If you suffered a dog bite injury in Los Angeles or elsewhere in California and it is not possible to identify the owner of that dog, you may have been bitten by a stray dog, which can make it difficult to seek compensation for your injury.
What should you do if you have been bitten by a dog and you are not sure who owns that dog? Let our Los Angeles dog bite lawyer at Law Offices of Howard Kornberg explain.
How to identify the owner of the dog that bit you?
The following scenario is not uncommon in Los Angeles or elsewhere in California. You are walking down the street, minding your own business, when all of a sudden, you get attacked by a dog that takes off after the dog bite. While your primary priority is to make sure that you are okay by seeking medical attention, fs possible, take a photo of the dog to be able to identify its owner later on.
If you have been bitten by a stray dog or the owner of that dog cannot be immediately identified, our dog bite lawyer in Los Angeles advises you to go to the local police department and report the dog bite incident. When reporting the incident to the police, you will describe what the dog looked like. If the dog is known to local authorities (for example, it has bitten other people in the past), it will be possible to find that dog or even identify its owner, if it has any.
In many cases, stray dogs stay in a certain area, while in other cases, it is not possible to find the dog that bit you and ran away. Still, a thorough investigation by a Los Angeles dog bite attorney can help you identify who the owner or keeper of that dog is.
Getting the rabies shot after a dog bite in California
Another common question a victim of a dog bite might ask a lawyer when bitten by a stray dog is whether or not they need a rabies shot. So do you need a rabies shot if the dog’s owner cannot be located or identified?
Usually, your doctor will advise you to administer the rabies shot after you seek medical attention after a dog bite. This is especially true when the dog cannot be identified. In most cases, the rabies shot is necessary just out of precaution.
Our experienced dog bite attorney in Los Angeles explains that there is no way of knowing that you have rabies unless you start to see the symptoms. But when you do, it is too late to treat rabies, which is why you will be required to get a rabies shot after you were bitten by a dog whose owner cannot be identified.
But how do you file a dog bite claim if the owner remains unknown to local authorities? Unfortunately, this is very it gets tricky. More often than not, the only way to recover damages if you have been bitten by a dog whose owner cannot be identified is to obtain witness information to find out who the dog belongs to.
Only an experienced dog bite lawyer can conduct a thorough investigation to identify the owner of the dog that bit you. Just because the owner of the dog that bit you remains unknown does not necessarily mean that the dog is a stray. Speak to our experienced attorneys at the Law Offices of Howard Kornberg to discuss your particular situation. Contact our offices at 310-997-0904 today.
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