Dog owner and parents of bite victim in dispute over attack in Southeast Indiana

On behalf of Steven Crell of Steve Crell Law posted in Animal Bites on Friday, April 3, 2015.

Injurious dog bite incidents understandably give rise to strong emotions, perhaps especially when the victim is a child. The parents, who in many cases are dog owners themselves, want the owner of the offending pet to take responsibility for the incident. Meanwhile, the dog owner may be protective of the animal and even claim that the incident was caused by the victim’s actions.

When a person suffers a dog bite injury in Indiana, it is important that the victim has a lawyer who understands how state and federal laws treat these matters. The circumstances of the incident must be thoroughly investigated to hold the dog owner accountable or obtain the maximum compensation from an insurance company.

Questions of negligence have come up after a recent dog attack in Jeffersonville, Indiana. A 5-year-old boy suffered injuries to his face, arm and legs when he was bitten by a neighbor’s 16-month-old boxer. The boy’s mother said she believes the attack will affect him for the rest of his life.

According to a news report, the attack happened in the neighbor’s backyard while he wasn’t home. The boy reportedly went into the backyard to retrieve his own dog, and the neighbor’s dog somehow became unrestrained from a leash and bit the boy.

The local Animal Control department initially quarantined the dog at the neighbor’s residence and later imposed a 10-day quarantine away from the residence for a vaccination violation. The dog was released to the owner after that 10 days.

As is the case in many dog bite incidents, the dog owner blames the victim, and the victim blames the dog owner.

To learn more about resolving this kind of painful dispute, please see Steve Crell Law’s dog and animal bite overview.