Florida Animal & Dog Bite Injury Attorneys
As Florida animal and dog bite attorneys we have seen just about every type injury that can accidentally be caused by a dog or any other type of “domestic animal”. Florida statute defines a domestic animal as “any equine (horse) or bovine animal, goat, sheep, swine, domestic cat, dog, poultry, ostrich, emu, rhea, or other domesticated beast or bird. The term “animal,” as used in this chapter, shall include wild or game animals whenever necessary to effectively control or eradicate dangerous transmissible diseases or pests which threaten the agricultural interests of the state.”
In most cases the owner of a dog or any other domestic animal is “strictly liable” for any injuries or property damage caused by their animal. The basis for strict liability is that those who engage in certain kinds of activities do so at their own risk, and must pay for any damage that foreseeably results, even if the activity has been carried out in the most careful manner possible. According to our Florida animal and dog bite lawyers most dog bite attacks are caused by either pit bulls, dobermans or rotweillers. In addition to dog bites, a Florida dog owner can be held responsible if their dog knocks a person over, trips someone, or the dog causes or contributes to a person’s injury. For example, one of our Florida dog bite attorneys handled a case where our client was at someone’s house and accidently tripped over the dog. The dog owner was liable for the injuries sustained by our client. If a dog owner owns a home and has homeowner’s insurance, then it is possible that any injuries caused by the dog will be covered under the home owner’s insurance policy. Unfortunately, most homeowner’s insurance policies exclude coverage for damages caused by a dog.
In another interesting case our Florida dog bite lawyer sued a landlord in a rental complex after one of the tenant’s dogs attacked our client. Under Florida law a landlord has a duty to protect its tenants in connection with a vicious dog of which the landlord has knowledge. A landlord could potentially be held liable for a tenant’s dog if the landlord knows the dog is dangerous and has the ability to control the premises in order to protect the plaintiff. Cases against landlords for dog bites are difficult as the jury will usually find the owner of the dog responsible and not the landlord.
In addition to cases against dog owners, our Florida animal injury attorneys have represented clients that sustained injuries from a horse, goat, cat, and pig.
Check out our Resolved Case Examples on this page to read about some examples of animal related cases that our Florida Dog Bite and Animal injury attorneys have resolved.
Our Florida Animal or Dog Bite Injury Cases
- Dog Bite Cases Resolves For Policy Limit Client Is Relaxing On Her Porch When She Was Attacked By A Pitbull Our clients, a middle aged woman and her teenage daughter, were relaxing on their porch on a hot summer day. Her daughter was reading a book and […]
- Florida Dog Bite Attorney Discusses Increased Dog Bite Accidents According to the associated press, Dog Bite claims make up a large portion of total liability claims made against insurance companies and their insureds. In fact, Florida ranks number one in average cost per dog bite claim with an average […]
- $550,000 Dog Bite Settlement for Pasco County Resident attacked by Pit Bull Our client was walking his dog near his home in New Port Richey, located in Pasco County, Florida, when a pit bull ran out of a neighbor’s house and attacked our client’s dog. Our client attempted to pull his dog […]
A little girl was playing with a neighbor’s cat when her face was severely scratched by such cat.
Our client was injured when his foot was crushed by a horse. The owner of the horse was found liable for the injuries caused.
Our client was severely injured and underwent neck surgery after he crashed his vehicle into a horse that escaped due to the horse’s owner failing to lock the pasture gate. The owner of the horse attempted to argue that the gate was vandalized and he was unaware that the gate was not locked. We were able to prove that the owner failed to lock the gate, which meant that his insurance company was responsible to compensate our client for his severe injuries.
A dog was wandering the streets and decided to walk in front of an oncoming automobile traffic driven by our client. One automobile swerved to miss the dog and crashed into another automobile. The occupants of both automobiles were severely injured and the owner of the dog was found liable for all damages.
A junk yard dog attacked our client causing severe facial and keloid scarring on her arm. The property owner was liable despite his efforts to deny ownership of the dog.
Our client was at someone’s house and tripped over the owner’s dog, resulting in a fractured leg requiring surgery. The dog owner was liable for the injuries suffered by our client.
