Lakewood Dog Bite Lawyer
Dog bites can cause long term injuries with painful effects and extensive medical bills. Our Lakewood dog bite lawyers can help you recover the compensation you deserve. Call our law firm today. At Front Range Injury Attorneys we understand dog bite injury laws in Colorado and how to help victims recover compensation. Dog bites can result in serious injuries with scarring, emotional harm and impair your ability to work. Our Lakewood dog bite attorneys can help you go up against a pet owner during insurance negotiations or in a trial if necessary. Contact our lawyers for a free consultation.
Front Range Injury Attorneys is your trusted choice
At Front Range Injury Attorneys we care about helping our clients throughout their cases. We believe clients are best served when our Lakewood dog bite lawyers participate in their cases from start to finish. We help our clients get the best treatment for their injuries. By building up your case from the beginning, we build a strong case to get the best results.
No win no fee
Our law firm represents clients on a contingency fee basis. That means you don't pay us until we recover on your case.
Expertise with dog bite claims
Our Lakewood dog bite attorneys understand your injuries and how to tell your story to the insurance company or a jury. We get proven results with a 98% success rate.
Communication is important to us
We maintain communication with you through your case. We want you to know what's going on with your case and the work we're doing for you.
How a Lakewood dog bite attorney can help
Any kind of accident or injury claim can benefit from your hiring a Lakewood personal injury attorney. It is even more crucial to defend yourself by engaging a lawyer if your injuries are severe, such as disfigurement or permanent scars from a dog attack. Your attorney can conduct an investigation into the dog attack, gather proof, and manage the claims procedure on your behalf.
An insurance company is more likely to take advantage of you if you don’t engage a Lakewood personal injury attorney. As a result, you might accept an insurance settlement that significantly understates your losses. You can fight for the monetary damages (compensation) your family needs to go forward with an attorney by your side.
What damages can I recover for a dog bite under Colorado law?
The exact manner in which the assault has affected your life will determine the damages that you may be eligible to receive during a Colorado dog bite injury claim. When filing a dog bite injury claim, our Lakewood dog bite attorneys can assist you in compiling a detailed list of all of your losses that are compensable, including:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Lost quality of life
- Property damage
- Out of pocket costs
Front Range Injury Attorneys’ Lakewood dog bite attorneys will take whatever steps are necessary to obtain just and complete monetary restitution for the losses you sustained as a result of a dangerous dog. We are able to determine the value of your injury claim with accuracy, safeguard you from lowball settlement offers, and thwart insurers’ nefarious schemes.
What to Do After a Dog Attack in Lakewood
After becoming a victim of a dog attack in Lakewood, taking the right actions can have a significant impact on your future. For instance, getting to a hospital quickly can help you avoid infections and other hazardous problems. You can defend your right to compensation from the pet owner’s insurance company by gathering facts and proof.
After a dog attack, the first two things you should do are keep your composure and check yourself over for injuries. Get away from a stray or wild dog and to a safe area. Then, try your best to gather data and proof while they are still available. Your claim for damages resulting from a dog bite will be stronger the more data and supporting evidence you gather. If you can, gather the following information following a dog attack in Lakewood:
- The entire name and contact information of the pet owner
- Information about the dog, such as whether or not it has received a rabies shot
- Information on the pet owner’s renters or homeowners insurance
- The names and contact information of any witnesses
- Pictures of your dog bite wounds, and more pictures as you recover
- Pictures of the dog attack location
a journal for injuries where you can record your experiences - Receipts for expenses, evidence of missed wages, and medical bills
- The accident report and the medical records
If you are too hurt to communicate with the pet owner, ask someone else to do it on your behalf. If it is an emergency, you can also dial 911 to request a police officer to assist you in recording the occurrence. Next, seek immediate medical attention at a hospital in Lakewood. Avoid attempting to treat your wounds at home because doing so puts you at risk for infection and disease. For their records, notify Lakewood Animal Control about the dog bite. Finally, get in touch with Front Range Injury Attorneys to arrange a free consultation with a lawyer when you are prepared to pursue financial compensation for a dog bite injury.
Liability in a dog bite claim
In most cases, the pet owner is liable or legally responsible for a dog bite injury in Colorado (Colorado Revised Statute Section 13-21-124). Colorado is a stringent dog bite liability state, which means that if a person is bitten by a pet dog when the person is on public or private property legally and without having provoked the dog, the pet owner is accountable. Strict liability means that even if a dog has never previously displayed aggressive tendencies, the pet owner is nonetheless responsible for any injuries and property damage caused by the dog.
The one-bite rule, which is applicable in many other jurisdictions, is not the same as the strict responsibility statute. According to the one-bite rule, a dog’s owner must have known about the dog’s nasty tendencies or had cause to know about them in order to be held accountable for an attack. Additionally, Colorado law limits the amount of time victims have to pursue a personal injury claim against a pet owner or other accountable party—two years—from the date of an attack. If you miss this deadline, you’ll probably lose your chance to sue for damages in Colorado.
Colorado dog laws
In order to be eligible for financial compensation as a dog bite injury victim in Lakewood, you typically do not need to demonstrate the dog owner’s carelessness or wrongdoing in relation to the assault. However, you or your attorney could require additional reasons if you are unable to rely on the legal principle of strict liability for your claim. You may need to discover whether the dog’s owner violated any dog rules in Colorado, such as the leash legislation, and whether this contributed to or caused your injuries.
In Colorado, there is no statewide leash regulation or obligation for dog control under the state’s animal ordinance. Instead, it states that any county may pass legislation mandating constant control of dogs and other pets. The definition of “control” and the establishment of any reasonable rules and limitations for the control of dogs are also subject to the authority of county boards. You must therefore research your local dog laws if you intend to build your case on a pet owner’s inability to keep a canine under proper care.
Lakewood dog and leash laws
All domestic animals in Lakewood must be kept under effective control at all times, with the exception of cats. All domestic dogs must therefore be restrained by a leash, chain, or cable that is of a suitable length. Even if the dog responds to vocal orders, it is against the law to walk it in a public space without a leash or other form of physical restraint. Only if the dog is taken to an approved off-leash dog park will this rule be broken. If a dog was attacked while its owner was out in Lakewood without a leash, this may be considered negligence.
While a dog is allowed to be off-leash on private property, according to Lakewood, Colorado Municipal Code, Title 6, the owner is not allowed to let the pet run loose in the city. Running at large denotes that a dog is not effectively under the owner’s control and is not on the owner’s property. An animal is said to be habitually running at large if it does so at least three times a year and is never under the owner’s supervision. Pet owners are required to always keep their dogs under control in public areas, such as by using a leash, rope, or chain.
If a dog owner violates Lakewood’s dog rules, they may be held liable for an animal attack as a result of their negligence. A defendant who breaks a law, statute, or regulation is immediately deemed to have breached his or her duty of care and will consequently be considered negligent for the purposes of personal injury law. This concept is known as negligence per se. You do not need to demonstrate that the pet owner was irresponsible in any other way if your dog bite injury case involves negligence per se.
Injuries in dog attacks
For a variety of reasons, you could require legal assistance with a dog bite injury claim. The degree of the injury is one. Brutal dog attacks can be very harmful psychologically and physically. Unfortunately, in order to save money, insurance firms frequently minimize these incidents and discount claims. To assist you obtain just financial recompense for the full extent of your injuries, you might require the ability and understanding of an attorney. When a dog decides to attack, it may do harm like:
- Puncture wounds
- Lacerations
- Bruising and contusions
- Broken or crushed bones
- Head and neck injuries
- Facial injuries
- Eye injuries
- Evulsion
- Evisceration
- Internal injuries
- Permanent scarring
- Significant disfigurement
- Infections
- Wrongful death
Regardless of the kind of harm a dog attack caused you or a loved one, you may be entitled to financial compensation for your losses and associated costs. Your case’s value may depend on how serious your injury was; in general, life-threatening or catastrophic injuries in Colorado are worth more than claims for less serious injuries. If a vicious dog attack results in a catastrophic injury or the untimely death of a loved one, your family may be entitled to sizeable compensation. After receiving any kind of injury diagnosis, talk with a Colorado dog bite lawyer at Front Range Injury Attorneys about your injury claim.
Complications from a dog bite
A dog attack can leave victims with serious physical wounds as well as psychological trauma. Injuries frequently take the form of lacerations, puncture wounds, and degloving. These wounds may develop serious consequences as a result of bacteria that the dog’s lips and saliva deposit in the wound, as if these wounds weren’t already dangerous enough on their own. A dangerous illness, such as tetanus, rabies, or sepsis, could infect the victim.
Even if a dog bite victim does not get an infection or disease as a result of the wound, there may still be other issues to deal with, such as long-term nerve and muscle damage, fractured bones, scars, or disfigurement. Many victims of dog bites also experience emotional and psychological side effects, such as post-traumatic stress disorder or a new dog phobia.
Defenses to dog bite claims
Although a dog owner is normally liable for a bite damage under Colorado’s strict liability law, there are defenses that a defendant might employ to escape liability. A pet owner might be able to argue that the animal was on private land. The victim must have been legitimately present on the property for the strict responsibility legislation to be in effect. Depending on the circumstances, the installation of a “Beware of Dog” sign on the property may also shield the owner from responsibility.
Another popular justification is that the dog was provoked by the victim. If the victim provoked the assault by hurting or upsetting the animal, for example, there may not be sufficient evidence to hold the pet owner accountable. In order to escape accountability for a dog bite injury, an owner may assert that the dog was serving as a police or military animal. To overcome these defenses, you might need to employ a Lakewood dog bite attorney from Front Range Injury Attorneys.
Contact a Lakewood dog bite attorney today
In Colorado, a dog bite injury claim can be complicated and challenging to litigate. You might have to establish the pet owner’s negligence if the strict responsibility concept does not apply in your situation for whatever reason (failed to use a proper amount of care). Working with a Lakewood dog bite attorney right once will help you create a better case for financial compensation.
The attorneys at Front Range Injury Attorneys have more than ten years of expertise resolving Colorado-wide dog bite injury claims and pursuing the best outcomes. Call or submit an online request for a free consultation to learn how we can assist you following a dog attack right now.
