More than 4.7 million people in the United States are bitten by dogs on an annual basis and approximately one out of every six bites are serious enough to require medical attention. Owners of dogs, not the breed or the individual dogs, are responsible when bites or attacks occur. If you live in the Louisiana area, and have you suffered injuries after being bitten or attacked by a dog or another animal, it is important to know your legal rights.

Your ability to recover compensation depends on where you were bitten or attacked, as laws concerning animal and dog bites vary between states, counties and cities. Lawyers in our firm can assist you in determining your rights under these various laws, as well as help with insurance claims and requests for compensation.

Negligence involving the attack of an individual by an owner's animal can cover a wide spectrum of tort and criminal law. It is important to understand that in the state of Louisiana, strict liability prevails. What this means is that the owner of the animal is wholly responsible for the injury that the animal causes, whether he or she was aware of the dog's ability to cause harm or not. Louisiana Civil Code article 2321 states

The owner of an animal is answerable for the damage caused by the animal. However, he is answerable for the damage only upon a showing that he knew or, in the exercise of reasonable care, should have known that his animal's behavior would cause damage, that the damage could have been prevented by the exercise of reasonable care, and that he failed to exercise such reasonable care. Nonetheless, the owner of a dog is strictly liable for damages for injuries to persons or property caused by the dog and which the owner could have prevented and which did not result from the injured person's provocation of the dog. Nothing in this Article shall preclude the court from the application of the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur in an appropriate case. 

The Supreme Court of Louisiana has since ruled that the victim of a dog or animal bite must prove that the animal posed unreasonable risk of harm to them when the incident occurred, as well as proving the dog belongs to the owner, was the cause for the harm, etc.

To better under the case law relating to this law, read Pepper v. Triplet, 864 So.2d 181 (La. 2004).

If you or a loved one has been or attacked or injured by an animal or dog, contact us online or call us at 504-527-6225 to set up a FREE consultation to discuss your legal options.