Postal Worker Suffers Dog Bite
A recent workday was anything but routine for a Miami postal worker who was the victim of a dog bite during her delivery route. According to the reports, the postal worker approached the front door of the dog owner’s house and the dog ran through a gate and bit the worker. Several onlookers tried to assist the postal worker by hitting the dog in an effort to get it to release its bite; the postal worker suffered a bite injury on her arm and required treatment at a local trauma center for the wound.
How Common Are Dog Bite Injuries?
According to the Insurance Information Institute (III), Americans have nearly 78 million pet dogs. The vast majority of our pets are loving companions that have never hurt anyone; even so, about four and a half million people suffer a dog bite each year and about six percent of those who are bitten require medical treatment for their injuries. Half of these bite victims, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are children. The III notes that dog bites and injuries related to man’s best friend comprised more than a third of the money paid out by insurance companies for homeowner insurance liability claims in 2015.
Dog Bite Liability
Florida, like most other states, has laws that assign liability to a pet owner for their dog’s actions and any injuries caused by their bites. Florida Code Section 767.04 states that the dog owner is liable for any damages suffered by someone who is bitten by a dog while lawfully on any public or private property, including the dog owner’s property itself. This holds true even if the dog has no history of biting, viciousness, or attacking but is mitigated to some extent if the bite victim was negligent in a way that led to the biting incident. Other factors such as the victim’s age and whether or not warning signs were present about the existence of a dangerous dog have some effect on the dog owner’s liability as well, as set forth in the law. Dogs that have a history, even a brief history, of viciousness can be deemed a “dangerous dog” according to Florida Code Section 767.12. In cases involving dogs that have been classified as dangerous according to this part of the Code, other specific factors apply to how the case involving a dog classified as dangerous will be handled.
Reach Out to Our Attorneys for Professional Assistance
If you or a loved one has been the victim of a dog bite and have suffered injuries as a result, contact the office of Boone & Davis in Fort Lauderdale. Our caring and compassionate dog bite injury attorneys have handled cases just like yours over our history of representing clients in the Fort Lauderdale area. If you have been injured in this type of situation, you deserve compensation for your injuries and recovery for your losses. Our professional staff will help you to understand how the law handles dog bite cases and what rights you have under Florida law. Do not delay – contact us online or call us today at 954.556.5260 to start working towards the results you deserve.
