Dog & Animal Attack Attorneys in Sacramento

Did you know that nearly 2% of the U.S. population is bitten by a dog every year — millions of people? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), roughly 800,000 of those bites are serious enough to require medical attention.

Dog bites can result in serious scarring, disfigurement, infection, and in the most severe cases, death. Children are disproportionately represented among fatal dog attack victims.

California is a strict liability state for dog bites. Unlike states that only hold an owner responsible once a dog has shown prior aggression, California Civil Code Section 3342 makes a dog owner legally responsible for injuries their dog causes — even if the dog has never bitten anyone before and the owner had no reason to think it was dangerous. You don't need to prove the owner was careless or that the dog had a history of biting; you only need to show the dog bit you while you were lawfully on public property or lawfully on private property.

There are exceptions. California's strict liability rule generally doesn't apply if you were trespassing at the time of the bite, or if you provoked the dog. Veterinarians, groomers, and other professionals who work with animals for a living may also face a harder path to recovery under this statute, since the law assumes some risk is inherent to that work.

If you've been injured by a dog bite in Sacramento, you may be entitled to compensation for medical bills, lost wages, loss of future earning capacity, pain and suffering, emotional distress, scarring, and disfigurement. California also follows a comparative negligence rule, so you can still recover damages even if you were partially at fault for the incident — your award is simply reduced in proportion to your share of fault.