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A 30-year old woman filed a complaint against a parking garage in Manhattan to recover damages for personal injuries she sustained after becoming a victim of a dog bite accident. The victim, a loyal customer, never thought that in one of her many visits to that garage would lead to an unfortunate incident.
According to sources, the victim knew that there was a dog, a pit bull, kept in the garage. On the day of the accident, the dog was in the area where people waited for their cars to be retrieved. The victim walked over to the dog and petted it. When she stopped petting the dog, the dog bit her hand. The victim’s finger was disfigured as a result of that dog attack. She also suffered permanent injury, pain and numbness in her finger due to nerve damage. In addition, she has difficulty using a key board or to perform any tasks which require manual dexterity.
In New York, the owner of a domestic animal who either knows or should have know of the animal’s vicious propensities will be held liable for the harm the animal causes as a result of those propensities. New York City Health Code also requires a city resident who owns or harbors a dog three months of age or older to have the dog actively immunized against rabies.
A dog’s breed alone is not sufficient to establish that a dog is vicious or has vicious propensities. New York courts have found that breeds commonly used as police dogs, such as German Shepards, are by nature vicious, inheriting the wild characteristics of their wolf ancestors. But New York courts have not yet found that the genetic history of pit bulls makes them inherently vicious, or unsuited for domestic living in the same manner as wolves and leopards.
In this case, the victim has not proved that pit bulls are in inherently vicious or that mistreatment of pit bulls produces or exaggerates any alleged vicious tendencies of the breed. According to sources, the dog was more than a mere “office mascot” and was apparently used as a guard animal, which will lead us to conclude that the owners of the dog knew of the dog’s vicious tendencies and ability to cause personal injury to unsuspecting victims.
In this case, the garage is open to the general public and the owners failed to take the proper precautions to protect customers legally on the premises from coming into contact with a guard animal. In New York, a landowner must exercise reasonable care not to expose third persons to an unreasonable risk of harm from a tenant’s dog. On the day in question, the dog was placed in a public waiting area on a long enough chain so that it would come into direct contact with any person venturing near or entering the garage to do legitimate business.
Dog bites are deadly and being a victim of such is difficult for you and your loved ones. Please know that there New York Dog Bite Injury Attorneys who can help you and provide you with advice on what to do to make sure that you and your loved ones are compensated.
Stephen Bilkis & Associates with its New York Personal Injury Lawyers has offices conveniently located in the New York Metropolitan area, including Corona, NY. Our Attorneys can guide you through situations where an injury resulted because of another’s negligence. Without our Attorneys, you may lose your rights and spend significant amounts of money along the way.
In addition to Injury Law, Stephen Bilkis and Associates will also recommend New York Dog Bite Lawyers who will help you.