Dog and ferret bite injuries can be serious and the victims can ask for just compensation from the owner of the animal that has attacked the victim. According to the laws in California, the liability for dog bite injuries belongs to the owner of the animal, while in a public place or in a private place, even if the animal has never attacked before.
Liability is not always considered “strict”. The owner’s liability for dog bite cases can sometimes be strict liability, meaning that the owner is fully responsible for the damages caused by the dog. According to the California Civil Code, it is not a question of where the dog bite accident took place. The owner is liable for the damages suffered by the person who is bitten even if he was on his own private property when the accident took place. Likewise, the owner is liable even if he or she was unaware of the dog’s viciousness.
However, some jurisdictions, like some counties in Nevada, the owner must know of the animal’s dangerous propensities. In order to build a solid case for animal bite accidents, our Sacramento and Reno area personal injury attorneys will need to assess who the actual owner of the dog is, as well as the type of bite and the extent of the injuries caused. In order to be able to determine that the person handling the dog was responsible for the accident, our attorneys will need to prove that it was a negligence case.
The only case in which the owner of the dog cannot be held liable for a dog bite injury is if the dog is part of a military or police service and the bite took place while the dog was defending itself or while working with the military or police agent and acting in the investigation of a crime and/or defending the officer or another person.
The dog bite law also provides for special considerations when the victim is a child. The owner of the dog that attacked the child cannot, in this case, make his case based on provocation. This would imply that the child was negligent in his conduct towards the animal and a child cannot be legally regarded as negligent if he is under the age of five. If the minor was acting according to his parent’s instructions, then he is incapable of being found guilty.
Compensations for victims of dog bite injuries in California
The type of compensations a victim will most likely obtain from a dog bite case in Sparks, Nevada or Folsom, California, for example, are monetary ones. Our office will reach a settlement with the owner of the dog or ferret (or cat, for that matter) and will obtain the highest compensation possible for any medical procedures that took place immediately after the accident or subsequently, including for any cosmetic reconstruction procedures.
It is important to remember that both Nevada and California have statutes of limitation for injuries, including dog bite injuries. This means that you have a time limit of two years before trying to settle a dog bite case.
You can contact our personal injury attorneys at (916)287-7157 or (775)391-5131 if you have been the victim of a ferret bite injury. We can also help you with other types of accidents and cases.