Dog bites happen in the blink of an eye and often without much warning. What should you do if you’re bitten by someone else’s dog? Peter Briskin, personal injury attorney at Fishbeyn & Briskin, P.C., located in New York and New Jersey, is an expert in dog bite cases. Here’s what he says should happen immediately after you’re bitten by someone’s dog.
1. Call 911
“The first thing to do any time you’re bitten by a dog is to call 911,” says Briskin. “It’s important to get to the hospital as quickly as possible.”
Briskin says that most dog bites occur on the hands, limbs or face. When children are bitten, it’s almost always in the facial area. The damage from a dog bite can be significant. Many dog bite victims need to undergo plastic surgery - sometimes more than once. They may still be left with lasting scars, though, that can affect them emotionally and socially for the rest of their lives. The sooner you are seen by a doctor, the better your chances for a full recovery.
2. Identify the Dog
Briskin says that it’s important to identify the specific dog that bit you. Dog bites often take place outside and involve a dog who the victim is unfamiliar with. But the hospital will need to know whether the dog is up-to-date on its vaccinations, so determining which dog bit you and finding its owner is critical. If you’re unable to identify the dog, you’ll need to be vaccinated against rabies. According to Briskin, that’s no fun. “It involves several shots over the course of several months,” he says.
3. Contact an Attorney
You will want to contact an attorney as soon as your wounds have been treated. Your attorney will launch an investigation into the incident to determine whether the dog’s owner (or someone else) is liable for your injury. There are many pieces to the puzzle — the police report and witness statements chief among them.
“The attorney becomes the ‘quarterback’ of the investigation,” says Briskin. “In addition to obtaining the police report, your attorney will make sure witnesses are interviewed promptly and thoroughly. This is done by sending an investigator to the scene.”
4. Help with the Investigation
Briskin says that it’s important to start the investigation immediately after the dog bite incident because memories fade quickly. Even in the heat of the moment, it can be difficult for you to remember exactly what happened before and during the incident. Was more than one dog involved? Were you scratched or bitten? What were you doing prior to the attack? Witnesses can often help fill in the blanks. The investigator will capture the witnesses’ statements and contact information so that their evidence will be available if the matter proceeds to a trial.
5. Notify the Dog’s Owner
Once the investigation is underway, your attorney will notify the dog’s owner that you will be filing a claim. “This is important for two reasons,” says Briskin. First, he says, you may be entitled to some immediate help with your medical bills. Many homeowners’ and some renters’ insurance policies have what’s called a ‘MedPay’ provision. This means that someone who is injured on the covered property or by the homeowner’s dog is given a certain amount of medical coverage under the insurance policy. This is especially important if you don’t have health insurance or savings to pay for your medical treatment.
“Those bills are definitely going to start coming,” says Briskin. “You’ll want to submit those bills to the dog owner’s insurance company.”
Notifying the owner of a potential claim also allows the owner to make his insurance company aware of the situation so that they don’t disclaim future coverage due to lack of proper notification. If the insurance company disclaims coverage, you may not be able to recover costs associated with your dog bite beyond what’s included in the owner’s MedPay provision. This could become a big problem if you require multiple surgeries, ongoing care and time away from work.
6. File Suit
Each state has a time limit for filing a personal injury claim. In New Jersey, for example, Briskin says that claimants have only two years to file suit. In New York, claimants have three years. But, says Briskin, filing suit early is critical. “From the moment you file suit,” he says, “you’re looking at no less than a year and a half to get your case into court. That’s a long time to wait if you’ve been seriously injured.”
Briskin says that at Fishbeyn & Briskin, P.C., they work aggressively to get their cases into court as quickly as possible. Most of the time this means filing suit right away. “You have healing to do,” says Briskin. “You don’t want to wait several years to be reimbursed for your medical expenses and lost wages. We try to keep things moving as fast as possible so you can put your case behind you and focus on your recovery.”
This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Publication of this article and your receipt of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.
