Dog Bite Lawyer in Bakersfield, CA
Bakersfield Dog Bite Attorney
What This Page Covers:
- Liability: In California, the “one-bite rule” holds dog owners responsible for injuries from dog bites, regardless of the dog’s prior behavior or bite location. Owners must prevent their dogs from harming others or risk liability for bite-related accidents.
- Statute of Limitations: Victims of dog bites in California have up to two years to file a claim. Delaying beyond this period may weaken the case due to loss of evidence potency.
- Burden of Proof: To succeed in a dog bite claim, victims must prove that their losses, such as medical expenses or emotional distress, resulted from the dog’s violence. This involves showing how the dog owner’s negligence breached the duty of care owed to the victim.
- Compensation: Damages in dog bite cases encompass both economic and non-economic losses, including long-term medical care, pain management, and psychological impacts like PTSD. Setareh Law assists in gathering evidence to justify these claims for compensation.
California’s dog owners have an implicit responsibility to keep the people around them safe when they take their dogs out in public. Owners who can’t stay in control of their dogs can cause dangerous accidents and injuries, including a dog attack.
If you fall victim to a dog bite accident, get in touch with a Bakersfield dog bite lawyer. Our legal team at Setareh Law can help you recover financial compensation based on your losses. You can contact a dog bite attorney today to book a free dog bite case evaluation.
Your Right to Hold Dog Owners Legally Accountable for a Dog Bite
California operates on a strict one-bite rule. According to this one-bite rule, dog owners must assume immediate responsibility for injuries sustained in a dog bite attack regardless of whether or not that dog has previously displayed violent behavior. It also does not matter whether or not the bite occurs in a public or private location.
This means that owners must take actionable steps to prevent other people from coming into contact with their dogs if those dogs appear physically uncomfortable or dangerous. Even if a dog does not appear actively distressed, dog owners must keep an eye on their pets to prevent accidents or otherwise risk assuming liability for bite-related accidents.
Understanding Dog Bite Laws in California
California has specific laws in place to protect individuals from dog bites and hold dog owners accountable for their pet’s actions. Understanding these laws is crucial for dog bite victims seeking compensation for their injuries.
California Civil Code Section 3342
California Civil Code Section 3342 states that the owner of any dog is liable for the damages suffered by any person who is bitten by the dog while in a public place or lawfully on private property, including the property of the owner of the dog, regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner’s knowledge of such viciousness. This means that dog owners are strictly liable for any injuries caused by their dogs, regardless of whether the dog has a history of aggression or not.
Strict Liability for Dog Owners
Strict liability means that dog owners are responsible for their dog’s actions, even if they take reasonable care to prevent bites. This is different from other types of personal injury cases, where the plaintiff must prove negligence on the part of the defendant. In dog bite cases, the plaintiff only needs to prove that the dog owner was the owner of the dog that caused the injury.
Exceptions to Strict Liability
There are some exceptions to strict liability in dog bite cases. For example, if the dog bite victim was trespassing on the property or provoked the dog, the dog owner may not be liable for the injuries. Additionally, if the dog was a police or military dog, the owner may not be liable for injuries caused by the dog while it was performing its duties.
When to File a Dog Bite Claim
If you walk away from an encounter with a dog contending with bite-related injuries, you have until your case’s statute of limitations expires to take legal action against the dog’s owner. California allows you to take up to two years to investigate your losses.
You cannot file dog bite injury claims after your case’s statute of limitations expires. The statute of limitations works to keep the case you bring forward as temporally relevant as possible. The longer you wait to bring your case forward, the more likely it is that the evidence that builds your case may lose its potency. If you feel like you’re running out of time to file a dog bite claim, our dog bite lawyers at Setareh Law can submit your claim before your statute of limitations expires.
How to Prove Your Right to File a Dog Bite Claim
While California’s one-bite rule does inherently assign liability for a dog bite injury to the dog’s owner, you still have an obligation to meet California’s burden of proof if you want to move a personal injury claim forward. You must specifically indicate that your losses, including medical bills related to your injury or emotional distress, stem from a dog’s unpredictable violence.
You must then elaborate on the duty of care that was owed to you and how the dog’s owner violated that duty. Fortunately, you don’t have to do this leg work alone. The Bakersfield dog bite attorneys at Setareh Law can help you bring together the information you need to build your case.
How to Calculate Dog Bite Damages
The evidence you find at the scene of an accident does more than help prove your right to a case. That evidence is needed if you want to demand fair compensation from the party responsible for your accident. If you can’t defend your right to certain forms of compensation, you may not receive the compensation you deserve.
Our team of dog bite lawyers can gather the evidence necessary to prove your right to certain forms of compensation, both economic and non-economic in nature. For example, we can use reduced pay stubs to argue that a liable party should compensate you for lost wages. We can also use case precedent to argue that you deserve compensation for emotional distress or pain and suffering.
The other losses we may have the right to integrate into your dog bite claim can include the following:
- Long-term medical care
- Pain management
- Lost opportunities to return to work
- Property damage and repair or replacement
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
You can work with our team of dog bite attorneys to determine which losses to integrate into your claim today.
Setareh Law Fights for Dog Bite Victims Like You
Are you recovering from a dog bite? Our dog bite lawyers can help you demand financial support from a liable owner so that you get the care and compensation you deserve.
Let the dog bite attorney with Setareh Law help you build your case today. We offer survivors like you free case evaluations. You can contact us by calling (559) 354-2298 or reaching out through our contact form to book your case consultation today. We also speak Spanish.
