If you were bitten by a dog in Terre Haute, Indiana, you may be able to receive compensation for your injuries by filing a personal injury claim or lawsuit against the dog’s owner. If you do not know the dog’s owner, there may be other options for you to seek compensation, which our legal team can help you do.
Our team at Sevenish Law Firm, P.C. wants to help you build a dog bite injury case. We can explain what legal options are possible for you and how a Terre Haute dog bite lawyer from our team may be able to represent you.
You May Be Able to Compel a Liable Party to Compensate You for Your Injuries
Whether you are pursuing damages from a dog owner or a government entity, you may be able to file a claim or lawsuit to recover several types of damages, such as:
- Costs for your injuries’ medical treatment
- Income loss if your injuries prevented you from going to work
- Pain and suffering, both physical and emotional
- Psychological trauma from the attack
- Loss of enjoyment in hobbies or activities
- Property damage
- Permanent disability or disfigurement, such as scarring
There may be other damages you qualify for, which we will inform you about after reviewing your dog bite injury case.
For a free legal consultation with a dog bite lawyer serving Terre Haute, call 317-636-7777
Letting Our Team Manage Your Case Can Let You Focus On Your Recovery
A dog bite injury case can involve many unknown factors, but our legal team is prepared to do the work to build your case. If you agree to be our client, we can help by:
- Investigating your case to identify the liable party and discover evidence
- Calculating the value of your damages
- Performing administrative tasks, such as filing paperwork on your behalf
- Representing you throughout your case, whether you file a claim or lawsuit
- Negotiating a settlement if possible
Once we have an idea about what your case involves, we can start researching relevant laws and have a Terre Haute dog bite lawyer from our team begin preparing materials to argue your case.
Terre Haute Dog Bite Lawyer Near Me 317-636-7777
We Can Help You Identify Who to Sue in Your Dog Bite Case
If you know who owns the dog, you may be able to file a claim or lawsuit against them to hold them accountable for their pet’s behavior. Dog owners are liable for their pet’s actions, per IC §15-20-1-3, provided that their dog attacked another individual while unprovoked.
However, Indiana has a “one-bite rule,” in that dog owners who can prove that they had no prior knowledge about their dog’s aggressive behavior may be absolved of liability. If their pet attacks another individual afterward, then they might be considered negligent.
Our team can investigate whether the dog that bit you has a history of vicious behavior and whether the owner should have known this.
If the Dog’s Owner is Unknown
What happens if you do not know who the dog owner is? There are a few ways to find them, such as:
- Checking whether the dog has registered microchip information or unique physical characteristics
- Asking nearby witnesses if they recognize the dog and know who it belongs to
- Searching through lost reports in the Pet FBI database
- Contacting shelters, veterinarians, or animal control to see if they have information on the animal
People who abandon dogs are not absolved of responsibility and may be considered negligent for not keeping proper care of their animals.
If we cannot locate an owner for the dog, the dog may be considered a stray animal, in which case there may be other routes to take.
If There is No Dog Owner
Wild or stray dogs are to be maintained by the local municipality they are found in. Animal control is in charge of impounding these animals to keep the public safe from potentially vicious dogs or animals with diseases, such as rabies.
If you were bitten by a stray animal, you may be able to hold a city, county, or state liable for your injuries. We can help you take civil action against the appropriate government entity if so.
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We Can Help You File Your Dog Bite Lawsuit On Time
One important date you need to keep track of while pursuing compensation is your case’s filing deadline. This deadline is set by Indiana’s statute of limitations, found in IC §34-11-2-4, and you do not want to risk missing it if you intend to seek compensation through a personal injury lawsuit.
Should you fail to meet the statutory deadline in Indiana, which is two years from the date of injury, your case might get dismissed, meaning you would not be able to continue your legal pursuit of compensation.
While two years seems like enough time to file a case, this can be an issue if you attempt to negotiate an insurance settlement before filing a lawsuit or you experience delays in discovering evidence in your case.
While our team helps you build your case, we can also keep track of this deadline so that you can file your lawsuit on time.
Suing a Government Entity Has a Different Deadline
If you were bit by a stray dog, you generally have 180 days to file a notice to the city or county (per IC §34-13-3-5) or 270 days to file a notice to the state (per IC §34-13-3-6).
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Get a Free Consultation From Our Team at Sevenish Law Firm, P.C.
If you are struggling to cope with the damages from a dog bite attack, let the team at Sevenish Law Firm, P.C., help you fight for the compensation you need to get your life back on track. We want to help you get justice for being bitten by an aggressive dog, especially if its owner could have prevented the attack from happening.
Call us today at (317) 720-3229 for a free consultation with one of our team members. We can go into more detail about how we can help you with your case if you decide to work with a Terre Haute dog bite lawyer from our team.
Call or text 317-636-7777 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
