Understanding Georgia Dog Bite Liability

Whether you have a dog at home, are visiting the home of a friend or family member with a dog, or you regularly encounter dogs on local walks, it is important to know that dogs can bite and may cause serious or fatal injuries. Nobody likes to think about a pet causing severe harm, but many dog bite injuries are caused by dogs who are known to the victim — either their own pet or the pet of a friend or family member. Indeed, according to data reported in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, people who own two or more dogs are more than three times as likely to be bitten as a person who does not own a dog. In a large percentage of serious dog bite cases, the victims are children, although people of any age can sustain life-threatening dog bite injuries.

If you or your child recently sustained a dog bite injury, what do you need to know about filing a claim? Our Macon dog bite injury lawyers can help.

Liability Usually Requires Proof of a Vicious or Dangerous Dog 

In order to be able to file a strong claim against a dog owner for compensation in the aftermath of a dog attack and bite, you will need to prove that the dog was vicious or dangerous. Here is what the Georgia Code says:

“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.”

How can you prove that a dog was vicious or dangerous? The statute says that “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.”

 Time Limit for Filing a Claim 

Under Georgia law, you will have two years from the date of the dog bite to file a civil lawsuit. Any lawsuit filed after this two-year window closes will be time-barred under Georgia law. It is critical to know that you are able to file a claim within this two-year time period since some dog bite victims do not realize the severity of their injury until some time has passed from the date of the dog bite. To be sure, according to the Cleveland Clinic, infections are a common reason that seemingly minor dog bite injuries actually become quite severe, and the consequences of an infection may not appear for weeks or longer.

Contact a Workers’ Compensation Attorney in Macon, Georgia 

Suffering injuries in an animal attack can be devastating, whether you are injured yourself or your child has been severely harmed. When a dog bite involves an animal owned by another party, it may be possible to seek financial compensation through an insurance claim or a lawsuit. An experienced Macon dog bite injury attorney at the Law Offices of Buzzell, Welsh & Hill can talk with you today about your case and can provide you with more information about your options.

Sources:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5868524/#:~:text=Multiple%20dog%20owners%20were%203.31,9.69%2C%20P%3D0.03

law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2010/title-51/chapter-2/51-2-6

law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2020/title-51/chapter-2/section-51-2-7/

law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2010/title-4/chapter-8/article-2/4-8-21

law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2022/title-9/chapter-3/article-2/section-9-3-33/#:~:text=Except%20as%20otherwise%20provided%20in,for%20injuries%20to%20the%20person

health.clevelandclinic.org/if-a-dog-bites-you-do-these-7-things-now