You get bitten by the neighbor’s dog while simply trying to drop off some mail that was accidentally delivered to your house. It gets infected and you spend time in the hospital, so you tell your neighbor that you may have to start a lawsuit to recover those costs.
Your neighbor, however, tells you that you are never going to win the case because they have a “Beware of Dog” sign on their property. They claim that this warning should have been enough for you to stay away and to understand the danger, so it’s not their fault. Is that sign really going to hurt your case?
Did your neighbor know the dog was dangerous?
Your neighbor may argue that you should have been more careful, but you’ll find that this sign might actually help your case, rather than hindering it. After all, it means that the neighbor knew their dog was dangerous. Maybe it even had a history of aggressive behavior. They were well aware that someone could get injured, which is why they put up the sign.
If they then did not contain the dog in a way that prevented your injury, it could be viewed as an act of negligence. Despite their foreknowledge that an injury was likely, they allowed that injury to happen by not taking the proper steps to prevent it.
Exploring your legal options after a dog bite
The costs related to a dog bite can be very high, especially in cases of infection or disfigurement. You must know what legal options you have to seek out the compensation you need to cover your medical bills and other losses.
