Thursday, July 06, 2006

Um, Dogbite?

Yesterday as I was walking to the post office, a dog bit me. It was a largish dog being walked by its owner. I held my hand down, palm down, so the dog could sniff me. It did, then it backed off and lunged at my leg (and not the kind of lunge Scooter used to do to the Dunce's leg!).

The owner pulled the dog back as it was going in for seconds (it was on a leash) and apologized profusely. I was pretty mad about it, so I left before I might have said something I might later regret.

The dogbite broke the skin slightly and left a bruise. I was looking for a picture from the Beavis and Butthead episode where Beavis got bitten, but all I found was this from the Dog-Bite Law Center.

They recommended that I should sue for medical treatment (I didn't need any, though I did put some neosporin on the little cut), future medical treatment for scar reduction (I don't think it's even going to leave a scar. It's a pretty little spot), psychological counseling to overcome the emotional trauma of the attack & fear of dogs, loss of earnings from work (none), torn clothing or broken glasses (again, none), and medications.

It doesn't look like I'll be getting any compensation. But it's possible that the dog was assisting the police or military at the time of the incident, in which case it was an exception to the liability laws.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I suppose the statute of limitations has run out on my own dog bite so I cannot sue the owners... oh, wait a minute, it was us... the owners DID pay for my medical bills...

Sorry to hear about your run in and hope you don't play with this particular pooch anymore.

Big Mama said...

You could sue on the possibility of future agony....

Little Miss Muffet said...

You might check to see if you need a tetnus shot, if you haven't had one in the last 10 years. My mom was bitten by our family dog and it broke the skin and she had to get a tetnus shot....