Wrongful death and personal injury claims from dog attacks

In cases where a person is attacked by someone else’s dog, the victim has a right to file a personal injury claim against the dog’s owner. If a person is killed by someone else’s dog, an immediate family member can sue the owner for wrongful death.

In a Texas dog bite claim, the injured person must typically prove two things. One, that the owner knew that their dog has acted aggressively or has bitten someone in the past, or that the dog’s owner failed to use reasonable care to control the dog or prevent the bite.

The negligence rule also applies to other types of injuries caused by dogs. For example, if a large dog jumps on a person and causes an injury, the injured person may bring a claim for damages against the dog’s owner. Again, the injured person will have to show either that the dog’s owner knew the dog was aggressive or that the owner failed to use reasonable care to prevent the dog from harming others.

Although Texas’s “negligence” rule applies to most dog bites, Texas courts will apply a “strict liability” rule in cases in which the dog is known to be “vicious, dangerous, or mischievous.” Strict liability in this context means that if the injury was caused by a “dangerous dog,” the injured person does not have to demonstrate that the owner also failed to use reasonable care to restrain or control the dog. The injured person will be able to recover damages simply by demonstrating that the dog was known to be dangerous.

In dog bite cases that cause severe injury, the dog’s owner may face criminal charges as well as civil liability. The Texas Health and Safety Code states that a dog’s owner can be charged with a felony if:

• the owner “with criminal negligence” fails to secure the dog, and the dog attacks someone, unprovoked, at a location away from the owner’s real or personal property, or
• the owner knows the dog is a “dangerous dog” and the dog attacks someone, unprovoked, outside its own secure enclosure, and
• either of these situations causes serious bodily injury or death.

Contact J. Gonzalez

If you’re bitten by someone’s dog, it’s important that you get medical attention, contact the police, and call a personal injury attorney who can explain your options regarding a lawsuit. The J. Gonzalez Law Firm offers a free initial consultation, and you don’t have to pay anything unless J. Gonzalez obtains the highest possible compensation that you’re entitled to. Call today at 1-800-CAR-CRASH.

Katy dog attack leaves one dead, two injured

By: Benjamin Trevino

Dogs mauled a man to death along a trail in Katy, and later bit a woman and her daughter, according to Harris County law enforcement.

Three aggressive dogs reportedly attacked a 62-year-old man using the Mason Creek Hike and Bike Trail on the 2500 block of Porter Road around 9:00 a.m. December 15. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the dogs also bit a mother and her daughter at 23600 Persimmons Creek Lane nearby. The woman and girl went to the hospital with minor injuries, Gonzalez added.

The dogs were mixed pitbulls, and homicide detectives are investigating how they escaped from their owners’ yard, Harris County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Jason Brown said during a news briefing.

Charges were possible, he said, but it was too early to tell if they’d be filed.

The three dogs were captured after a four-hour search, and one was found in a drainage pipe, where it was tranquilized and removed, according to the constable’s office.

The man who was killed was not immediately identified. He was found dead when deputies arrived at the scene minutes after the report of the attack, the office said.

Brown said county animal control officials took possession of two dogs and euthanized another that had escaped into a drainage ditch. He said the fatal dog attack was uncommon and law enforcement was so far unaware of prior incidents involving the animals.

Source: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/katy-dog-mauling-man-21243840.php?