While dogs may be the winners of the internet and generally do humans a lot of good, there do happen to be occasions where man’s best friend can become man’s worst enemy. Animal attacks or dog bites are frightening and can result in pain, disease, injury and lasting damage. Thompson Law has meaningful experience in dog bite injury cases- just see our results for the story of our past success.
Legal issues around dog owner responsibility, premises duty of care, victim trespassing and more can complicate dog bite injury cases. In these circumstances, the experience and specialization of Thompson Law’s Texas dog bite injury lawyers are tremendous assets to winning you the best possible outcome and gaining you every last penny of your just compensation.
The question of liability in a dog bite case is often more complicated than you might think, due to the various individuals who may be responsible for the actions of an animal at a given time and place. This becomes even more complicated when the victim of the dog bite attack is trespassing at the time of the incident. Whether or not you are liable is a question that an experienced animal attack attorney can help to answer.
Comparative negligence does play a role if you have sustained dog bites in Texas. For example, a dog owner who posts a “Beware of dog” sign on the enclosed area where the dog is located can argue for lesser responsibility in the attack incident. The posting may constitute a reasonable warning to property visitors that means those visitors also have a responsibility to their own safety on that property.
In most cases, property owners or renters have a “duty of care” on private property to provide for the safety and well-being of individuals entering that property, including their invited guests and other visitors such as salespeople, delivery people, or other solicitors. Trespassers complicate this question of the duty of care, and the regulations on animal owners in the circumstance of an attack on a trespasser vary by state.
In Texas, as in many states, the duty of care or standard of care owed to trespassers is lower than to lawful individuals on a property. Thus, if you as the property owner have taken reasonable measures to secure your animal or warn individuals on your property as to the presence of an animal, your liability for the incident may be decreased.
According to the City of Dallas (any many other cities and townships utilize similar classifications, typically as mandated by the state), an aggressive dog and a dangerous dog have distinct meanings, and owners of these animals are required to comply with animal ownership regulations accordingly.
Each of these categorizations has a related legal definition and a distinct determination process as regulated by city code. Owner of dangerous or aggressive dogs are subject to increased annual registration fees, compliance in entry to a city-wide database of dangerous or aggressive animals, and meeting requirements of ownership.
Additionally, Texas is a “Strict Liability” state, meaning a victim injured by a dog already deemed aggressive or dangerous by the state does not need to prove the failure of reasonable care or restraint by the owner. The classification of the animal is enough to confirm liability.
In the immediate aftermath of a dog bite attack, it’s understandable that you may be extremely overwhelmed. With that understood, it is critically important to call the proper authorities and contact an experienced dog bite attorney for advice on how to proceed.
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After a dog bite injury, many people are hesitant to reach out for help from a medical provider, let alone from an attorney. However, the fact is that a standard of care is owed to you as a human being entering the domain of another individual or company, regardless of whether or not dogs are on the premises. You are deserving of health and healing, and if you have experienced a dog attack, you are deserving of recovery and compensation for your medical bills, pain, and suffering.
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