Dog Bite Lawyer

Dog Bites Can Cause Serious Injuries

Approximately 4.5 million dog bites occur each year in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). 800,000 dog bite victims will need to seek medical attention. Of that number, tragically half are children who may be left with permanent scarring or life-threatening injuries. If you've been seriously injured by a dog bite, you need to contact a dog bite lawyer. Dog bites can cause significant injuries, such as facial disfigurement, nerve damage, eye injuries, amputation, or emotional trauma. They can also become infected, leaving a person at risk for serious illness, such as rabies or hepatitis. A personal injury lawyer in Wilkes-Barre can help you seek compensation for your injuries.

Dog owners have a responsibility to ensure their pets do not harm anyone. Unfortunately, not all pet owners are responsible individuals.  Victims of dog bites and dog attacks caused by the negligence of a dog owner are entitled to compensation for their injuries. Compensation is based on the severity and permanence of the injuries, as well as the level of pain and suffering, lost wages, etc. A law firm or specialized dog bite lawyer can provide more information on specific types of injury compensation.

Pennsylvania Dog Laws

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture oversees the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement. Pennsylvania has specific laws for what they consider a dangerous dog, or one that attacked or inflicted severe injury on a human being without provocation, killed or injured another domestic animal without provocation while off the owner's property, or been used in the commission of the crime. If a dog is considered dangerous because of its propensity to attack human beings and/or domestic animals without provocation, it must be registered with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement and confined in a proper enclosure.

Dangerous Dog Breeds

The CDC has listed the most dangerous dog breeds as:

• Pitbull
• Rottweiler
• German Shepherd
• Husky
• Alaskan Malamute
• Doberman Pinscher
• Chow
• Great Dane
• Saint Bernard
• Akita

Research from DogsBite.org published in 2020 found that compared with other dog breeds pit bull terriers inflicted more complex wounds. The probability of a bite resulting in a complex wound was 4.4 times higher for pit bulls compared with the other top-biting breeds.  In a fatal dog attacks by breed study (2005 to 2017) pit bulls accounted for 65.6% of the fatalities.