Seeing a dog can bring a smile to almost anyone's face. Dogs are usually friendly and enjoy human interaction. It can even be a soothing and relaxing experience for a human to pet a dog.
But dogs are still animals and have instincts that may cause them to lash out aggressively. Dog bites happen frequently and can cause serious injuries.
When a child suffers from a dog bite injury, that is even more tragic. Children have an innocence about them, and they do not understand why the dog attacked them. This feeling may affect them for the rest of their life, causing them to avoid situations involving dogs, scarring them both physically and emotionally.
If you or your child has suffered a dog bite, you may be entitled to compensation from the dog's owner. To find out your options, speak with a San Antonio dog bite lawyer today. Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers stands ready to help you get the compensation you deserve.
Our Results for Dog Bite Victims
Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers has gotten results for dog bite victims. We get big firm results with small firm personal attention to our clients.
Our team of dog bite lawyers has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for injury victims. When you suffer a dog bite injury in San Antonio, you need a lawyer with experience helping injury victims recover.
The last thing you need right now is to worry about paying your medical bills out of pocket. That should be the responsibility of the negligent dog owner. To help you reach that goal, your neighbors at Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers are ready to work to get you the compensation you deserve. Contact us today to see what we can do for you.
Common Dog Bite Injuries
When playing with a dog, you may experience a dog biting on your finger or hand. This usually will not cause any injury, as the dog is not trying to hurt you. They are also aware of their bite and simply enjoy playing.
But when dogs attack, their bites can cause serious health concerns. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in five people bitten by a dog requires medical attention. That may seem like a small percentage of people, but there are millions of dogs kept as pets, and you are bound to come into contact with many dogs while going about your day.
If a dog bites you, you may suffer:
- Puncture wounds
- Nerve damage
- Eye injuries
- Face injuries
- Concussion
- Head and neck injuries
- Broken bones
- Rabies
While these represent common injuries suffered by dog bite victims, your injuries might be different. You may also suffer from emotional injuries. You should not discount those types of injuries because they can impact you for the rest of your life.
One of the most serious injuries you may suffer is rabies, a deadly virus spread through the saliva of infected animals. If you do not know the dog or you cannot locate its owner after it attacks you, you may never find out if the dog was vaccinated for rabies. This will require painful rabies vaccinations because rabies is fatal.
Why Dogs Attack
The biggest motivation for a dog to attack a human is fear. Many times, children will run up behind a dog because they see a furry creature they want to play with and do not know any better. This can startle a dog, and the dog may react out of instinct and try to protect itself, resulting in an injury to your child.
Other reasons that dogs bite include:
- Stress
- Scared
- Defending land
- Protecting owner or puppies
- Illness
Many dogs who are not feeling well are more likely to bite a human. It is their way of saying stay away. They may not mean any harm by their action, but they still cause injuries that the owner should be responsible for.
Some dog breeds are more likely to attack than others. These include:
- Pit Bull
- Rottweiler
- Chow Chow
- Doberman
- Saint Bernard
- German Shepherd
- Great Dane
When someone owns one of these breeds, they need to be aware that their dog may have a higher likelihood of attacking a human. The owner must take certain precautions to keep not only themselves and their family members safe but also any visitors or passersby.
Determining Fault
Some states have statutes determining liability for dogs who bite. Texas does not. However, Texas courts have followed what is called the one bite rule.
When a dog bites a person just once, the owner is then on notice that their dog may have a propensity to bite people and must take certain steps to prevent injuries to anyone else. If the owner takes no steps and their dog bites someone a second time, it is much more likely that they will be liable for those injuries.
To show that a dog's owner is liable for your injuries, you must prove:
- The dog's owner knew or should have known their dog had acted aggressively toward or previously bitten another person.
- The dog's owner acted negligently by not taking any reasonable steps to control their dog or prevent further attack.
- Because of the dog owner's negligence, the dog bit you and you suffered injuries.
This might sound straightforward to you since you know you did not provoke the dog in any way. But, proving this to a legal standard requires investigation into the circumstances of your dog bite.
At Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, we take pride in helping our neighbors recover from injuries caused by the negligence of others. We have helped victims hold negligent dog owners liable for their injuries so they do not have to pay a penny out of their own pocket to cover their medical expenses. Contact us today to see what we can do for you.
Criminal Liability
Under Texas law, a dog owner can be criminally liable for injuries caused by their dog.
The owner faces a felony charge when:
- The dog's owner failed to secure their dog
- The dog's owner knew the dog to be dangerous
- Another person suffers serious injury or death
When this occurs, the owner of the dog that bit you could be criminally liable for your injuries. To be clear, a criminal case will not help you pay your medical bills.
If the state files criminal charges against the dog's owner and they are found guilty, they may be required to pay you restitution. But this amount of money will generally be inadequate to cover your medical needs.
Your injuries may require specialized medical attention. You may also need to be out of work for some time while you recover from your injuries.
These medical bills and financial losses after a dog attacks are not your fault. The person responsible for the dog's actions should be liable for your medical bills and financial losses. Partnering with a dog bite lawyer in San Antonio can help you recover maximum compensation for your injuries.
We Handle the Paperwork
After a dog bite injury, you have enough to deal with that you do not need to add a complex legal process on top. Your injuries may require extensive medical care, taking up all of your time. You need a San Antonio dog bite attorney at your side, guiding you through the complex legal process. This helps give you the time and energy to focus on your health and wellbeing.
When you have a dog bite lawyer working to protect your rights, your lawyer can attempt to hold the dog's owner liable for your injuries. They do this by filing a claim against the dog's owner for negligence.
Your lawyer would review your medical records in coordination with medical experts. Looking over this information helps your lawyer understand how serious your injuries are, and relying on the medical expert resources gives a good picture of how much money you would need to make a full recovery.
If you reported your dog bite to animal control, your attorney will also review that report. Animal control will investigate any incident, noting details about the dog's history, including vaccination.
But your dog bite lawyer will not just rely on investigations done by others. Your attorney should conduct their own investigation. At Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, we leave no stone unturned.
Partnering with a San Antonio dog bite attorney can help you by shouldering the legal burden and working diligently to help you collect maximum compensation. You deserve to hold the dog's owner liable and collect enough money so you do not have to pay a dime out of your own pocket.
Collecting Damages
The point of filing a dog bite claim is to collect compensation from the negligent party. Here, the dog's owner failed to protect you, and you suffered injuries when their dog attacked you. That can be tragic and, adding insult to injury, the dog's owner can often prevent it.
Your lawyer may try to get you compensation for:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Lost income
- Lost earning potential
- Loss of companionship
- Loss of life enjoyment
- Present and future medical expenses
- Rehabilitation costs
Depending on the severity of your injuries, you may face a long battle to get back to your regular life. This may even require you to spend a great deal of time out of work. Missing even one paycheck can wreak havoc on your financial wellbeing, adding additional and unnecessary stress to both you and your family.
Together with our medical experts, we can work with you to create an accurate estimate of your future medical and financial needs.
You may face:
- Extended hospital stays
- Long periods out of work
- Multiple medical procedures
- Many doctor visits
- In-facility rehabilitation
- In-home care
Each of these items adds to your financial burden, a burden you should not bear. By partnering with a San Antonio dog bite lawyer, you can hold the dog's owner accountable and collect money from them. You should not bear the financial responsibility for covering your medical expenses, especially if you cannot work.
Your family should also not be on the hook for any of these expenses. When one member of the family cannot provide financial support, the other family members may feel pressure to take on additional jobs or work overtime to cover the loss. This is not their responsibility. They should be focused on helping you get better, giving you the support you need.
That is why your lawyer would fight so hard to get you maximum compensation. Your ability to recover from your injuries can depend on the amount of money you collect from the dog's owner.
San Antonio Bite FAQs
Dogs may be man's best friend, but they can turn quickly and attack. Millions of people suffer dog bite injuries every year. While most injuries are minor, others can be severe and even life-threatening.
After a dog attacks you or your child, you may not know what to do next. You may have many questions about how you recover and how you pay for all of your medical expenses.
Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers can answer your questions and show you the path to recovery. We have helped many of our San Antonio neighbors collect hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for injuries they suffered at the hands of someone else. While no result can be guaranteed, contact us today to see what we can do for you.
What should I do after a dog bites me or my child in San Antonio?
A child suffering a dog bite injury can be tragic. When your child is in pain, you want nothing more than to take their pain away. You also want to make sure the person who caused their pain is held accountable for their negligence.
The steps you take immediately after you or your child is bitten by a dog can make a difference in your ability to collect maximum compensation so you do not pay out of your own pocket.
Following these steps can help you recover every dollar you deserve.
- Call 911. Even if your injuries are minor, calling 911 will send emergency medical personnel to the scene. They will evaluate you and determine if you need further medical treatment. Making this call will also send the police to the accident scene. They will create a record of what happened and may try to locate the dog's owner if you cannot.
- Locate the dog's owner. If you do not know the dog that bit you, finding the owner is very important. You need to know if the owner vaccinated the dog for rabies. If not, you may need to undergo painful rabies vaccination. Finding the owner of the dog is also important so you can hold them accountable for their negligence to collect maximum compensation for your injuries.
- Call animal control. If you cannot locate the dog's owner, you may need to call animal control. They will come and try to locate both the dog and the owner. Once they find the dog, they may tell if the dog has any viruses that you need to be vaccinated against.
- Get a police report. When the police come to your injury scene, they will speak with you and any witnesses to get a full picture of what happened. They may also diagram the entire scene, providing you with an objective report detailing what happened. The police may not assign fault to the dog's owner in their report, but the report could help your legal team hold the dog's owner liable.
- Take pictures. Your injuries may prevent you from taking pictures or video yourself. You may need to ask a trusted friend or family member to do so. Get pictures of your injuries, the dog if it is still around, and the entire area around where your dog bite occurred. Putting all of these images together can help paint a picture of what happened and how you were injured by the dog.
- See your doctor. Even if your injuries are minor and you are not taken to the hospital, you still need to go see your regular doctor. Often, no one knows your medical condition better than your family physician. They can quickly determine how your dog bite injuries have damaged your ability to live your life. Your doctor can also help chart a course for your recovery so you can get back to your normal activities.
- Keep an injury journal. Write in a journal each day. Cover topics like how you feel, your level of pain, any setbacks you had during your recovery, and any other relevant information. This journal can help tell the story of how the dog bite injury you suffered has affected your life. Your journal can play an important role in holding the dog's owner liable for your injuries.
- Contact Dolman Law Group Gipe. You should have a dog bite lawyer on your side, fighting to protect your rights. You have enough to worry about. You need to focus all of your time and effort on your physical health and wellbeing. Working with Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers means you can shed the legal burden and focus on what matters most.
How do I get compensation for my San Antonio dog bite injury?
Your dog bite injuries may prevent you from enjoying your daily life. They may also prevent you from working, something that can put anyone into financial hardship.
That is why you should work with a San Antonio dog bite attorney who can file a dog bite claim for you. Getting compensation is possible.
It is important to remember that, in Texas, a dog's owner may also be criminally liable for their dog attacking you. However, that criminal case, even if the dog's owner is found guilty, will not provide you adequate compensation to cover all of the expenses you face.
You may be out of work for a long time. That can wreak havoc on your financial wellbeing. High medical bills are the biggest reason people file for bankruptcy every year. Do not let yourself become a statistic.
How long do I have to decide whether to sue?
Every state limits the amount of time you have to file a claim against a negligent party who caused you an injury. This is called a statute of limitations. Texas law limits that time to just two years.
Right now, that might sound like a long time. Unfortunately, you may have a long road to recovery and that could mean multiple surgeries, doctor visits, and time out of work.
That is why it can be crucial to the success of your dog bite injury claim that you speak with a dog bite lawyer in San Antonio as soon as possible after your injury. Your lawyer can help ensure that you do not miss this important deadline. If you do, you may miss out on your opportunity to collect maximum compensation for your dog bite injuries. This could leave you paying out of your own pocket for injuries that someone else's dog caused.
What is my San Antonio dog bite case worth?
No matter what type of injury someone suffers, this is the most common question they have for us. And the simple truth is that we cannot provide a direct answer. Any lawyer who does give you a guarantee of exactly how much money you can receive is lying to you.
The reason it is hard to provide an exact answer is that every case is different. While your injuries might be similar to someone else who was bitten by a dog, the outcome could rest on details that are very different.
This is why it is so important that you speak with a dog bite lawyer in San Antonio right away. Your lawyer can investigate your dog bite injury and figure out exactly what happened. Once we know that, then we can get a better idea of how much your case may be worth.
The more serious your injuries and the more time you have to spend out of work, the larger your settlement could be. But you still need the right dog bite attorney at your side, fighting to protect your rights and uncovering every detail of your case.
My friend's dog bit me, and I do not want to sue them. Do I have other options?
Over 4.5 million people suffer dog bite injuries each year. Many of these victims will know the dog and the dog's owner. We know that can make for uncomfortable situations, but it is important to remember that, typically, you are suing the dog owner's homeowner's insurance company, not your friend directly.
Texas law considers dogs property, so they can fall under a homeowner's insurance policy. When you file a dog bite claim, the homeowner's insurance company takes action. Dealing with insurance companies is never an enjoyable experience. Having a legal team with experience in standing up to the big insurance companies can help get you every dollar you deserve.
Suing someone may seem like an extreme decision. But when you have suffered such serious and debilitating injuries, especially if it is your child's injuries, you may have no other options. You should not be responsible for paying your medical expenses or covering your financial losses. That should fall on the dog's owner, whether you know them or not.
I already got a settlement offer. Why do I need a San Antonio dog bite lawyer?
Soon after you suffer a dog bite injury, the homeowner's insurance company of the dog's owner may call you and offer you a quick settlement. This may excite you and may give you hope there is a light at the end of the tunnel. But you should take caution with any settlement offer provided by an insurance company.
Insurance companies are in the business of making money. They may not make money if they pay you the full value of your claim. Consider why the insurance company makes you such a quick offer. It may be because it is in their best interest, not in yours.
When the insurance company offers you this initial offer, they may pressure you to take it. They may say that it is a one-time offer and that you do not need a lawyer. They may tell you that a lawyer will only take fees out of your settlement and the offer you have in front of you is the best they can do anyway.
Do not listen to them. Remember, the insurance company is not looking out for your best interests. Your lawyer will have your best interests at heart, and may fight to increase your settlement. The right lawyer can battle the insurance company and get them to pay you every dollar you deserve.
Your lawyer will also help protect your rights. When the insurance company makes you the first offer, they want you to take it right away. They want you to do that because a lawyer would tell you to slow down and make sure the settlement amount covers all of your needs.
If you take the initial settlement offer, you will waive your right to bring any future claims against the insurance company for this incident. Months or years later, if you still have medical bills to cover and may still be out of work, you will be out of luck if the settlement funds have run dry. You will have no other options.
The right lawyer can be invaluable and help you avoid this tragic situation. You deserve to hold the negligent dog owner liable and collect compensation for your injuries.
How can a dog San Antonio bite lawyer help me?
The lawyer you choose can make a difference in your ability to recover maximum compensation for your dog bite injuries. Your lawyer can investigate the circumstances surrounding your dog bite and help you fight the insurance company to collect every dollar you deserve.
While your legal team is working to recover money for you, that frees you up to focus on your health and wellbeing. That is what is most important right now, a trusted legal advisor can help you get back on your feet. A San Antonio dog bite lawyer can give you the chance you deserve to avoid paying costly medical expenses and shouldering the financial burden related to your dog bite injuries.
Contact Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers today to learn more about how we could help you recover maximum compensation for your dog bite injuries.
Dog Bite Lawyers Serving Our San Antonio Neighbors
Pursuing legal action after a dog bite can raise more questions than answers. It can be vital to the success of your claim that you speak with a San Antonio dog bite lawyer as soon as possible after your incident.
Your lawyer can answer your questions, help you understand what comes next, and aggressively negotiate with insurance companies to help you collect maximum compensation. The lawyer you choose can make a difference in your ability to recover every dollar you deserve.
You need a lawyer with experience in helping other dog bite victims recover compensation for their injuries. When you play no part in causing the dog to attack you, you should likewise play no part in covering the astronomical medical bills you may face. Even seemingly minor injuries can result in massive medical expenses, placing even the most financially well-off in hardship.
Avoid financial trouble and get better quickly by working with a San Antonio dog bite lawyer. Contact Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers today at 833-552-7274 to learn more about how we can help you collect every dollar you deserve.
San Antonio Office
921 S St Mary's St #2
San Antonio, TX 78205
Phone: (210) 361-2039