How A Buford Animal Attack Lawyer Can Help the Injured

Animal attacks occur at an alarming rate in Georgia–just ask our Atlanta dog bite lawyer.

In fact, a few months ago, a judge ordered that a dog be euthanized after it attacked an elderly woman on

Huddlestone Lane, which is part of a subdivision called The Enclave at Ivy Creek.

According to eyewitness testimony, the woman was attacked while approaching her daughter’s front door when the animal escaped from the neighbor’s open garage door.

The victim suffered serious injuries to her arm that required surgery and skin grafting to repair.

The dog was later held in quarantine where it continued to show aggression.

It was later euthanized upon a judge’s order.

With the help of a Buford animal attack lawyer, the victim’s family can file a civil suit against the animal’s owner to help cover both past and future medical expenses.

Dog bites are notoriously painful and often difficult to treat, as they have a tendency to become infected.

Those who are injured by someone else’s dangerous dog should not be stuck paying for hospital bills, so if you were attacked by another person’s animal and suffered an injury, please contact a dedicated Buford dog bite lawyer who can help you file a claim for compensation.

Grounds for Liability

In Georgia, domestic dogs are presumed to be harmless, which means that an injured party can only recover damages if he or she can prove that the owner had knowledge that the dog posed a risk to others, but still failed to use reasonable care in restraining the animal and that the injured party did not provoke the animal.

Although this law quickly became known as the one-bite rule, a recent Supreme Court case clarified that the statute does not require victims to prove that a dog had bitten someone else on a prior occasion to establish liability.

This means that knowing that a dog had a tendency to jump on people or that it behaved aggressively towards other animals could be enough to satisfy this requirement.

The requirement will also be met if a dog was left off of its leash in violation of city law at the time of the attack, as the court will see this as evidence of the owner’s negligence.

Dangerous Dogs

Georgia also has separate laws that specifically address dangerous dogs, which are defined as animals that have bitten another person in such a way that the skin was punctured or have killed another owner’s pet without provocation, whether on public or private property.

Dangerous dogs must be registered with the city on a yearly basis and kept in secure enclosures, while their owners must:

• Purchase an insurance policy to cover the cost of personal injuries inflicted by the dog; and
• Post warning signs at all entrances to their property indicating that a dangerous dog lives on the premises.

If an injury qualifies as serious, the dog will be labeled vicious and must be microchipped, while its owner must maintain at least $50,000 of liability insurance.

Call an Animal Attack Attorney in Buford

To discuss your own case with a dedicated personal injury lawyer serving Atlanta, please call The Angell Law Firm, LLC at (770) 217-4954 today.

A member of our legal team is available to answer your call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.