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Dog Bites and Other Animal-Related Injury Claims...
Most animal related injuries result from dog bites. Most other pets are kept indoors or can do little damage. Cats, for instance, won’t likely come up in a personal injury case because they can rarely do a lot of harm and they're generally timid creatures.
If you have been injured by another type of animal then chances are it isn’t someone’s pet. As such there is no one to make a claim against.
Despite common belief, dog bite injuries and other injuries caused by animals aren’t usually easy cases to win. There are only a few states that have laws in which the animal’s owner is responsible for anything their pet does. In almost all states the laws make it clear that if the owner could not have foreseen the incident it is not their responsibility.
So if you have been injured by a dog bite or because a dog jumped on you then your job is to show that the owner should have been aware of a potential danger. Maybe there have been previous cases of dog bites with that dog.
If the dog caused injury by jumping on you or rushing you in a way that made you fall back then all you have to do is show that the dog generally behaves in that manner. Sometimes it is enough to show that that particular breed of dog is prone to making attacks.
In any of those cases, and with any other animal, if the owner should have been aware that their pet could do harm then they should have been more careful. As such their insurance should pay damages.
Dog bites aren’t the only way a pet can cause personal injuries. An animal running on the loose can dart into the road and cause a car accident. In these cases your job is to show that the owner should have had better control of their pet.
If you determine that you are able to go ahead with a claim then you'll most likely be claiming under their homeowners insurance. If the animal was owned by a company — a pet store being a good example — then the owner’s business liability insurance is where you should make your claim.
Cases that are somewhat common but completely different than dog bites are those caused by farm animals. The same kind of things apply here. Differences come in cases where the farm animal gets away from the controlled area. If the animal does damage then the owner is responsible because they should have had it better contained. On the other hand, if there were posted signs indicating animals will regularly be crossing the street and a driver still hit the animal, it would be the driver who is actually liable for the animal’s injuries.
Still have questions about dog bites or other animal injury claims? Click Here.
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