You’re out for a walk when you hear the barking. Suddenly, you feel a sharp pain and realize the neighbor’s dog is biting your ankle. You manage to get free from the dog’s grip, and your neighbor comes running out to corral her dog. She helps clean you up and apologizes, hoping that will be the end of it.
When you get checked out at the emergency room, the doctor wraps your ankle and gives you a prescription for pain medication and antibiotics to head off what he calls a nasty infection.
Dog bites can be extremely painful and lead to more serious injuries like infections or ruptured tendons. It’s important that you file a police report following an injury caused by a dog bite, especially if you end up with costly medical bills due to the negligence of the dog’s owner.
The one-bite rule
North Carolina is one of a handful of states that employs a one-bite rule. An animal gets “one free bite, and after that, the owner is aware of and responsible for the animal’s vicious propensities.”
Following the attack, the animal must be quarantined for a period of 10 days, and the county will list the animal as a potentially dangerous dog.
Recovering the cost of medical expenses and damages can be tricky if the dog has never attacked anyone before you. If, however, you learn that the dog has a tendency to bite and there are multiple reports made against the animal’s owner, this could give you recourse to seek damages. That’s why filing a police report after the attack is important.
The statute of limitations for filing a claim following a dog bite is three years in North Carolina. If a dog has bitten you, contact an experienced legal guide today.
