Remember when your mother told you that the cute alligator you flushed down the toilet could grow into a monster? We frankly aren't sure if that story is true or not, although if mom said it, that's usually enough for us. However, we are sure that pandemic pets, like all of us, often have a hard time adjusting to the new normal. Cute, fuzzy puppies that made us feel more comfortable and secure are now not-as-cute large animals who aren't used to people. Largely as a result, animal attacks are once again on the rise in New York.
The number of attacks isn't the only thing increasing. The average dog bite settlement has increased since 2005. In fact, the average settlement amount has more than doubled since then. These settlements usually include compensation for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering.
However, as outlined below, a number of insurance company defenses are available. Additionally, unless the circumstances are extremely bad, many pet owner jurors hesitate to award damages to bite victims. So, unless you have an aggressive New York personal injury attorney in your corner, there's a good chance you might have to settle for less. Your family deserves better.
Animal attacks usually involve three phases of injuries. As a result, the medical bills in a dog bite case are usually very high. Additionally, these injuries usually require care at costly and specialize injury treatment centers.
Frequently, a large Mastiff dog, like a rottweiler or German shepard, attacks a small child. Initially, the dog lunges at the victim. The resulting knockdown often causes head injuries and broken bones.
These injuries are normally permanent, at least to an extent. Permanent head injury symptoms often include cognitive losses and personality changes. Other head injury symptoms are examined below. Broken bones in cases like these often never fully heal. These victims usually experience at least some permanent loss of function, such as lost range of motion in a broken shoulder.
Next comes the bite itself. In the animal's mind, it is defending itself, or its master, against an attack. How far would you go to defend yourself, or defend someone you love, if you believed there was a threat?
Normally, dogs' teeth cause tearing lacerations as well as deep puncture wounds. The resulting surface injuries are often gruesome. Usually, these injuries require extensive treatment which includes reconstructive surgery. The deep puncture wounds usually cause internal bleeding. Internal organs don't have protective skin layers. As a result, even something like a pinprick could cause uncontrollable bleeding. Most dogs have teeth that are a lot sharper than that.
Before we get to the third area, we should briefly mention dog bite infections. These wounds have very high infection rates. Frequently, medical negligence, as opposed to the animal bite, causes an infection. So, in many cases, a New York personal injury attorney must file a separate legal claim.
We mentioned additional head injury symptoms above. These symptoms usually include Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD effects include:
These symptoms make it virtually impossible to function at home, work, school, or anywhere else.
PTSD is not a "processing disorder." Instead, it's a physical brain injury. Extreme trauma, like an animal attack or a car wreck, triggers chemical changes in the brain. The resulting imbalance causes the aforementioned symptoms.
New York's dog bite laws are extremely complex. They try to find the middle ground between victims' interests and pet owner interests. Unfortunately, when you stay in the middle of the road, you often get run over.
By the book, New York has a strict liability law. "Strict liability" usually means that victims only have to prove cause to obtain compensation. They don't have to prove fault, negligence, or anything else. But the strict liability law in the Empire State is not very strict.
Available compensation is limited to medical bills. The law doesn't allow compensation for noneconomic losses, such as the significant emotional distress these victims must endure. Additionally, the law only applies if the animal was dangerous. Proof of a dangerous nature includes:
There's no time limit for prior attacks. The incident could have been a week ago or a decade ago. Things get complicated if current owners didn't know about prior attacks. Sometimes, they are liable anyway. Other times, these owners are off the hook. The second bullet usually refers to pre-bite behavior, which is discussed below. However, the standard of evidence is higher. Basically, the dog must act like Cujo.
To obtain maximum compensation, scienter (knowledge) is usually the way to go. Owners are liable for economic and noneconomic losses if they know an attack is eminent. Evidence of knowledge includes:
Scienter is a form of negligence. Therefore, a full range of negligence defenses are available in these claims. More on these defenses below.
Speaking of negligence, which is a lack of care, the negligence per se rule is sometimes available in these situations. However, like the rest of New York's dog bite law, it's complicated. Negligence per se usually involves the violation of a leash law, fence law, or other animal restraint law. However, negligence per se is only a presumption of liability in these situations. Additional evidence, such as proof of the dog's danger or viciousness, is needed.
Assumption of the risk, which usually involves a warning sign, and provocation, which is a form of contributory negligence, are the most common defenses in dog bite claims.
"Beware of Dog" is the classic warning sign. However, a sign is not a get-out-of-jail-free card for a negligent owner. The insurance company must still prove that the victim could see the sign, could read the sign, and could understand what the sign meant. Young children, older adults, and anyone with limited English skills might have trouble in one or more of these areas.
Owners often claim that victims provoke dogs if they move fast, make a loud noise, or give off a bad vibe. Legally, however, "provocation" is almost synonymous with "torture." Usually, victims must inflict so much physical pain on animals that they respond violently in self-defense.
Typically, jurors must divide fault between the victim and animal in these situations, such as 50-50. Since New York is a pure comparative fault state, victims are entitled to compensation even if they were mostly responsible for attacks.
Accident victims are usually entitled to substantial compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney in New York, contact the Pianko Law Group, PLLC. We do not change upfront legal fees in these matters.