Dog bite cases in Virginia
With the amount of people owning aggressive dogs on the increase, it is not surprising that so many dog bite cases arise. If you are bitten by a dog, you should seek medical help. Dogs mouths are filthy and full of germs. Indeed, I know of a man who almost lost his thumb because he self treated his wound, and it became infected. Many people don’t know what to do, legally, to pursue a dog bite case. It is really pretty simple. It is a negligence case, which means there must be: duty, breach, damages, and causation. Insurance doesn’t hurt, either, and many homeowners polices provide coverage for dog bites.
Virginia follows the one bite rule. In other words, if a dog has bitten someone previously, and does it again, the defendant will be found liable. In addition, all dog owners have a duty to keep their dogs under control, and on a leash in public. If an owner is walking his pit bull of a leash and it attacks someone, it would seem that the owner would be found negligent. If pit bull, or any aggressive dog, bites a person at a dog park, where dogs are allowed to go off the leash, it is more difficult to find liability against the owner, if the dog has never bitten before. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done. It would just be difficult. The investigation by the attorney is important in dog bite cases. We do a thorough investigation to find out all the information we can to prove that the dog is aggressive.
Being attacked by a dog that could kill you if it wanted, is a scary thing. There have been many victims of such cases who sought help from the mental health professionals, but normally the medical record consists entirely of physical medical treatment. Dog bites leave scars. Scars are examples of permanent disfigurement, which the law acknowledges as an important piece of the damage puzzle. Some scars are on the face or neck, or in highly visible parts, and leave psychological wounds, and sometimes the treating physician will refer the victim to a psychologist, just to get over the post traumatic stress.
If you are bit by a dog, after you receive help, you should call us quickly at (804) 719-1900, so that we can begin our investigation. There is nothing worse than to lose evidence because the attorney didn’t act promptly. That doesn’t happen here.