Dog bites & animal injuries occur. If you’re the victim, you need to reach out to an experienced injury lawyer. Call now (956) 673-0908.

It’s common for Brownsville residents, and residents everywhere in South Texas, to own animals. This doesn’t mean that animals should be able to harm and injure people around them. Animal attacks are often passed off as nothing because the attacks come from a neighbor’s dog. However, if the injuries from an animal attack are serious, you have legal rights. Texas law holds an animal owner responsible for the harm an animal causes to third parties. Most home insurance policies cover damage animals cause to third parties. Reach out today to discuss your case with a Brownsville dog bite lawyer.

Injured by a Dog Bite? Contact an Animal Attack Attorney

If you’ve been injured, you have rights. Contact a Brownsville, Texas, attorney immediately for a free consultation. Call us at (956) 673-0908 immediately. If you or a loved one is a victim of an animal attack, make sure you call an “animal attack” lawyer, often called a “dog bite lawyer” or “dog bite attorney” here in Brownsville, Texas, or nearby communities in Cameron County, Texas. Make sure you contact a personal injury lawyer if a dog or any other animal attacks you or a loved one. It’s not uncommon for canines to attack people. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that over 2 percent of Americans are attacked by dogs.

Ways to Reduce Your Risk of a Dog Attack

The best way to avoid damage is to think about dog attacks before they happen. How can you avoid getting attacked by a dog in the future?

  • Keep an eye out for troubling dogs like pit bulls and rottweilers
  • Dogs under the age of six are more likely to attack
  • Keep an eye out for untrained dogs
  • Look for dogs restrained by chains – this is most likely because they have attacked in the past
  • Male dogs attack more than female dogs
  • Un-neutered dogs are more hostile than others
  • Dogs that know children are more likely to attack the children
  • Refrain from touching a dog on the face
  • Dogs often go for your face

Dogs are known to strike your face, but it’s not uncommon for them to bite your leg, arm, or other part of your body. Keep a look out for dogs or owners that seem suspicious. There are several things you must do once you’ve been attacked by a dog: Call animal control, get your wounds treated by a medical professional, and call a lawyer with experience in animal attacks in Brownsville.

Common Injuries Occurring in Dog Attacks

Being attacked by a dog can result in serious harm that can adversely affect your manner and quality of life. Some of the most common types of injuries that follow dog attacks are as follows:

  • Puncture wounds, deep cuts, and lacerations – A dog’s teeth can leave tears and gashes in a person’s skin, tissues, muscles, and nerves.
  • Crush injuries from being gripped by a dog’s strong jaws
  • Infections
  • Fractures, sprains, head injuries, and back and neck injuries from being knocked over by a dog in an attack

In addition to dealing with the intense and immediate physical pain of being bitten by a dog, many survivors of attacks face grueling recovery periods. Even after countless surgical repairs, including plastic surgery and skin grafts, some people face disfiguring scarring that can leave them hesitant to go out in public. Some dog bite survivors need to undergo physical and occupational therapy to regain functioning and motor skills due to their damaged nerves and muscles.

Psychological trauma is also common after being attacked by a dog. Many people face debilitating post-traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety. They often need to undergo extensive mental health counseling to help them overcome their emotional distress stemming from their newfound fear of dogs.

Sadly, children often end up with the most serious types of injuries after being bitten by a dog. Kids do not know how to safely approach or treat dogs. They frequently run up behind a dog and scare it or they run right up to a dog and put their face up to its face. A startled dog might respond by attacking the child. Because children are smaller and lower to the ground, dogs often bite them right in their faces. Due to their small stature, children do not have the strength to fend off serious harm, so dog attacks on children are often prolonged until an adult is able to stop it.

Our compassionate Brownsville attorneys understand the devastating harm that a dog bite can bring to the person attacked and their family members. We would work closely with you and your family to learn about the full toll the dog attack has taken on your overall quality of life in order to help you fight for a damages award that adequately compensates you for your physical, emotional, and financial losses.

A Dog Bite Attorney Means a Personal Injury Attorney

While many people may do a Google search for “dog bite attorney,” the fact of the matter is that what they really need is a personal injury attorney. The Villarreal Law Firm and our team of passionate litigation attorneys are known for helping people who are attacked by dogs and other animals in Brownsville. Although dogs are the most common reports of animal attacks, it’s wise to keep an eye out for other vicious animals when visiting friends or even hanging out at a petting zoo. Children are especially prone to animal attacks because they might not know how to handle animals properly and are shorter than the average adult.

Relevant Dog Attack Laws in the Brownsville Area

Unfortunately, the laws in Texas regarding dog bites are not as favorable to the victims as they are in other states, but an experienced lawyer, like Javier Villarreal, The Law Champ, can still help you. While some states operate with a strict liability standard in which dog owners are automatically liable if their dog bites someone, Texas courts use the one-bite rule. For a dog owner to be held liable for a dog victim’s injuries, the injured person would need to establish that the dog had previously bitten someone or had a prior history of aggressive behavior. To prevail in a lawsuit against a dog’s owner in Brownsville, you would need to show that the owner acted negligently, such as by failing to leash the dog or keep them in a fenced yard, despite knowing of the dog’s aggressive tendencies.

Proving the liability of dog owners in Texas is considerably more complicated than in other states, but our attorneys are prepared and experienced. Our seasoned Brownsville attorneys have successfully handled a wide range of cases involving dog bites. We know how to approach the one-bite rule and build strong cases for liability.

Speak With a Brownsville Dog Bite Attorney Now

Do you have a case? Well, it depends on the facts and the law. Is there an insurance company involved? Don’t naively trust what an agent may tell you: you have rights, and you need a motivated and top-rated “dog bite attorney” here in Brownsville, Texas. Call the Villarreal Law Firm to put a team of animal attack injury lawyers on your side.

If our Brownsville office is not convenient to you, we can conduct an initial conversation over the phone. We have clients coming to us from not just Brownsville but other cities in Cameron County, Texas, such as Harlingen, San Benito, and even South Padre Island.

Stop by our office to schedule an appointment or call us at (956) 673-0908 to schedule your free consultation with a Brownsville dog bite lawyer.