Maison Law represents Visalia dog bite victims. We take extra care to make sure children who suffer bites get the support they need to recover after a frightening attack.
Child dog bite victims can require additional care and support to make sure they heal and don’t experience additional injury complications as they mature. Our dog bite lawyers aggressively go after dog owners to make sure they are held fully liable for any injury to a child. Parents can reach out to us for a free, no-obligation case consultation.
Do I Need a Lawyer If a Dog Bites My Child?
If your child suffers a serious injury in a dog bite incident, having a lawyer look out for your child’s interests and monitor the actions of insurance companies is a good idea.
After a dog bite, victims are usually able to hold the dog owner’s homeowners’ insurance liable for all damages. However, insurance adjusters won’t make it easy to earn that much-needed support. They’ll try to blame the child or the parents for what happened. They can also downplay the injuries the child suffers, simply to get away with offering much less compensation.
Your Visalia Dog Bite Lawyer fully investigates what happened and collects evidence to hold insurance companies 100% accountable for a dog owner’s negligence. Your lawyer uses the evidence to force insurance companies to turn over the maximum in support. This aggressive approach allows parents to get the best care available for their children without worrying about the cost.
Child Dog Bite Dangers in Visalia
Dogs are great companions, and Visalia is certainly a dog-friendly town. Unfortunately, some dog owners can ignore their legal duties to keep others safe by restraining their dogs with leashes and keeping them securely confined in houses or yards. Dogs can get loose or be set free in a park, like Seven Oaks Park, and end up getting into confusing or threatening situations, and become aggressive.
Sadly, the most common victims of a dog owner’s negligence are children. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) reports that around 4.5 million Americans are bitten every year, with almost half of the victims being children under 12 years old.
Children are curious and may approach or corner a dog. They may not have the judgment at their age to tell when a dog is frightened. A dog may lash out with a painful bite to inflict a devastating injury. In these cases, children would not usually bear legal liability for what happened. It would be up to the dog owner to keep children from gaining access to dogs.
It’s an important responsibility because children are smaller and more of their vulnerable areas are in reach of a dog’s mouth. They also have less muscle and tissue to protect them from large teeth. A bite might crush tender bones or injure vital organs. A bite at this age could cause permanent disfigurement.
Dog owners can be held liable through their homeowner’s insurance, but insurers will do everything they can to limit what a child receives. This is unacceptable when you consider that children will suffer from an injury now, and could need intensive treatment when they get older, and an old wound or broken bone affects their growth into adulthood.
Who Is Responsible for a Child Being Bitten in California?
California holds dog owners responsible for the consequences of dog bites in most cases. These bites fall under the concept of “strict liability.” It means that dog owners are generally liable for the damage a dog causes with a bite, even if the dog has never bitten anyone.
There are only a few exceptions to “strict liability,” but they may not apply to children:
- The victim couldn’t have been trespassing at the time they were bitten
- The victim can’t be found to have provoked the dog
In most cases, young children wouldn’t be held responsible for trespassing onto someone’s property and getting bitten. The owner would likely be cited for not having a secure enough enclosure to keep curious young children out.
A judge hearing a dog bite case also probably wouldn’t hold a young child responsible for provoking the dog. The law would hold that a child wouldn’t have the mental capacity to use good judgment around a dog.
In some cases, insurance companies representing the dog owner can attempt to slip out of responsibility by blaming the victim in some way. A Visalia dog bite lawyer would back a claim with strong evidence showing why a dog owner was responsible for acting to protect children.
Compensation Available to Children and Parents After a Dog Bite
Your attorney would fight to get the most possible for your child’s recovery, because additional money for care may be required in the years ahead.
You could need much more in support if your child is seriously hurt by a dog. Children are still maturing, and a bite can greatly affect their development down the road.
They may enter their teen years or become a young adult when they suddenly require additional surgeries because bones and muscles damaged by a past bite aren’t growing correctly. They may need restorative surgery to repair the damage of a permanent scar.
Families should demand that these and other factors earn support for the child dog bite victim:
- Medical care now and any required care in the future. Funds for regular check-ups for the child victim to make sure the patient is developing and growing without issues. Funds for additional surgeries that may be needed down the road.
- Lifelong support for a child dog bite victim who suffers a physical disability or permanent disfigurement.
- Travel costs for appointments with doctors and surgeons.
- Additional compensation for the physical pain child victims must endure.
- Support for the emotional anguish experienced. This type of compensation can be substantial, especially for a child who might need psychological counseling to get over a fear of dogs and being triggered when seeing other dogs. Disfigurement can also affect a child’s self-esteem and ability to handle social interactions. This very real emotional trauma must factor into a dog bite settlement agreement.
- Wrongful death benefits for parents. In the most tragic cases, a young life is cut short by a severe dog attack. The family would be able to seek financial support to make sure they can focus on grieving the loss of a precious loved one and not on how they’ll pay the remaining medical bills left behind.
Contact a Visalia Child Dog Bite Lawyer
Consult with an attorney who understands the emotional trauma that comes along with the physical damage caused by a dog bite. Families and young victims will need financial help as they receive emergency room and physical therapy bills. Parents and their children will also need time to heal away from the frustrating negotiations with unhelpful insurance companies.
When you contact Maison Law for a free consultation, you’ll talk to a real Visalia Dog Bite Lawyer, and you’ll get our full attention. We will help you decide your best options for securing the adequate support you’ll need to rebuild your lives. If you decide we can help you get the most out of your child’s dog bite case, you won’t need any money to hire us. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for your family. Then our fee comes out of the insurance settlement your family receives.
