Call Animal Control: Liability in Dog Bite Cases
In the wake of sustaining an injury, the immediate priorities inevitably take precedence. This is the way it should be! The health of the injured person is of the utmost importance. The natural first call should be to emergency services. Paramedics can treat injuries at the scene, and their prompt intervention can prevent serious injuries from becoming life-threatening. Police can act as both peacemakers and record-takers. Emergencies call for emergency services. It’s just that simple. But in the case of a dog bite, one call you should not neglect is to animal control. Today’s Malloy Law blog post will explain liability in dog bite cases. Read on to learn how a call to animal control can help your personal injury case.
Understanding Animal Control
You may be familiar with animal control as essentially wildlife handlers with a civil mandate. You may have seen them removing stray cats or other wildlife from the field during sporting events. Perhaps a bear has begun to range into your neighborhood in search of food, foraging in trash cans. Animal Control has the material and the know-how to relocate these animals to their natural habitats in a humane and minimally traumatic manner.
But animal control doesn’t just navigate the relationship between human society and the natural world. They’re a valuable record-keeping agency. Any dog bite incident reported to animal control will generate an incident report involving the dog and the dog’s owner. Animal control can work for dog bites similarly to how a police report can work for car crashes. A dog known to have bitten a human or another dog unprovoked can be legally labeled as a “dangerous dog” by animal control authorities and be subject to further regulations. Furthermore, animal control is also instrumental in curtailing the spread of rabies and quarantining dogs suspected of being rabid.
Dog Bites and Strict Liability
In Maryland, dog bite cases are evaluated under the principle of “strict liability.” This means that a dog owner is automatically liable for injuries caused by their dog, even if they did not know the dog was dangerous. This facilitates the injured party’s ability to sue the dog owner. In keeping with the principles of law, the owner will have a chance to provide proof that they were unaware of their dog’s danger. This is where animal control can be invaluable. Prior reports about the dog in question will dispel any question of the owner’s knowledge.
While already valuable in Maryland courts, this can be even more useful in Virginia. Virginia’s “One Bite Law” means that a dog owner is not exposed to liability for the injured person’s medical bills on the first occasion their dog bites or otherwise injures someone. The logic here is that a dog owner with no prior knowledge of their pet’s aggressive behavior should not be held responsible for behaviors they had no way of knowing about.
Reporting dog bites to animal control, then, is not simply a way to help yourself in the event you suffer a dog bite. It’s an act of service to your broader community, one which will help others and keep the people and dogs of your community safe from bad actors.
How Malloy Law Can Help
If you or a loved one has been injured by a dog bite, Malloy Law can help. Our legal team employs the DMV’s dog bite specialists. Whether you’re in Maryland, Virginia, or DC, we’re ready to assess your case free of charge, consider your unique circumstances, and plot a path to win compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Contact Malloy Law today and let’s win your case.
