Animal control services can help you pursue fair compensation if a dog bites you in New York. Knowing what they do can help you strengthen your personal injury claim.
Dog bites can cause physical harm, emotional distress and financial burdens. However, many people hurt in these incidents don’t know how much animal control can help address these issues. This often forgotten resource can help you seek resolutions and prevent future incidents from happening.
What does animal control do?
Animal control, often part of your local health or police department, plays several roles in dog bite cases:
- Checks reported bites
- Catches and holds dogs that bit someone
- Keeps records of past dog bites
- Makes sure pet owners follow regulations
- Issues tickets to pet owners who violate rules
Animal control officers also teach people how to be good pet owners and stay safe around animals, which helps prevent future bites.
When you report a dog bite, animal control officers come to the scene to gather facts, find the dog and its owner, and observe the dog’s behavior. Their response can help strengthen your case.
How animal control reports help your claim
Animal control’s detailed reports can provide strong evidence for your claim by:
- Telling a fair account of what happened
- Showing if the dog has bitten before
- Pointing out which rules were broken by the owner
- Describing the dog’s health and behavior
These reports often include eyewitness statements that may back up your story and add credibility to your version of events.
Maximizing animal control’s assistance
Animal control can be a powerful ally, especially if you cooperate with them well. Help them build a comprehensive report and get a copy of it. Check if the dog’s owner received any tickets and stay informed about dangerous dog hearings. Determine how you can incorporate what animal control can provide into your claim.
In New York, dog owners must pay for medical costs from bites. To secure compensation for other damages, you must establish that the owner knew their dog could be dangerous. Animal control’s documents can help prove this.
While animal control can assist injured dog bite victims in some ways, their main job is to enforce laws and keep the public safe, not to fight for your claim. Consider working with a personal injury attorney experienced in dog bite cases for legal advice in protecting your rights.
