DogsBite.org, a dog bite victims’ group, has released 2013’s dog bite statistics—with a troubling rise reported in certain dog bite attacks.
The 2013 statistics on fatal dog bites shows that there were 32 such deadly bites in the United States last year—and 78% of them came from pit bulls, in spite of the fact that the breed makes up only 6% of the United States’s dog population. Combining all age groups, men and women’s rates of fatality were exactly equal, at sixteen and sixteen; however, the bulk of victims seven years and younger were male (13) versus female (5). Nearly forty percent of fatal dog bite victims were visiting the dog’s owner at the time, or else living with them temporarily, and almost half of all these terrible fatal incidents involved more than one dog.
Dog bites are terrible things, made all the more awful when the event is fatal. I have seen too many dog bites in my line of work to know that, more often than not, it was simply a matter of the owner being negligent and not ensuring that the dog was properly-restrained. All dog owners should make sure at all times that their pets are not risks to the general public.
If you’ve been injured in a dog attack, you probably have many questions: what do I do next? How am I going to pay my medical bills? My Virginia-based personal injury law firm specializes in representing dog bite victims, so I know the answers to these questions, and I know the most important aspect of any dog bite attack: if the owner did not properly restrain his dog, and caused you harm out of his or her negligence, then he or she deserves to pay, and you deserve to be compensated for your injuries and your troubles.
