Attack Dog Vicious
As a personal injury lawyer practicing in Atlanta and north Georgia, I was saddened today when I read an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution on line about 3 children who were violently attacked and seriously injured by five dogs that had escaped from their owner's yard in southern California. Most injured of the three was a 5 year old girl who was pulled from her mother's arms and tossed about like a rag doll by a mastiff that punctured the girl's lung, broke numerous ribs, and inflicted several bites. The girl remains hospitalized since Monday and is unable to breath on her own.
The girl's 7 year old brother also remains hospitalized after needing 237 staples to close a leg wound, and her 8 year old sister was treated for leg and arm injuries. After the incident one of the dogs was shot when it attacked an officer and the other 4, including the mastiff and what appeared to be pit bull mixes, were taken into custody and quarantined to determine whether they have rabies and whether they should be destroyed.
As part of my Georgia injury practice, I represent victims of dog bites and attacks like the family in California. I have a personal connection to my clients in these cases as I was attacked by a German Sheppard when I was 6 years old. As a result, my left calf was almost torn off and it took over 100 stitches to repair it. To this day, unfortunately, I have not completely gotten over my general fear of dogs.
The difficulty in handling dog attack cases is proving the owner was negligent for the dog's behavior. In Georgia, OCGA § 51-2-7, as amended effective July 1, 1985, provides:
A person who owns or keeps a vicious or dangerous animal of any kind and who, by careless management or by allowing the animal to go at liberty, causes injury to another person who does not provoke the injury by his own act may be liable in damages to the person so injured. In proving vicious propensity, it shall be sufficient to show that the animal was required to be at heel or on a leash by an ordinance of a city, county, or consolidated government, and the said animal was at the time of the occurrence not at heel or on a leash.
Under this statute, generally speaking, you prove an owner's negligence by (1) showing the dog was off the owner's property and in violation of the local leash law or ordinance, or (2) even if the dog was not off the owner's property and/or not in violation of the local leash law, showing that the dog was vicious or dangerous and that the owner had knowledge of this fact. It is not enough to show the owner had reason to know the animal had a propensity to do harm; rather, it is necessary he has reason to know that it has a propensity to do the harm of the type it inflicts.
In the California case, it appears the owner of the dogs will be liable for the vicious attacks and horrible injuries suffered by the children as it appears that if the city or county where the attacks occurred had any type of leash law, the owner was most likely in violation of such law when the attacks occurred. It would be a much more difficult case if the children had been on the owner's property and not in violation of the local leash laws.
In that case, there would have to be evidence that the owner had knowledge of prior episodes where the dogs had previously attacked. It is not only insufficient that the owner might have known the dogs were aggressive; it is also insufficient to simply show the dogs were violent breeds. Actual knowledge of prior attacks is what is necessary.
The experienced trial lawyers in our office know the law and the facts required to properly litigate a case to recover damages resulting from a dog bite or attack. If you or a family member has been through the frightening and painful experience of being attached by a dog, please call me to discuss whether you have a case against the owner of the dog. I know what you have been through.
Actress’s boyfriend brutally attacks yorkie
Broadway actress Ashley Yeater’s yorkie, Emmit was brutally attacked by the actress’s boyfriend, Joseph Graves. Graves was pet-sitting Emmit while Yeater was on tour, and totally lost his temper when Emmit nipped at him. The furious man hit the tiny dog with a belt buckle and kicked him so badly that it cost the yorkie one eye and six broken ribs. Graves was arrested and charged with aggravated animal cruelty.
This is no doubt the most outrageous celebrity dog story of recent times. How could Ashley Yeater trust her pet on this person? And for that matter, how could she live with this person? I guess she’s also trying to answer these questions to herself now, and it’s far from easy.
