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 cost of $38,500 per claim. Florida’s Dog Bite statute imposes strict liability upon dog owners for a bite that causes injury to a human being. This means that the owner of a dog is liable for damages suffered by a person who is bitten by that dog, regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner’s knowledge of such viciousness.

The Pembroke Pines personal injury attorneys at the Law Office of Dell and Schaefer were able to recover $45,000.00 for a retired, 72 year-old man who was nearly attacked by a dog while taking his daily walk. Though the dog, a German Shepard mix, never actually attacked our client, the dog was loose in our client’s neighborhood and began to approach our client in a menacing manner. Our client became fearful for his life and began to run away from the dog when he fell, fracturing his wrist.

Our Dog Bite attorneys successfully argued that under Florida’s dog bite statute, the dog owner was strictly liable for the actions of his dog and our client’s damages were proximately caused by the negligence of the dog owner. This enabled our Dog Bite attorneys to achieve a monetary recovery for our client. Though our client suffered a great deal of pain as a result of his wrist fracture, he was pleased to learn that he could be compensated for his loss under Florida Law.

According to the ASPCA, there are several ways to avoid a Dog Attack. Never stare into a dog’s eyes, tease a dog or touch a dog while it is sleeping. Also, people should not run and scream when approached by a loose dog but rather, remain calm, still and quite in order to avoid startling the dog.

The article on Dog Bites can be found here: http://news.yahoo.com/leading-insurer-pays-109m-dog-bite-claims-214445007.html