What can often appear to be a friendly dog can turn into viscous canine at a moments notice. Here is some important information on what to do after a dog bite, as discussed by our experienced Hamburg dog bite lawyer.
What to Do After a Dog Bite | Reporting the Accident
We have many situations where people are bit by dogs and the first thing you have to find out is whether that dog had its rabies shots. You have to identify who the owner is. You want to report it to the local police agency, or if they have a dog control person, report it to them. They can verify whether or not this dog had its shots. If it didn’t, you might be in a situation where they have to quarantine the dog and test it to make sure that you don’t need to get sick.
Beyond that, if it is a serious dog bite situation, the dog bite laws in New York are a little different than some other areas or some other states in that we have to show that the dog had some type of vicious propensity to act in the way it did before your actual incident. We like to get people out canvasing the areas, talking to neighbors, mailmen, UPS drivers, FedEx drivers, etc. People are in that neighborhood all the time that may have had contact with this dog that may be able to shed light on whether or not this dog has some vicious propensities in the past.
We had a case where we got an affidavit from a mailman that actually saved our case and talked about how this dog would go after him every time he delivered the mail. When you have those types of things, it really helps us get over the hump as far as proving the dog’s vicious nature.
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What to Do After a Dog Bite | Questions to Ask the Dog Owner
We handle dog bite cases all the time. In fact, we just got one recently. My client was all worried about what information they needed to obtain from the dog owner, and I said to them, “You need to find out – first and foremost – whether the dog is up to date on its shots.” If not, the dog needs to be tested to make sure it’s not rabid so that you don’t have to go through additional medical treatments. That’s the first thing. In cases like this, the law in New York is kind of like a one-bite rule. In bringing your claim, you have to show that the dog or other animal – it could be any kind of animal – has previously shown some type of vicious propensities by doing something similar. These cases are difficult because, especially when you’re dealing with people’s house pets, that propensity issue can be hard to prove.
With these types of cases, it’s very important to get your Hamburg dog bite attorney involved early because we can do things like talk to the mailman, the UPS driver, and FedEx drivers who deliver to that house. We will ask them whether the dog has ever shown aggressive tendencies and so forth. We’ve even had cases where our investigator has gone out and videoed the dog acting violently toward others by running at the fence, growling at people and things like that. That proof can help set up these types of claims.
If you have any more questions about what to do after a dog bite, please contact our offices today to schedule a free consultation.