Dog owners have a legal responsibility to prevent their animals from causing avoidable pain and suffering. Unfortunately, negligent dog owners can neglect their pets’ training or actively strive to encourage violence in their dogs. If either course of behavior puts you in harm’s way, you can turn to an Atlanta dog bite lawyer for support.
An experienced personal injury lawyer in Atlanta can help you hold negligent pet owners responsible for the cost of your recovery after an animal attack.
The legal team with Shane Smith Law has spent every year since 2009 ensuring that victims know their rights and can fight for compensation under Georgia law.
The personal injury claims that our team has championed have put over a hundred million dollars back into the hands of victims of dog attack injuries and other incidents. You can contact us today to discuss how we can advocate for you throughout your recovery. In Pain? Call Shane!
What to Know About Dog Bite Cases in Georgia
Property owners can be held responsible for dog bites and attacks. Although dogs are thought to be man’s best friend, some dogs are ferocious and threaten innocent people in the community.
When dogs aren’t fenced off or tied up, they can get out and attack a pedestrian, bicyclist, neighbor, child, or delivery person. When a dog attack occurs, a victim may suffer from:
Physical Injuries
Dog attacks can cause massive trauma to humans due to the dog’s teeth and claws. When dog bites occur, victims are left with serious injuries that often require surgery. Most dog bites produce scars that will last a lifetime, and some animal attacks have even led to disabilities.
Emotional Injuries
Even after a dog bite physically heals, a victim may still suffer from graphic memories. It can take a lifetime to heal from the emotional damage caused by a dog attack. This is because a victim may forever be distressed in the presence of other dogs.
Financial Damages
When a victim suffers a dog bite, they may incur expensive medical bills for the emergency room visit, tests, surgery, hospital bills, medication costs, physical therapy, lost wages, and more.
Victims of Georgia dog bites need not bear this financial burden alone. The dog owner’s insurance will likely cover the financial damages and should be pursued.
If dog owners allow their pets to roam freely outside their homes and yards, and someone suffers a dog bite as a result, that dog owner may be held liable and in violation of the Georgia leash laws. Even if a dog escaped and attacked someone, the dog owner could still be held accountable for bodily injury or death.
For a free legal consultation with a dog bite lawyer serving Atlanta, call (980) 246-2656
When Should You Contact an Atlanta Dog Bite Lawyer?
Do not wait to get in touch with an Atlanta dog bite lawyer after an animal attack. Dog bite injuries can have a prolonged impact on your health and well-being. You need allies if you want to hold owners accountable for their negligence.
Fortunately, your case consultations with Shane Smith Law come free of charge. You can book your injury case evaluation immediately after an incident to discuss how you can best hold an owner responsible for your emotional trauma, physical injuries, and other losses.
We’re ready to help you move a case for animal attack compensation forward in private conversations with insurance adjusters or in civil court. You can trust us to offer you an individualized legal strategy that keeps your recovery goals at its core.
How Can Personal Injury Lawyers Help You Recover After Animal Attacks?
Injury cases vary from person to person, based on the circumstances that led to an animal attack. Our Atlanta dog bite attorneys account for the unique factors that contributed to your attack when determining how to approach your fight for dog bite compensation.
As such, you can trust us to discuss how best to approach your fight for compensation with an entirely unique perspective. We can work with you to approach an insurance company, ensuring that insurance adjusters can’t take advantage of your distress or otherwise misrepresent the details of your losses.
We can simultaneously preserve your right to take legal action against a negligent dog owner in civil court. This process does not require you to go to court, but can instead give you the opportunity to discuss compensation with a dog owner before bringing your case to the attention of a civil judge.
Atlanta Dog Bite Lawyer Near Me (980) 246-2656
How to Demand Fair Compensation for Your Dog Bite Losses
You can demand compensation for dog bite injuries by entering negotiations with an insurer or going to court. Either way, you need to calculate the value of your losses before you bring those losses to the attention of a liable party. Working with an Atlanta dog bite attorney makes it easier to do the math while you’re healing.
Our legal team can help you account for the cost of economic losses like your medical costs, upcoming surgeries, lost wages, lost workplace benefits, and property damage, as applicable.
We can then assign dollar values to your non-economic expenses, including your pain and suffering, emotional distress, and reduced quality of life.
This process makes it harder for insurers and other parties to call your right to fair compensation into question or pressure you into accepting an insufficient settlement offer.
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Common Injuries Associated with Dog Bites
While some people may think of a dog bite as an injury in and of itself, it is actually an incident that can cause a number of different and distinct injuries.
Some of the more common include the following:
- Broken bones
- Bruising
- Loss of fingers or toes
- Muscle damage
- Scarring
- Infections
- Brain injuries
These injuries have the potential to keep victims from working for an extended period of time, as well as require intensive medical treatment. Often, the first step in recovering for these and other losses is discussing your case with an attorney who is familiar with litigating dog bite cases in Georgia.
Who Is Most at Risk?
The groups most at risk include:
- Children: The rate of dog bites is the greatest for children aged from 5 to 9 years old. In addition, children are more likely to require medical attention for dog bites than adults.
- Men: On average, men are more likely to be bitten than women
- People with dogs in the household: Among all age groups, having a dog in the home is directly correlated with an increase in dog bites. For adults with two or more dogs in the home, the risk of sustaining a dog bite increases fivefold.
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Shane Smith Law Wants to Work With You
Georgia’s Responsible Dog Ownership Law is designed to keep Atlanta residents safe from dogs with a known history of violence. Under this law and other Georgia laws, like leash law ordinances, dog owners must take reasonable steps to register dangerous dogs and prevent them from coming into contact with vulnerable populations.
However, even the strictest of laws have a margin for error. Fortunately, you can bring an animal attack case to the attention of relevant insurance providers, not to mention Georgia’s civil courts.
Support from an experienced dog bite attorney in Atlanta, GA, can help you determine if a dog owner knew or should have known their dog was dangerous at the time of an incident.
You can then rely on your lawyer to advocate for your right to attack-based compensation. In Pain? Call Shane! We’re ready to fight for the support you need.
Call or text (980) 246-2656 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
