Every year, several children are bitten by dogs. If your child is bitten in your yard or anywhere in your neighborhood by a dog, then you have the right to compensation. The owner of the dog can be held liable in a court of law. If you find yourself having to sue a dog owner for personal injury to your child, there are some very important steps you should take.
Get Your Child Emergency Care
You should get your child to an emergency room for treatment even if it is a small bite. Small dog bites have been known to turn infectious; in severe cases, rabies and other serious diseases have been transmitted through even minor bites. A trip to the emergency room not only ensures that your child's injury is treated, it also ensures that you have official proof that your child was injured.
Contact the Dog's Owner
After you have taken care of any emergency room visit, then you should find the dog's owner. Since these types of injuries often occur in the child's neighborhood, it should be relatively easy to locate the dog's owner. Be sure you explain all the details of what has happened to your child and the nature of the injury that was sustained. The insurance company of the dog's owner is often the one who pays out claims of this nature through the dog owner's home insurance policy. If the dog's owner is co-operative, you should try to get their full name, contact information, and their insurance policy number. If they are not co-operative, your attorney, such as from http://asmlegal.net/, can demand this critical information at a later date.
Report the Incident to Animal Control
Along with the evidence you acquire by going to the emergency room, reporting the incident to your local animal control department is a powerful step. This ensures that you have another official record of the incident and that steps will be taken to make sure that the dog poses no further threat to other children in the neighborhood.
Keep Your Evidence Secure
Do not wash any blood stained clothes or sew any clothes that were damaged during the incident. These provide concrete evidence that the incident took place and can be used in a court of law. Take pictures of the clothes and the injury that your child sustained. If you have neighbors that witnessed the incident and they are willing to give evidence, have them write down what they saw and date it.
Following these steps should help you win any personal injury case that involves your child being bitten by a dog.
