Woman seriously injured in pit bull attack

May 13, 2015

On behalf of Terence Gross of Gross & Schuster, P.A. posted in Dog Bites & Animal Attacks on Thursday, August 1, 2013.

Earlier this month, a dog attack involving a pit bull left an Escambia County woman in serious condition. The animal responsible for the attack was apparently a stray the woman had taken into her home. The attack not only left the woman with severe injuries, but resulted in the death of her own dog.

The offending dog had apparently shown aggression before, and Escambia County Animal Control told her previously that she ought to get rid of the dog, along with another stray she had taken in. The pit bull that attacked the woman was still on the loose in the days after the attack. It isn’t known whether it has been captured yet. Hopefully the animal has already been found or is found before anybody else is harmed.

Those who are harmed by a dog attack are able to recover damages on several grounds. One of those grounds is negligence. This includes situations where a dog owner fails to act prudently and carefully in handling his or her pet and thereby provides occasion Negligence per se is another avenue in which a dog attack victim may find recovery. This includes situations where the dog owner violated a statute or ordinance governing dog safety, providing occasion for an attack

Scienter is another potential ground for recovery in dog attack cases. To meet the conditions for recovery on scienter, the owner must have known of a previous occasion on which his or her animal attacked a person or attempted to do so.

Victims in dog bite cases may not have their recovery reduced because of comparative negligence unless they willfully provoked the animal to attack. In other words, a victim may place full legal responsibility on the offending dog owner even in cases where they made an honest mistake in approaching or provoking the dog.

Dog bite victims who have questions about their situation should consult with an experienced personal injury attorney to have their case evaluated and to get their options out on the table.

FOX 10 tv, “Fla. Woman Life-Flighted after dog attack,” Michael Brannon, July 19, 2013.