages in Dog Bite Cases

A dog bite victim may incur many different kinds of damages and losses, including the following:

• Medical Bills
• Future Medicals
• Rehabilitation
• Wage loss
• Pain and suffering
• Disfigurement resulting from scars
• Long-term emotional scars

How to Avoid Dog Bites to Children

Just as we teach our children to practice safety in other situations, we can teach them to be safe around dogs. The most important lessons for children to learn are not to chase or tease dogs that they know and to avoid dogs that they don’t know. Some pet owners try their best to help their dogs, especially if they are prone to anxiety, They look for the best cbd oil for dogs that can help with stress, ensuring that they are less likely to lash out and attack anyone.
The following rules will help prevent your child from receiving a bite wound:

• Treat all dogs as potentially dangerous unless supervised by an adult.
• Children should never be alone with a dog.
• Never approach a restrained or confined dog.
• Never approach a barking dog, even if he is wagging his tail.
• Never take a toy or food from a dog.
• Never disturb a sleeping dog.
• Never discipline a dog by hitting it.

How can a dog owner be held responsible for medical bills and expenses if their dog bites someone in Huntsville, Alabama?

In Huntsville, Alabama, a dog owner can be held liable for medical expenses and other costs if their dog bites someone. Liability is contingent on the specific circumstances surrounding the incident. Crucially, Alabama’s dog bite statute (Ala. Code § 3-6-1) clarifies that the owner is responsible if the bite occurs when the victim is legally present on the property or if the victim was chased off the property by the dog. This statute establishes a clear basis for seeking compensation through a personal injury claim, provided that the conditions of the incident fall within these legal parameters.

How do I receive compensation for my dog bite injury?

If you have been the victim of a dog bite, it is important to know that you have a legal right to compensation. The law holds dog owners responsible for injuries caused by their pets, and homeowners and renters’ insurance policies typically cover damages related to dog bites. By filing a claim with the owner’s insurance company, you can seek the compensation you deserve for your injuries and related expenses. Don’t let the fear of a complicated claims process or a low settlement offer stop you from seeking justice. In 2023, more than a third of all homeowners’ insurance liability claims paid out were related to dog bites, with an average payout of over $37,000. With this knowledge, you can be prepared for the potential outcomes of your claim and set realistic expectations for compensation. Take action and fight for your rights as a victim of a dog bite.

To receive compensation for a dog bite injury, you must first establish the dog owner’s responsibility for the harm caused. Once liability is confirmed, the next step is to file a claim with the owner’s insurance provider. Usually, injuries from dog bites are covered under the owner’s homeowner or renter insurance policies. As dog bite incidents have become more frequent, they form a major part of liability claims under home insurance, greatly increasing the financial stakes. For managing your compensation, the insurance company might propose a settlement, which has seen average costs rising substantially in recent times.

What should you do when a dog bites you?

If you are bitten by a dog, make sure to do the following:
1. Obtain the names and addresses of witnesses, the dog owner, and the people who had custody of the dog when it bit you.
2. Take photographs of the wounds and the dog.
3. See a doctor to document your injuries and obtain treatment. Consult with your doctor about whether you are at risk of rabies and need follow-up treatment.
4. Go to the agency that does animal control in your jurisdiction and make a report. Provide detailed information about the dog owner, a description of the dog, and where the attack occurred. Confirm with animal control whether the dog is up-to-date on rabies vaccinations and discuss if the dog needs to be tested for rabies. Animal control may also issue a citation to the dog owner if the animal was not properly confined.
5. Get a qualified dog bite attorney to represent you and help you with your insurance claim. Your attorney will need details such as how the bite happened, the dog’s immunization status, including the date of the last rabies shot, and any documentation or photographs you have collected.
6. Attempt to secure a printed certificate from the dog owner showing the date of the dog’s last immunization. This can be crucial for your case and for determining your health risk.
These steps will help you handle the immediate aftermath of a dog bite effectively, ensuring that both your health and your legal rights are protected.

Alabama Dog Law

Liability Statute For Dog Bites Occurring On Dog Owner’s Property
Alabama has a statute that makes dog owners liable for damages when their dog bites or injures a person, so long as the injured person is lawfully on the dog owner’s property at the time of the injury. The statute also applies to cases where the injured person was lawfully on the dog owner’s property, but because the dog chased the person, the injury actually occurred off the owner’s property. A person is lawfully on the owner’s property when he or she is invited there. For example, those people who the owner invites on the property, such as a friend or a repair person, are “lawfully” on the owner’s property. On the other hand, trespassers are not lawful guests of the owner. The only exception to this rule is in cases where the injured person provoked the dog and that provocation caused the dog to attack. Finally, the statute permits a dog owner to defend the case by proving that he or she had no knowledge that the dog was vicious, dangerous, or mischievous. If the owner proves lack of knowledge, damages are limited to actual expenses incurred by the injured person. Actual expenses do not include pain and suffering.

Common Law Liability for Dog Bites Occurring Outside of Owner’s Property
When a dog bite occurs off the owner’s property, the injured person’s right to recover damages is governed by negligence principles under the common law. In that case, the injured person must prove that the owner knew, or had reason to know, that the dog had a dangerous propensity. If the owner can prove that he had no knowledge of this, the owner will still be liable to pay for the actual expenses incurred by the injured person. Actual expenses do not include pain and suffering damages.

Vicious and Dangerous Dogs
When the owner of a vicious or dangerous dog carelessly manages the animal or allows it to run free and another person, without fault on his part, is bitten or injured, the owner or the dog’s keeper at the time of the injury will be liable for damages. Under Alabama law, all dog owners are bound to take notice of the general propensities of the breed of dog that they own, even if their dog has never displayed vicious behavior. For example, a pit bull is a breed that is unpredictable and can be vicious and dangerous. If a pit bull owner fails to exercise reasonable care to guard against and prevent injuries that should reasonably be anticipated by the breed, the dog owner will be liable for injuries caused by the dog.

Rabid Dogs
Alabama has a rabid dog statute. Under this statute, if a dog owner knows the dog has rabies and the dog bites a person, the owner is liable to twice the damages suffered by the injured person.

Alabama Dog Bite Law

Title: Animals
CHAPTER 6: LIABILITY OF OWNERS OF DOGS BITING Biting or Injuring Persons
Code of Ala. § 3-6-1 (2003)
§ 3-6-1. Generally

If any dog shall, without provocation, bite or injure any person who is at the time at a place where he or she has a legal right to be, the owner of such dog shall be liable in damages to the person so bitten or injured, but such liability shall arise only when the person so bitten or injured is upon property owned or controlled by the owner of such dog at the time such bite or injury occurs or when such person has been immediately prior to such time on such property and has been pursued therefrom by such dog.

Dog Bite Statistics

Dog bites are a common occurrence in the United States, with as many as 1,000 victims requiring emergency care treatment every day. Such attacks can cause moderate to severe injuries and can even be fatal, leaving disfiguring injuries that can change the victim’s life forever. To give an idea of how frequently these incidents happen, the CDC collected data over a 15-year period that showed the following:

• Homeowners insurers paid out $1,136 million in liability claims related to dog bites and other dog-related injuries in 2022.
• The average cost per claim nationally has risen 131.7% from 2013 to 2022, due to increased medical costs as well as the size of settlements, judgments, and jury awards given to plaintiffs.
• Each day, nearly 1,000 people are treated in hospital emergency departments for nonfatal dog bite-related injuries.
• In 2018, nearly 27,000 people underwent reconstructive surgery as a result of being bitten by dogs.
• Approximately 4.5 million dog bites occur each year in the United States. Nearly 1 out of 5 bites becomes infected.
• There was an 86% increase in dog bite-related hospitalizations between 1993 and 2008 in the United States.
• The average cost of a dog bite-related hospital stay was $18,200, about 50% higher than the average injury-related hospital stay.
• There were 4 times as many dog bite-related ED visits and 3 times as many hospital stays in rural areas than in urban areas in 2008.
• Adults with two or more dogs in the household are 5 times more likely to be bitten than those living without dogs in the home.
• Dog attack victims suffer over $1 billion in monetary losses annually. JAMA reports this estimate to be as high as $2 billion.
• Parental presence was reported in 43.6% of cases. The most commonly identified breed was the pit bull. Pit bulls were also the most commonly identified breed involved in major injuries.
• Our data were consistent with others, in that an operative intervention was more than 3 times as likely to be associated with a pit bull injury as with any other breed.
• Our data revealed that pit bull breeds were more than 2.5 times as likely as other breeds to bite in multiple anatomical locations.
• Most alarming is the observation that when attacks come from unfamiliar dogs, the pit bull is responsible for 60% and 63% of all injuries and ocular injuries, respectively.
• Of the more than 8 different breeds identified, one-third were caused by pit bull terriers, which resulted in the highest rate of consultation (94%) and had 5 times the relative rate of surgical intervention.
• Dogs causing the injury were overwhelmingly familiar to the patient: 53% of dogs belonged to the family… In our series (as in Philadelphia), pit bulls were most commonly responsible.
• In 2019, for the first time on record, adult victims in the 30-49 age group sustained more dog bite fatalities than child victims in the 0-4 age group. Pit bulls inflicted 85% of these adult deaths.
• In 2018, 78% of dog bite fatality victims were female, the highest recorded in a single year. Of the 10 owner-directed fatal dog attacks in 2018, 80% killed women between the ages of 28 and 64.

Why Hire Dog Bite Attorneys Ferguson and Ferguson

The law offices of Ferguson and Ferguson take pride in giving each client individual and personal attention.

• We are committed to excellent client service.
• We care about our clients and have patience.
• We identified the party responsible for your injury.
• We obtained your medical documents.
• We can help with financial assistance.
• We will help you get medical treatment.
• Your bills get paid, reduced or eliminated.
• Free phone consultation 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays.
• Free office consultations are available as late as 7 p.m. and Saturdays.
• Locations near you.
• You talk to attorneys, not secretaries or paralegals
• We answer all our clients calls or return them promptly.
• We keep our clients informed of the status of their case.
• We make sure that our clients understand each step of their case.
• We have great compassion for the physical, emotional, and financial problems that our clients suffered, and we will do everything possible to get them through their difficult time.

Every insurance company has adjusters, investigators, and attorneys assigned to dog bite claims. Their primary goal is to limit the amount of compensation the insurance company pays to dog bite victims like you. Insurance companies are not the friends of injured claimants. Don’t make their job easier by providing them with information that they can use or manipulate to deny your claim. Make sure you have the best Huntsville dog bite lawyer you can hire on your side to aggressively protect your interests.

Can you file a worker’s compensation case if you are bitten by a dog?

An attorney may advise pursuing a Workers Compensation claim for a dog bite incident in scenarios where the injury occurred while the individual was performing job-related duties. For example, if a delivery person, mail carrier, or any employee was bitten by a dog while on the job, the attorney might recommend pursuing a workers compensation claim. This can help the individual seek compensation and coverage for medical expenses and lost wages resulting from the dog bite incident.

Free Case Review

If you have been injured in an unprovoked dog attack in Huntsville and need legal assistance, do not hesitate to contact our skilled and experienced dog bite attorneys for a free assessment of your situation. Call or email us today. Our consultations are free, and we can visit you or your loved one at a hospital, residence, or workplace.

It is important to know that if you were attacked by a dog, the owner of the dog might be held liable for your medical expenses and other losses. The specifics of the dog attack are crucial in determining the owner’s negligence and your eligibility for filing an injury claim. We are here to help explore your legal options and guide you through the complexities of Alabama dog bite laws.

At our firm, we handle dog bite injury cases on a contingency fee basis. This means you will not face any upfront costs, and you only owe us if we successfully recover compensation on your behalf. We are committed to providing you with all the necessary information and support you need during this challenging time.

At our firm, we identify the party responsible for your injury and obtain your medical documents promptly. We understand the financial strain that can come with unexpected injuries, and we are here to help with financial assistance. Our priority is to ensure you receive the necessary medical treatment without delay, and we work diligently to see that your bills are paid, reduced, or eliminated. We offer free phone consultations from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day, including Saturdays, and provide free office consultations as late as 7 p.m. on Saturdays, so you can easily access our assistance. When you reach out to us, you will always speak directly with our attorneys, not secretaries or paralegals. We make it a point to promptly return all client calls and keep you informed every step of the way. We understand the physical, emotional, and financial challenges you may be facing due to your injury. We are dedicated to providing you with the support and guidance you need during this difficult time, and we will work tirelessly to help you navigate through the complexities of your case.”Making the decision to hire a dog bite injury lawyer is an important choice that takes careful consideration.

If you need a dog bite lawyer, call or email us today. Our consultations are free. We can visit you or your loved one at a hospital, residence, or workplace. Some car accident lawyers, due to their lack of skill or resources, may not pursue all claims and compensation available to you. If you have been a victim of a dog bite in Huntsville, Decatur, Athens, Cullman, or Scottsboro, Alabama, do not hesitate to call our skilled and experienced dog bite attorneys for a free assessment of your situation. Call now 256-350-7200 or 256-534-3435. We are here to help.