Representing Victims Injured by Dog Bites & Attacks
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in the United States alone there are about 4.7 million people bitten by dogs annually. This constitutes almost 2% of the entire population. Of the 4.5 million people bitten annually, approximately 800,000 require medical attention. Injuries sustained as a result of a dog bite or attack can be significant and debilitating.
Children are the demographic most likely to be bitten by a dog
In fact dog bites are the second most frequent cause of injury to children. Over 50% of all dog bites happen to children, most occurring from a familiar dog. Not only are children more likely to be bitten by a dog, they are also twice as likely to be sent to the hospital or fatally wounded by it. Of the average of 17 deaths per year in the last 25 years attributed to dog bites, children have made up about 70%. However, children are not the only ones who are bitten by dogs. According to the postal service there are approximately 3,000 mail carriers bitten per year.
Liability in Dog Bite Cases
One Bite Rule
Virginia employs what is sometimes referred to as the “one bite rule” in dog bite or attack cases. This means a dog owner is liable for injuries caused by their dog if they knew or should have known that the dog had a dangerous propensity, such as a tendency to bite or attack.  Under Virginia law, a dog owner is strictly liable for injuries caused by their dog, if they knew that the dog was dangerous, at the time of the attack.  To be held liable, the owner must have known, or should have known, of the dog’s dangerous propensity. A dog owner is deemed to be legally on notice that their dog is dangerous, if the dog has previously attacked or bitten someone. Strict liability means that an owner is legally responsible, even if they took all the precautions a careful owner should take.
Negligence per se
Virginia recognizes negligence per se, where a dog owner can be held liable for violating leash laws, or other ordinances, specifically designed to prevent and protect against dog bites.  Negligence per se applies when an dog owner violates a law designed to protect the public, and someone is harmed as a result. Even if a dog hasn’t bitten before, an owner can still be liable if they were negligent in controlling the dog, for example not keeping the dog on a leash in public, in violation of the law. In such a scenario, you may still be able to hold the dog owner liable, if the dog was loose when it attacked, and this was in violation of a local ordinance or statute.
Many cities, towns, and counties, throughout Virginia have local ordinances that require dogs to be on leashes when in public. Â Failure to maintain your dog on a leash, in violation of such an ordinance, can form the basis of a negligence per se claim. Â Negligence per se means that if the owner of a dog violated a public leash law, it also breached a legal duty to an injured victim by violating the law. Â Once elements of negligence per se have been established, compensation then becomes a matter of what injuries were caused as a result of the violation of the statute by the dog owner.
Defenses to Dog Bite Claims in Virginia
In Virginia, a dog owner’s best defense is often that the victim was at least partly to blame for their injuries.  This is a powerful argument, because Virginia recognizes the defense of contributory negligence in personal injury cases. Contributory negligence means that if an injured person is found to be even one percent at fault for their injuries, they are barred from recovering damages.  Typically, this defense arises through the allegation that the victim of the dog attack provoked the dog by teasing or hurting it.  In addition, a dog bite victim might also be barred from recovering damages, if the dog was acting to defend its owner from a crime or other threat, at the time of the attack. Also, Virginia law generally assumes that people can’t sue for injuries, including dog bites, that they suffer while trespassing. Â
Statute of Limitations
A dog bite victim generally has two years from the date of the dog bite incident to file a lawsuit.
Damages
Factors in determining compensation in a dog bite case include, but are not limited to, the severity of the injuries; medical expenses; lost income; pain and suffering; the need for any future medical treatment or surgery; scarring; and permanent impairment and/or loss of use of a body part as result of the dog attack.