In general, the law surrounding dog bites and animal attacks is not as straightforward as the law involving a car accident, slip and fall, medical malpractice, or another type of personal injury case. Though they are collectively referred to as “dog bite” cases, they can include injuries caused by a pet scratching you, jumping on you, or injuries you suffer trying to run away or avoid being bitten.

That is why you need to have an experienced dog bite lawyer on your side. Although the injuries and damages are often significant in a dog bite case, liability can be difficult to prove. If the dog is unknown to the victim, trying to identify the owner or where the owner lives can be a challenge.

The best North Carolina dog bite injury lawyers will:

• Thoroughly investigate your accident
• Explain your options
• Guide you through the claims process
• Negotiate with the insurance company
• File a lawsuit if necessary
• Above all else, fight for you

Although some dog bite injuries may be superficial, many may cause damage to structures or tissue underneath the skin. The risk of infection is also high in any type of dog bite, even a minor one, which can be both incredibly painful and even life-threatening if sepsis develops. In some instances, when a dog’s shot or vaccine history is unknown, a victim of a dog bite is required to get extensive testing and rabies vaccinations themselves in an abundance of caution, which are painful and expensive.

Some of the most common dog and animal bite injuries and damages that our Raleigh dog bite lawyers can help you handle include:

• Significant scarring and disfigurement
• Torn tendons, especially in the hand, ankle, or shoulder
• Nerve damage
• Torn ligaments, especially in the ankle, knee, hip, hand, elbow, and shoulder
• Damage to blood vessels under the skin
• Dislocated shoulders or separated shoulder
• Torn muscles, especially in the biceps, triceps, shoulder, pec, and hip
• Facial injuries and neck wounds
• Nerve paralysis in the leg or arm is a major nerve was severed or avulsed (pulled out of the spinal cord)
• Torn rotator cuff or SLAP tears in the shoulder
• Brachial plexus nerve injuries in the arm
• Amputations, especially of the fingers or toes
• Infections and sepsis
• Head injuries from falling after being jumped on or knocked down by an attacking animal
• Broken bones or fractured bones, including spiral fractures
• Wrongful death of a child

Dog and animal bite laws in North Carolina take many approaches. Although this means there are many ways to prove liability, it also means there are many ways a defense lawyer can fight back. This is why hiring one of our North Carolina dog bite lawyers could make all the difference in your case.

Under North Carolina law, there are four types of claims and ways to prove liability for dog bites:

Strict Liability for Dogs At Large
Under North Carolina stat. section 67-12, there is strict liability for a dog owner for a dog bite if they allow or know that their dog is running at large. North Carolina defines running at large as a dog running or roaming off the dog owner’s property without the owner or handler being with the dog. This law does not apply if the dog escaped, unless the owner knew the dog had escaped and was roaming but did not try to recover the dog.

Strict Liability for Dangerous Dogs
Under North Carolina stat. section 67-4.4, a dog owner will be strictly liable for a dog bite caused by a “dangerous dog.” A dangerous dog is defined under North Carolina stat. section 67-4.1. Assessing whether the dog meets the qualifications to be deemed a “dangerous dog” is our first step in every dog bite case because liability is the easiest to prove. This is where county or municipal records are important to determine if the dog has previously been reported for biting and showing aggressiveness before.

Strict Liability for One-Bite/Vicious Propensities
Under North Carolina common law, where an owner knows that a dog has a vicious propensity to do harm, an owner may be strictly liable for that harm. To prove an on-bite rule claim, a victim will have to show that the owner knew or should have known that their dog had a vicious propensity to bite or do harm. Sometimes this will come down to evidence from neighbors who live near the dog in question and experience they may have had with the dog. It is not usual to uncover a neighbor who, after being terrorized by a snarling dog for years and complaining to the dog’s owner, to be a willing witness in a case. This is different from the one-bite rule because a dog owner could be liable for a dog’s first bite if the owner knew or should have known that the dog was aggressive and had a proclivity to cause harm.

Negligence for Dog Bites & Animal Attacks
Finally, under the North Carolina common law, an owner may be liable if he or she had a duty, breached that duty, and that breach caused damages to a victim. This is the standard type of personal injury claim and applies to dog bites, although it is the hardest to prove because it depends on reasonableness. This claim can also serve as a catch-all for any dog bite incidents that don’t neatly fit into any of the other claims. These claims rely on proving that the dog owner did something wrong and unreasonable.

For instance, many North Carolina communities and municipalities have leash ordinances requiring owners to keep their pets on a leash. If a dog owner allows their dog to run off the leash in violation of a leash ordinance, and that dog bites a victim, then negligence (and possibly negligence per se) claims may be viable.