Dog Bite Lawsuit

Hi!


I am the son of a dog bite victim. My mother was bitten by a dog owned by a resident in the appartment when her dog was coming inside the lift and my mother was coming out. I and my father was with her at that moment.

The dog was not leashed at that time and it simply rush into the lift and bite by mother as soon as it saw her. The dog owner did not seem to care about my mother and was very cold. I said I would call the police and she said, "Call the police then." The dog owner also did not show attempt to stop her dog.

I called the police immediately and my mother was sent to CMC A&E.

The police asked the dog owner if she had a license for her dog and she replied "Yes.".

The AFCD picked up that dog and put it into 7 days isolation. My father also phoned AFCD and AFCD told him that that dog had its license expired and they would like to put charges on the dog owner.

My mother was treated in CMC and was having injection for tetanus.

Since then, my mother became irritated whenever a dog come close and she urged me to buy sime "Dog repeller".

I am very unhappy with the irresponsible behaviour of the dog owner and would like to sue her.

I would like to ask for advices here and would also like to know if anything I need to prepare for the case.


Thanks in advance!


Summary:

1. Dog license expired

2. Dog not leashed during the incident

3. Dog owner did not act to stop the bite

4. Poor attitute of the dog owner

5. False claim about having a valid dog license

6. My mother having psychological trauma after the incident

7. My mother suffered from physical harm and injury

8. AFCD planned to sue the dog owner

I think only the costs of the dog repellers and the compensation for the psycholgical effects, maybe a few hundreds to a thousand.

The amount is not the main issue. What makes me want to sue her is that this was not the first time her dog bite someone and she paid not concern over the incident and not taking the responsibility of a dog owner.

It appears that this was an unprovoked dog bite. If the dog has bitten before in the same circumstances then yes, I would say that the owner is irresponsible for not muzzling the dog. It seems that your mother was not badly bitten, however, she could have been and worse still supposing it was a child who was leaning down to pat the dog, possible facial injuries? I would have expected the owner to be very apologetic, but judging by your comments in regards to her attitude she obviously did not care. It really is not the fault of the dog it is the fault of the negligent owner. Next time it could be a very serious injury so I agree with you go ahead and sue. Looks like you have a very good case. You may just prevent someone else from the trauma and you may prevent a healthy dog being taken away by AFCD which must be traumatic for the dog and worse still a dog being euthanised because of it totally irresponsible owner. Good luck!

In order to sue someone, you need evidence in the way of photos or video's, doctor's reports about the bite as well as associated costs incurred.

Then you need to find what you want to sue for? Emotional distress, fear, etc. is difficult to sue for. It is generally against the law for a god owner to not be in control of their pet in a public place that it bites anyone, including other dogs etc. This becomes a public hazard issue, which the police need to answer to. The AFCD controls dog licenses etc, and may give evidence, but you are looking at a dog being a public nuisance. The police can order the person to leash their dog and in some cases, muzzle it as well, but usually, if the dog reacts to being under control of a leash, this may suffice. Also, the dog owner may be restricted from using an elevator that is occupied by other people. She may have to use the stairs or carry her dog, or have the dog in an enclosure so it does not bite other people or animals.

Before you go down the law suit alley - try other methods first for getting the dog owner to comply with the law.

(I am based in Hong Kong)