Florida dog bite injuries
June 03, 2015On behalf of Terence Gross of Gross & Schuster, P.A. posted in Animal Bites on Friday, May 29, 2015.
When a Florida resident is bitten by a dog, the injuries can often be severe. While some dog attacks are caused by poor training or abuse, other cases of dog bites may simply be the result of an unfriendly dog, an excitable dog or an unknown person interacting with them.
Researchers who published a dog bite study in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association in 2013 reported a number of contributing factors to serious dog bites. In many cases, the victim did not know the dog. In other cases, the owner of the dog was unable to control the animal due to either age or health conditions. Finally, the dog may have been abused or neglected prior to the attack. Many of the victims were between the ages of five and nine and may not have understood dogs’ behaviors when feeling threatened.
Ultimately, fatalities that are caused by dog bites are rare. There were only 41 confirmed deaths from dog bites in the U.S. in 2014, which is not particularly common considering that there are an estimated 83 million dogs in the country. Because those who are most likely to suffer dog bites are children under the age of 10, researchers recommended that children be supervised whenever a dog is around. Additionally, teaching children to be gentle or to leave an unknown dog alone may be best.
When a person is bitten by a dog, the owner is usually responsible for any injuries or other damages that occur. Depending on the severity of the injury, the victim could potentially seek compensation for the medical costs that have been incurred as well as for any wages lost during the recovery period.
