Every day, more than 1,000 people are rushed to the emergency room following a dog bite. Many times, due to the serious nature of their injuries, these victims require follow-up medical care or rehabilitative therapy. As a result, the average hospital bill in these cases easily eclipses $18,000, which is about 50 percent higher than the bill for other injury-related hospital stays. Finally, after the return home, many victims experience post-traumatic stress disorder-type symptoms. They often have flashbacks and nightmares; additionally, they may be afraid of dogs or even afraid to go outside. These symptoms are particularly common in children.

For the most part, the dog owner’s homeowner's insurance policy covers both economic and noneconomic damages.

Theories of Recover

One of the first major animal attacks of the year occurred at a North Side grade school.

A pit bull and Chihuahua found a gap in a newly-erected fence and entered the school yard while children were at recess. The dogs went on a rampage, biting three children and scratching another one. According to a district spokesperson, some of the children were “walking up and down playing with the dogs on the other side of the fence,” and subsequently “the dogs came into the playground.” Animal Care Services picked up the dogs, and placed them into quarantine.

At least one victim’s family filed a case with ACS. School officials say that the fence was immediately repaired.

Texas insurance companies paid over $10 million to resolve dog bite claims with an average value of over $16,000 per claim, according to a recent survey.

Across the country, about a third of homeowners’ insurance claims arise from dog bites. Researchers speculate that the high numbers are because about two-thirds of American households have at least one pet. Furthermore, jury verdicts tend to be high in these cases, meaning that the settlement values are high as well. The “dog bite” category also includes non-bite injuries, like those the result from animal-caused falls and serious knockdowns.

California and Ohio have the highest number of claims; insurance companies in New York and Michigan pay the most money per claim. 

An unknown street vigilante has apparently taken the law into his or her own hands near Lackland Air Force Base in southwest San Antonio in a bloody campaign against dog bites and the owners that cause them.

At least two unattended dogs were the victims of a machete or large knife attack. One was rescued and transported to an animal hospital; it died after several days of treatment. The other victim is still wandering the streets with a serious injury to its neck or head; neighbors are working to try and locate and save the animal. Meanwhile, police have stepped up patrols in the area and investigators are working to find the person, or persons, behind the attacks.

Local resident Karen Lucchesi admitted that animal attacks were “a problem” in the neighborhood, but insisted that the dogs deserved justice for what happened to them.

What does a 150-year-old negligence case from Massachusetts have to do with car wrecks in San Antonio?

Brown v. Kendall may have been the first appearance of the “reasonable person” standard in American tort law. According to trial testimony, the defendant, Mr. Kendall, used a walking stick to separate two fighting dogs. While waving the stick, he accidentally hit Mr. Brown, who was standing nearby. The trial court told the jury that since Mr. Kendall engaged in a permissible act – separating the dogs – he would only be liable for accidental damages in extraordinary conditions.

The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that the trial court was wrong, and that the standard of care is the same in all negligence cases, no matter the circumstances. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw simply stated that “the plaintiff must come prepared with evidence to show either that the intention was unlawful, or that the defendant was in fault,” adding that “what constitutes ordinary care will vary with the circumstances of cases.”