In millions of households, they are beloved family members. But they are still animals, and sometimes they can be unpredictable and dog bite someone and know the legal rights of dog attack. And what happens if my dog bites someone? In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 4. A study from the Insurance Information Institute found the number of dog-bite claims nationwide is increasing.
Even seemingly minor dog-bites can result in significant medical bills and other harmful consequences. The first thing you should do after a dog bite is get medical attention. If the bite is severe, you should call or have someone drive you to the emergency room.
Even if the bite is minor, you should see a doctor. Dog can lead to many complications and infections. Dogs that have not been vaccinated could carry rabies. The records showing your medical treatments and testing also will be important when you need to demonstrate that you sustained injuries and deserve compensation.
If possible, you should take pictures of your injuries, including puncture wounds and bruises, before your treatment begins or as soon after the incident as possible.
If the dog is not with its owner, you or someone you designate should check to see if anyone in homes nearby recognizes the dog. Steps to take after a dog bite Identify the dog and its owner Immediately identify the owner of the dog or the person who had custody of the dog when it attacked you.
Obtain the names and addresses and request proof of rabies vaccination. Seek medical care Depending upon the severity of the dog bite, contact first responders for immediate medical attention or have someone drive you to emergency care. Always seek professional medical treatment after being bitten or attacked by a dog.
The risk of infection from a dog bite is far too great to ignore. File a dog bite report After you've been medically treated -- even if the injury was minor -- file a dog bite report with the proper city or county authorities. This legally documents your case and provides help to the next victim who may be bitten or attacked by the same dog. Without a paper trail, authorities cannot enforce effectively.
Gather more information After identifying the dog and its owner, find out more about the dog. Obtain the dog license information and any records pertaining to its previous history. Has the dog bitten or attacked a person or animal prior to biting you? Has the dog been legally designated "potentially dangerous" or "dangerous" by authorities?
Photograph your injuries Take photos of your injuries, even if you need to unwrap gauze. Jake consoled himself with the thought that at least he wouldn't start foaming at the mouth. After a few weeks, he could jog again without pain, although his fear of encountering the beast again prompted him to choose a new route. Jake decided it was time to add up his costs and demand payment from Allison Finley. First, however, he decided to check on California law to see just what he was entitled to.
Looking up "Dogs" in the California code the state statutes, available online gave him a long list of laws. The most promising was under "Bite, liability of owner. It read, in part: "The owner of any dog is liable for the damages suffered by any person who is bitten by the dog while in a public place … regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner's knowledge of such viciousness.
Piece of cake, Jake thought. Allison couldn't even argue about anything but the amount of the damages. And as far as Jake could tell, she didn't have any defenses to make—nobody could say, Jake was sure, that by jogging along minding his own business he had provoked the dog into biting him.
If your state doesn't have a dog-bite statute, or if it doesn't apply in your situation, you may be able to sue under the common law rule or a negligence theory, discussed above. To win under a common law one free bite rule, you must prove that the owner knew or should have known that the dog was likely to cause the kind of injury suffered. The third option, trying to prove a dog owner was negligent, is usually desirable only if there's no dog-bite statute to sue under, and it doesn't look possible to prove, on a common law theory, that the dog's owner knew the dog was dangerous.
In some states, time limits on filing lawsuits may differ depending on the theory of the lawsuit. For example, in Arizona, lawsuits under the dog-bite statute must be filed within one year of the incident.
But an injured person who sues under a common law theory has two years to file a case. To decide on how much to ask Allison for, Jake first added up his out-of-pocket costs, which looked like this:. But what about his pain and suffering? Jake had spent two very uncomfortable days, and another ten unable to do a lot of the things he enjoyed, such as hiking.
His pleasure in jogging on his formerly favorite running trail had also been displaced, in part, by anxiety about being attacked again. Jake decided he didn't want to ask for a ridiculously large amount, but he did feel wronged. Jake's next step was to call Allison Finley, who told him she considered the whole incident at least half his fault. Her theory was that when Jake leaped into the ditch, it sent a signal to Fred, her dog, that Jake was afraid and fleeing.
It's a well-known fact, she went on, that dogs naturally go for cowards. Eventually, she offered to pay Jake's medical bills but nothing else, claiming Jake could have gone to work if he had wanted to.
To distinguish the skull size, shape, and bite force, they measured the skull length, maximal skull width, and the length from rostral-most point of the skull to the caudal edge of the last maxillary molar tooth in skulls and compared the estimated bite forces using the adjusted equations They found that in dogs, the bite force was closely related to the size of the skull and thus body weight.
However, they also stated that obesity should not be included when determining body size; thus, the skull rather than body weight should be considered as the indicator Bite force was increased as the skulls changed from dolichocephalic to brachycephalic shapes because the out-lever arm of the mandible in dolichocephalic skulls is longer than in brachycephalic skulls.
However, the shape of the skull was not the significant factor determining bite force in small dogs Because the brain case is relatively large regarding the facial structures in small brachycephalic dogs, there is a relatively small space for the masseter muscle and therefore a decreased bite force. In larger brachycephalic dogs, the brain case size did not influence the bite force Pain associated with oral diseases, such as periodontal disease, stomatitis, or TMJ disorders in dogs and cats can be a crucial factor determining bite force.
Other TMJ disorders such as fracture, luxation, or neoplasia can result in pain when opening or closing the mouth and can decrease the range of motion in the joint 41 , According to the study by Goiato et al.
If dogs and cats have moderate to severe periodontal diseases, pain or discomfort and reduced periodontal support can occur concurrently in the oral cavity.
The loading force during mastication is generated by the masticatory muscles, and mechanoreceptors on the periodontal ligament are involved in mastication If a stimulus is applied, the receptors respond to a force applied to the crown of the tooth. However, if periodontal support is insufficient, it may result in a reduced control of bite force In humans, studies have yielded contrasting results.
According to the study by Alkan et al. By contrast, Kleinfelder and Ludwigt 48 have reported that a decreased periodontal attachment did not influence bite force in the natural dentition. Thus, we can assume that this periodontal status can be a factor influencing bite force; however, it can be controversial. Masticatory muscle myositis MMM is an idiopathic and autoimmune disease in dogs and is one of the focal inflammatory myopathies 49 , This disease affects temporal, masseter, and medial and lateral pterygoid muscles, which have type 2 M fibers that contain a unique myosin, which differs from that of limb muscles In dogs with MMM, autoantibodies specifically target 2 M fibers, leading to necrosis, phagocytosis, and fibrosis of affected muscles by infiltrating inflammatory cells Dogs are presented with muscle swelling, pain, fever, and a decreased activity in the acute phase.
In the chronic phase, clinical signs such as marked masticatory muscle atrophy and an inability to open the mouth are present This disease can affect biting itself, if it is not treated adequately in the acute phase; as in the chronic phase, severe muscle atrophy occurs due to progressive fibrosis of the muscle fibers 50 and further reduces bite force. Bite force has been used as an indicator in various fields in human and veterinary medicine.
In humans, the bite force is used to evaluate the therapeutic effects of prosthetic devices, to suggest standards for the biomechanics of prosthetic devices, and is also used in maxillofacial surgery and dentistry 54 , In veterinary medicine, it can be used to evaluate restorative materials, develop fracture fixation implants, such as plates and screws, or to assess various foods, chewing toys, and dental treats for dogs and cats Moreover, bite force knowledge has been used in evolutionary biology.
Bite force can be estimated or measured from the dry skulls of extinct animals; thus, it enables the prediction of predatory behaviors or adaptation to feeding ecology in carnivores 29 — 31 , Bite force has been used as an important indicator for evaluating the masticatory system in dogs and cats as well as in humans. However, unlike humans, it is difficult to measure bite force in dogs and cats because chewing action cannot be directed.
Thus, several measurement methods have been developed for use in the veterinary field. Bite force measurements in living dogs are challenging, but they allow the measurement of actual i. Bite force is more easily measured using dry skull measurements. Factors that can affect bite forces include the size and shape of the skull, body weight, and oral or TMJ pain.
Masticatory muscle disease such as MMM can also cause mastication disability and altered bite force. Bite force values can be applied in various fields in animals as well as in humans. It can be used to evaluate dental materials, plates, and screws for fixation of craniomandibular fractures and in allometry studies that can estimate the bite force from extinct species.
SK: acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting of manuscript, critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content. BA: study concept and design, analysis and interpretation of data, critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content. TG: drafting of manuscript, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data, critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content.
FV: study concept and design, critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content, corresponding author.
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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