Kansas City Dog Bite Lawyer

Nothing is as terrifying as being at the mercy of an aggressive attacking dog, especially when the dog manages to make contact with deep, tearing bites from sharp, jagged teeth. The distress often continues long after the bites, as the injury victim suffers painful medical treatment to prevent infection and sometimes faces reconstructive surgery.

No one should have to take on the additional stress of holding the dog owner financially accountable alone. A dog bite lawyer in Kansas City is ready to represent you in your claim to recover compensation. Call our Kansas City personal injury lawyer so we can help you gain compensation and justice.

Why Choose Us as Your Missouri Dog Bite Attorneys in Kansas City?

After a traumatic experience like suffering serious dog bites, you deserve the dedicated attention of an attorney who takes your case personally and works tirelessly toward achieving the best possible outcome. We offer many beneficial qualities to gain the financial accountability that’s owed to you, including the following:

• Free consultations and no attorney fees until after we recover your compensation
• A legal team of skilled investigators with the knowledge and resources to achieve results
• Five decades of combined experience and legal know-how on your side
• A results-oriented attorney who sees the big picture and understands how to navigate the system to achieve success in your Kansas City dog bite case
• Impressive case results and a history of satisfied clients

With Miller & Hine, you’ll have an attorney who communicates openly and honestly throughout the process, so you’re always involved and up-to-date on your case and we witness the impacts of the dog attack on you and your family. This helps us make a more compelling case for your compensation.

Why Do Dogs Bite?

It may seem that dog bites come out of nowhere, but dogs almost always have reasons for going on the attack, even if the victims of their aggression—and sometimes their owners—don’t comprehend them. According to dog experts, dogs often become a threat to humans for the following reasons:

• Fear: dogs might have fear of approaching strangers, fear of an invasion of “their space,” or the fear of a threat to their owner or perceived territory
• Startlement: when a dog is surprised out of sleep or startled by a sudden sound or movement, they may become aggressive
• Protection: dogs sometimes bite due to their protective instincts as they guard their food, territory, owner, bed, or favorite toy
• Frustration: when dogs feel overwhelmed it may trigger aggression
• Pain: a dog that’s sick or injured may react by becoming aggressively self-defensive and strike out by biting
• Defending puppies against a perceived threat
• Training: some pet owners train their dogs to be aggressive as a means of home defense
• Dominance: some dogs—particularly certain breeds—bite to establish their dominance as they would against other dogs in a pack

Regardless of a dog’s motives for biting, pet owners in Missouri are responsible for controlling their dogs to protect others from a dog’s misplaced aggression, both in public places and on private property if the bite victim was on the property legally.

What to Do After a Dog Attack

Dog bites are terrifying and painful. Often a dog doesn’t stop with just a single warning bite but may continue biting and harming their victim until their owner or others intervene. In some cases, a dog bite victim may be too seriously injured and traumatized to do anything other than wait for help and attend to their injuries. However, once the dog has been safely restrained, a cell phone becomes a helpful tool for doing the following:

• First, call 911 to request an ambulance or call someone to arrange for transportation to a hospital
• Report the dog bite to the police and to your local animal control office
• Take photos of the dog and anything relevant to the attack, such as a broken fence or leash
• Add the contact information of the dog’s owner if they are present
• Take photos of your injuries

Always go directly to a hospital or urgent care center for treatment. Dog bites are highly prone to infection and require careful medical attention.

Common Injuries From Dog Bites

Dog bites are classified by levels, ranging from level-one and two aggression when the dog’s teeth make contact but don’t puncture the skin, to increased puncture depths and multiple bites in levels three through five, to level six attacks ending with portions of the victim’s flesh consumed and/or death. Injuries from dog bites often include the following:

• Abrasions, contusions, and lacerations
• Puncture wounds
• Torn flesh, including skin and muscle
• Degloving (flesh torn or peeled back from the hand by the dog’s teeth)
• Loss of fingers, toes, hands, feet, or limbs
• Broken bones
• Facial trauma

If a dog bite ends in death, a close family member may recover compensation through a dog bite wrongful death claim in Kansas City.

Strict Liability For Dog Owners In Kansas City

Unlike most personal injury claims in Kansas City that require the injury victim to prove another party’s negligence, Missouri has a strict liability law for pet owners. An owner takes full responsibility for the pet’s actions from the moment they take ownership. Under Kansas §273.036, the law states the following:

“The owner or possessor of any dog that bites, without provocation, any person while such person is on public property, or lawfully on private property, including the property of the owner or possessor of the dog, is strictly liable for damages suffered by persons bitten, regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner’s or possessor’s knowledge of such viciousness.”

What If I Was on the Dog Owner’s Property When the Dog Bites Occurred?

Dog owners have the responsibility to keep their premises free from safety hazards, including aggressive dogs. They also must reasonably expect that people will approach their home, including visitors, delivery workers, postal employees, solicitors, neighbors, and children. Unless a dog bite victim was trespassing on the property (did not approach by the front of the home or climbed a fence with a no-trespassing sign) or was engaged in a crime when the attack occurred, the owner of the property is liable for the victim’s damages.

Common Damages in Kansas City Dog Bite Cases

Dog bite wounds are serious and require medical care. Even a single bite often results in an expensive emergency room bill and antibiotic treatment. More serious bites or multiple bites may require surgery to repair the damage, restore function to injured limbs, or correct facial disfigurement. Some dog bite injuries leave permanent scars, disfigurement, and disability. Common damages in dog bite claims in Missouri include:

• Medical expenses
• Future medical expenses for further treatment
• Lost wages
• Future income loss
• Diminished future earning capacity
• Compensation for pain and suffering
• Compensation for disfigurement, traumatic limb loss, scarring, PTSD
• Wrongful death

In some cases, punitive damages may be available in dog bite cases in Missouri. For example, if the dog’s owner intentionally encouraged the dog’s aggression, called the dog to attack, or allowed an aggressive dog to freely roam. Punitive damages are awarded to the injury victim to serve as a punishment to a wrongdoer.

Call the Kansas City Dog Bite Lawyers at Miller & Hine

No one should have to add the distress and anxiety of a legal process to an already painful and traumatizing situation. After suffering dog bite injuries, you deserve compensation for your financial losses, pain and suffering, and emotional anguish. Call the Kansas City dog bite attorneys at Miller & Hine so we can represent your best interests throughout the process.