Do you have a legal claim after a dog bite?

Dog bites and animal attacks are common in California, unfortunately. While many households in the state counts dogs as loving pets, the fact remains that some dogs are improperly trained or have dispositions that lead them to attack humans at times. When this happens, dog bite victims can be scarred for life, suffering horrendous injuries that require significant medical attention for days, weeks or even months after the attack.

So, do you have a legal claim after a dog bite incident? You might, if certain preconditions are met. For starters, the dog attack must not have been provoked – if a dog bite victim does something that leads to the dog bite, it can be problematic for the potential success of the claim. Also, there must be demonstrable damage caused by the dog bite. If not, a crucial element of the legal claim would be missing.

Evaluating your case

In the end, the factual circumstances of any given dog bite case are unique. So, each case must be evaluated to see if it can be pursued as a legal claim. In reality, it is the dog owner who needs to be evaluated as well, because that is the person who will be named as the defendant in the case, typically. That person must have been “negligent” in some way that can be proven in court.

If you have suffered a dog bite and are looking for legal options, time is of the essence. You cannot wait forever to press a legal claim based on this type of incident. It is probably in your best interests to have your case evaluated as soon as possible after the incident.