Dog Attack Case Not Involving a Bite Results in Six-Figure Verdict

Listen as VA Injury Trial Attorney Colin O’Dawe shares an unusual Case Study involving a dog where there was no dog bite.

The case was taken all the way to trial where a jury returned a verdict of over twice the insurance company’s top offer.

A dog attack case we handled resulted in a six-figure verdict even though there was no bite involved. Learn how the research and additional steps we took on behalf of our client led to her receiving this large sum to compensate her for her injuries, as a similar approach may apply to your case.

Our client was walking her dog outside when she turned a corner and encountered a large breed dog held on a leash by a six-year-old while the child’s father stood nearby. The large dog broke free from the child and jumped toward our client, knocking her to the ground. As mentioned, the aggressive dog did not bite her, but our client suffered a severe leg injury from her fall, including fractures in two places and requiring permanent hardware that was put into her ankle.

Following her medical treatment, we presented a claim to the insurance company. With no bite involved in this case, we had to determine the details showing liability on the part of the dog owner for our client’s injuries. The city where the dog attack occurred had an ordinance that required all dogs in public to be kept on a leash by a person of suitable age and discretion.

We did discovery, taking depositions with the dog owner and other people in the neighborhood. From the information obtained during these interviews under oath, we learned that while the dog was not aggressive toward people in the past, it was extremely aggressive towards other dogs such as the one being walked by our client at the time of her injury.

Animal control had even been called on this dog a total of three times before this incident. We, therefore, argued that the owner of this aggressive dog should have known his six-year-old could not control the animal if other dogs happened to pass by in the neighborhood.

While the insurance company did make an offer in the case, we decided along with our client to decline that offer and pursue a verdict. After the jury heard all of the evidence in the case they returned with a verdict that was over twice that of the insurance company’s top offer.

You can see the importance of having an attorney experienced in dog injury law when dealing with personal injury cases involving dogs, even when the animal did not bite you. The greater compensation received for her injuries resulting from this dog attack incident made a tremendous difference for our client. Watch the video to learn more.

If you have additional questions regarding a personal injury case involving a dog any other personal injury matter, I want you to call me Colin O’Dawe at 1-888-487-8546. I welcome your call, or to learn more, visit our educational website at https://www.kalfusnachman.com.

For additional answers, you can view even more videos and media content from our law firm at https://www.kalfusnachman.com/videos/.

Kalfus & Nachman

Offices in Norfolk, Newport News and Roanoke, Virginia.

Also Serving Northeastern North Carolina.

1-888-487-8546

1-888-HURTLINE

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Video Transcript

A dog attack case that did not involve a bite results in a six-figure verdict. Hi, I'm Colin O'Dawe, I'm a trial attorney at Kalfus & Nachman. I handle personal injury cases all across Virginia and North Carolina. Today, I want to talk to you about that case. My client was out walking her dog one evening, when she turned around a corner and she saw a six-year-old, standing next to her father holding a large breed dog. This dog saw my client and her dog, and lunged forward, and broke free from the six-year-old. It came at my client at a fast speed, jumped towards my client, knocking her to the ground. Instantly, my client suffered a devastating leg injury. Her ankle was fractured in two places. She went on to have permanent hardware put in her ankle. After she was done with her treatment, we presented a claim to the insurance company, but there was no bite in this case so we had to determine why there was liability on behalf of the dog owner.

In this city, there was a city ordinance requiring that all dogs, when out in public, had to be kept on a leash by a person of suitable age and discretion. So we did some discovery by taking depositions, getting people under oath, not only the dog owner, but other people in the neighborhood. What we learned about this dog is this dog had a history. It was not aggressive towards people in the past but was extremely aggressive towards other dogs. Animal Control had been called on this dog, not once, not twice, but three times, for this dog acting aggressive towards other dogs. It was our position that the owner of this dog should have known that his six-year-old could not keep this dog on a leash if it saw other dogs. And that's exactly what happened that day.

The insurance company did make an offer in that case, but my client and I decided to decline the offer and take the case all the way to verdict. The jury heard all the evidence in this case and came back with a verdict over twice what the insurance company's top offer was. So why am I telling you this? I'm telling you this because you need an experienced personal injury attorney who knows dog injury law, even if there isn't a bite. And you probably have questions about this. And these are questions that I answer every single day. So pick up the phone, call me, Colin O'Dawe, at (888) 487-8546. And I thank you for watching.