Dogs may be a person’s best friend, but that does not mean that they never cause harm to others. Dogs have very powerful jaws, and they can inflict significant injuries on victims. If you or somebody you care about has been bitten by a dog in Pennsylvania, then you need to know how injury laws apply to your case as well as how to file a dog bite report. A report is a crucial step towards recovering compensation for your injuries and other losses. Contact an injury lawyer in Philadelphia to learn more.
Why You Need to Report a Dog Bite in Pennsylvania
In the aftermath of sustaining a dog bite injury, you may not be thinking about reporting the incident to the police or animal control. Your number one priority must be seeking medical care to treat your injuries and to prevent infection. However, it is important to report your injury to a Philadelphia dog bite lawyer for a variety of reasons, including:
- To prevent future bites. Dog bite incidents may not be isolated, and the dog that bit you may bite someone else in the future. By reporting the injury, you are letting officials start the process of determining whether or not a dog is dangerous.
- To locate previous victims. There may be additional victims bitten by the same dog that you were not aware of, but you may be able to find this out if you report the incident to authorities.
- To protect your injury claim. The dog owner will usually be on the line to pay a victim’s medical expenses in Pennsylvania. If you report the incident to the proper authorities, this will help provide documentation that you need to present to the insurance carriers involved.
Filing the Dog Bite Report
There are a few ways that you can go about filing a dog bite report in Pennsylvania. First, if the situation is an emergency, you or someone you know need to call 911 to make sure the police come to the scene. Law enforcement officials will then be responsible for handling the incident and filling out their emergency report and reporting the incident to animal control.
If the incident is not necessarily an emergency, we may encourage you to use a search engine to find your local animal control office phone number. An animal control officer will be sent to investigate the dog bite, and they may take control of the dog to determine whether or not the dog should be designated as “dangerous.”
When you make a report to the police or animal control authorities about a dog bite incident, you need to provide an explanation of what happened. This will include where the bite occurred, what happened both before and immediately following the bite, and as much detail as possible about the incident, the dog’s description, and information pertaining to the owner of the dog.
Dog bite injury victims may be entitled to various types of compensation, depending on the circumstances. As we mentioned above, Pennsylvania law typically requires that the dog’s owner pay the medical bills for the dog bite victim. You may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit against the dog owner for additional types of compensation, including lost income or pain and suffering damages. However, the personal injury statute of limitations applies in these situations. All dog bite claims must be filed within two years from the date an injury occurs.