Suing for Dog Bite
A Levels Academy Islamabad
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00:00Dogs. Man's best friend. Until they're not.
00:05Listen, dog bites happen, unfortunately.
00:08We know that because lawyers on billboards tell us they do.
00:12If you are the victim of an unfortunate canine run-in,
00:15you can take action to hold the dog owner accountable.
00:18And you can do that without a billboard lawyer.
00:21Here are the basics of what you need to know.
00:23Florida is what's known as a strict liability state,
00:27which means an owner can be made responsible
00:30even without prior knowledge that their dog is a biter.
00:33This also means that you don't have to prove any negligence
00:36on the part of the dog owner if the attack occurred in a public place.
00:39The same is true if the attack was in a private place,
00:42if you are there legally.
00:44That private place can be the dog owner's own property,
00:47as long as you are there by invitation of the owner,
00:49or you are there under a duty to be there,
00:52under state or federal law, or postal regulations.
00:55An exception, however, is when the dog owner posts
00:58an easily readable bad dog sign on his property.
01:02Ahem.
01:04That would be the dog owner's land, not his dog.
01:08If the owner has a bad dog sign posted,
01:10then you would have to prove that the owner was negligent somehow.
01:14Now, owners are not without defense options.
01:17For one, they can prove the bite came as a result of trespassing.
01:21And two, owners can use a defense known as comparative negligence.
01:25That's another way of saying it was partly or totally the victim's fault.
01:29If the injured person is partly to blame,
01:31then the damages can be at a reduced percentage.
01:34Although statutes deal specifically with dog bites,
01:37owners can also be liable for other dog-related injuries,
01:41such as being knocked down by a wayward pooch.
01:44But for these kinds of cases,
01:46the owner has to be shown liable through some kind of negligence.
01:49Florida does have a statute of limitation for dog bite lawsuits to be filed.
01:54Four years from the incident.
01:56Anything filed after the four years will probably just be thrown out.
02:00Not saying we all want to put cute little Doggie Woggie on trial here,
02:05but unfair injury deserves some kind of justice.
02:09Check out LegalYou for any dog bite lawsuit advice.
02:13LegalYou. You can do this.