Learning How To Recover

When To Hire A Lawyer After A Dog Injures You

15 December 2015 by Susie Torres

When you go about your daily life and see your friends, family, and neighbors walking their dogs, you probably think nothing of it. However, if you encounter a dog that is aggressive or that is excitable in nature and it jumps at you, attacks you, or worse yet actually bites you, you may not know what to think or do about the situation. Before you simply try to brush it off and ignore the problem, get to know when you can just let it go and when you should hire a lawyer to help you handle the situation when somebody's dog injures you.

Was The Dog Being Aggressive or Just Excited?

There are different types of scenarios in which a dog might injure you. One of the factors that can differentiate the situations is whether or not the dog seemed to be aggressive or just excited. While it is impossible to ask a dog what their intention was, there are signs and cues that dogs give as to whether their intention is aggressive or not.

A dog that is just excited will likely be wagging its tail, be upright and perky in their posture, and may jump and nip simply because they are trying to greet you and are overly enthusiastic. Unfortunately, larger dogs can sometime hurt people when they get so excited because of their strength and size. While it is up to your discretion whether you go to court for injury compensation or not, you should keep in mind that many dogs in such injury cases are removed from the owner's care and may even be euthanized.

Dogs that are behaving aggressively often have their tails pressed down and close to their body or in a rigid straight position. They may crouch low to the ground and will likely growl and bare their teeth. The fur (hackles) on their back will also likely stand up as this is a response to a threat.

Was the Dog Provoked? And Does It Have A History?

Even if a dog behaves aggressively and injures you, you may be reticent to contact an injury lawyer and pursue charges against the owner. If this is the case, you may want to ask yourself a few additional questions.

First, try to determine if the dog was provoked to react aggressively. Did you approach the dog fast and startle or scare it? Did you accidentally step on its paw or tail? Or was it provoked into aggression by any other circumstances? Sometimes it is not the dog or the owner's fault when aggressive behaviors occur, which may warrant you just letting the situation slide.

However, if the dog attacked you in an aggressive manner that was entirely unprovoked (by your judgement), you should definitely contact an injury attorney and pursue charges. Unprovoked attacks are a sign of an animal that is troubled and they are likely to repeat the behavior in the future. Your bringing charges against the owner can save other people from suffering similar fates and may actually save the animal from a bad living situation.

Also, if the dog in question has a known history in your neighborhood of being aggressive, this may also warrant a call to a lawyer. A continued pattern of aggression is likely to get worse without some kind of intervention.

Now that you know a few of the factors to consider when deciding if you should contact a lawyer after a dog injures you, you can be sure to take the necessary steps to determine what is right for your situation.

For an injury lawyer, contact a law firm such as Owen Law Firm.

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