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Accident Lawyers
Serving Orlando and Throughout Florida
Dog Bites and Animal Injuries
Dog
bites and other injuries from animal attacks can be both serious and traumatic,
especially for children.
Injuries may include broken bones, lacerations, puncture wounds, disfiguring facial injuries, mental and emotional trauma, and even death.
Florida has two main statutes governing dog owners’ liability for their dogs. The statutes make an owner of a dog responsible for any injury, harm or loss caused by the owner’s dog, with a few exceptions.
Under Florida Statute 767.04, the owner of a dog can be liable for injuries to a person bitten by the dog. It makes no difference whether the dog has bitten someone in the past and it makes no difference whether the owner of the dog knows about the dog biting someone in the past. The owner of a dog can be strictly liable for the injuries caused when the dog bites another person.
Florida Statute 767.01 establishes that owners of a dog are liable for any damage done by their dogs to a person, property or to any animal, domestic animal and livestock. The owner of a dog can be responsible for any damage caused by the dog, regardless of whether the damage was from a bite. The dog owner could be liable for damage caused by the dog jumping, barking, chasing, growling, or other conduct normally characterized as actively canine. An example was a case where the dog chased someone and as a result of the chase, the person tripped and was injured trying to escape from the dog. No contact is required between the dog and the injured party for the owner to be liable if the dog’s action caused the injuries.
The Florida law makes a dog owner responsible for the conduct of their dogs with a few exceptions. Each case must be evaluated individually and we have experienced trial attorneys who have handled personal injury cases for victims of incidents where their injuries were caused by a dog. These cases will include dog bite injuries and other injuries where the injury is in any way caused by a dog, even if there was no dog bite.
Our personal injury lawyers aggressively pursue dog bite and animal injuries, even under challenging circumstances. For example, we represented an internationally published author who was attacked and bitten by a neighbor’s dog. Although our client had agreed to feed the dog as a favor while the neighbors were out of town, she had not been told about the dog’s aggressive nature around food. The attack severely damaged her dominant writing hand, and the case was settled during the lawsuit. (The amount of settlement is protected by a confidentiality agreement).
In another case, a barking dog caused a man to fall and sustain injury to his arm. The lawsuit was filed based on both negligence and Florida Statute 767.01 imposing liability on the dog owners for damage done by their dogs. We reached a settlement of $100,000.
Often the pet owner’s homeowners’ insurance policy will pay for medical bills and other damages. In some cases, we can also recover damages above and beyond the limits of the policy.
If you or your child is a victim of dog bite or other animal attack or injury, let our experienced Florida accident lawyers help you obtain the full compensation you or your child deserves.
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Our experienced accident lawyers and investigative staff will aggressively protect your rights in cases of injury caused by the negligence of property owners. If you or a loved one has been injured due to property negligence, please call our Florida accident lawyers for help today.
Florida Accident Lawyers
Orlando Dog Bite Cases
(800) 235-7060
Wooten, Honeywell, Kimbrough, Gibson,
Doherty & Normand
Professional Association
236 S. Lucerne Circle at Delaney
Orlando, FL 32801