North Carolina Injury Lawyer Blog

A 7-year-old boy required over 100 stitches after he mauled by a neighbor’s pit bull. Ravion “Ray Ray” Cunningham was riding his bike last week when the 1-year-old pit bull mix attacked him.

One neighbor who witnessed the South Carolina dog attack and ran to Cunningham’s rescue says she thinks the dog was trying to play with the boy and got excited when the 7-year-old ran away. Cunningham sustained buttock and facial injuries and part of his right ear was severed during the South Carolina dog bite incident.

While hospital staffers were able to reattach the boy’s ear and stitch up his wounds, doctors have said that the boy likely will have permanent scars. Ravion’s mother, LaQuantra Cunningham, says her son had nightmares after the dog attack.

Police have cited Luis Muniz, dog owner for allegedly violating the city of Rock Hill’s ordinance that dangerous dogs must be muzzled or contained. Muniz told journalists that his family has given the pet to animal control and told police to euthanize the dog.

North Carolina Dog Bite Injuries
Dog bite injuries can be very painful and, depending on the severity of the injuries, can result in extensive scarring and permanent disfigurement. Kids are especially prone to serious, disfiguring injuries. Dogs can more easily reach their faces during an attack and a child who sustains dog mauling injuries may have to wait until he or she is fully grown before undergoing plastic or reconstructive surgery. In the meantime, the child must grow up with scars and other disfiguring injuries, which can negatively impact the self-esteem and affect one’s social development.

You may be able to hold the dog owner liable for your dog bite injuries, which can be extremely costly to treat and recover from.

7-year-old attacked by neighbor's dog, Charlotte Observer, January 19, 2010

Boy, 7, requires more than 100 stitches after pit bull attack in Rock, Herald Online, January 17, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Dog Bite Prevention, CDC

Dog Bite Treatment, MedicineNet

Continue reading "Boy Requires Over 100 Stitches Following South Carolina Dog Attack by Neighbor’s Pit Bull" »

A 9-year-old girl was rushed to the hospital on Thursday after the neighbor’s pit bull attacked her. The Charlotte, North Carolina dog mauling incident happened in the girl’s own home after a neighbor brought the pet over so her family could consider whether to buy it.

Giselle Moquete, 9, was petting “Rocky” when he suddenly started mauling her face. The pit bull’s owner, Johnathan Hall, pulled the dog off the girl. Hall says a man he met while shooting basketball had given him the dog the day before the dog attack occurred.

Giselle had to get stitches for her facial injuries. Meantime, Rocky has been quarantined. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department says they won’t file charges against Hall, who is unfamiliar with the dog’s history.

While not all pit bulls are dangerous, the police department says that they get a number of calls each year regarding Charlotte dog bite incidents involving pit bulls. This breed of dog is one of the most common breeds in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area.

If someone you love was injured in a Charlotte dog attack, you should talk to a North Carolina personal injury law firm to determine whether you should file a personal injury case.

Young children are especially vulnerable to dog bite injuries. Because young kids are smaller and shorter than adults, they are more likely to sustain neck and head injuries during a dog attack. According to research published in the March issue of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, a large number of dog attacks happen during the summer. One reason for this could be that kids are out of school and are spending more time outdoors where dogs may also be playing. Dogs may also become more easily irritated when the weather is hot.

The study reported that areas of the neck and the head that dogs are most likely to bite include the:

• Cheeks
• Lips
• Ears
• Nose

Pit bulls were the dogs most likely to cause facial injuries during dog attacks. 64% of young children that sustained neck or head injuries sustained injuries in more than one area.

9-year-old girl recovering after pit bull attack, News 14 Carolina, July 24, 2009

9-year-old hospitalized after pit bull attack, WCNC, July 24, 2009

Dog Bites A Particular Threat To Young Children, Especially As Temperatures Rise, Science Daily, March 2, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery

Pit bulls at top of fatal attacks, SF Gate, June 23, 2005

A 55-year-old woman remains in the hospital in critical condition after a friend’s pet chimpanzee attacked her. Charla Nash’s nose, hands, eyelids, and lips were ripped off and a number of her facial bones were crushed during the 12-minute chimp attack that took place in February 2009. She also has a traumatic brain injury and she may be blind. This week, her family filed a $50 million personal injury lawsuit on her behalf.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys are accusing the chimp’s owner, Sandra Herold, of failing to take the necessary steps to make sure that people were safe around Travis. The 14-year-old chimpanzee had a history of erratic and violent behavior.

Their personal injury lawsuit contends that Herold was aware that Travis was aggravated on the day she invited Nash over to assist her in bringing the chimp back into the house. The complaint says that because of the tragic accident, Nash has suffered serious psychological and emotional trauma, debilitating physical pain, won’t be able to retain her job, will lose her benefits and income, and won’t be able to enjoy life the way she did before the accident.

Herold believes the chimp attacked her friend because she had a new hairstyle and thought she might be a danger. A police officer who arrived at the injury scene shot Travis dead. Herold, who tried to pull the chimpanzee off Nash, had to be hospitalized for her injuries.

Chimpanzees as Pets
According to the Chimp Haven Web site, chimpanzees are wild animals who should not be treated as pets. While they might behave like dependent, helpless animals when they are young, they will exhibit a strength and cleverness by age 5 or 6 that will be very difficult to handle. They can possess up to 10 times the strength of human beings and can be very dangerous to be around.

If you were injured because you were attacked by someone else's animal, you may be entitled to North Carolina personal injury compensation.

Family of chimp attack victim seeks $50 million, CNN.com, March 18, 2009

Chimpanzees as Pets

Related Web Resources:
Worst Chimp Attack Ever, Esquire, February 17, 2009

Wild animals are not people; only people are people, Mercator.net, March 18, 2009

In Raleigh, North Carolina last year, police responded to 367 reports of animal attacks—a 56% increase since 2000. According to the News & Observer.com, someone is bitten by a dog every day in Raleigh.

The newspaper goes on to report that many dog bite victims in the city are not happy with the way dog bite cases are handled, saying that the burden of proof and the costs of the injuries frequently lie with the dog bite victims.

State law requires that all dogs must undergo a 10-day quarantine and rabies check.

One Raleigh dog bite victim, Malinda Delbridge, was bitten by a pit bull late last year trying to pull its jaws off her poodle. The pit bull’s owner paid a $50 fine for not having proof of a rabies vaccine and $150 to release the dog from quarantine. Delbridge was billed $300 for medical expenses.

In North Carolina, a dog is considered dangerous if it has terrorized someone, broken a victim’s bones, or caused a disfiguring injury. This means that most of the time, a dog has to bite someone first before it can be considered “dangerous.” According to one animal control supervisor, a dog in Raleigh gets classified as “dangerous” no more than three times annually because the bite wounds are not considered serious enough.

A Raleigh appeals board meeting last September to hear dangerous dog cases was the first time the group had met in five years.

Other North Carolina cities and counties are reportedly tougher when it comes to classifying dogs as dangerous. In Cumberland County last year, animal control declared 29 dogs dangerous after they bit humans and 15 dogs that exhibited violence against other dogs were classified as aggressive. The city of Charlotte classified 10 dogs as dangerous.

In North Carolina, if a doctor does not call an injury a dog bite, it cannot be reported as one—which may lead to many dog bite injuries going unreported.

To prove owner negligence in a North Carolina injury dog bite case, the victim must prove that the dog was unattended, not on its owner’s property at night, or had already been classified as “dangerous.”

If you or someone you love has sustained a serious dog bite injury in North Carolina or South Carolina, one of our dog bite lawyers would be happy to discuss your legal options with you.

A Few Dog Bite Facts:

• Nationally, 334,000 victims a year are treated in emergency rooms for dog bites.
• Dog bites are among the leading injuries that require medical attention.
• More than half of dog bite victims are children.

Dog-bite law tough on victims, Newsobserver.com, January 20, 2008

Dog Bite Statistics, The Pet Friendly House

Related Web Resources:

North Carolina Dog Bite Law

South Carolina Dog Bite Law

Continue reading "Does Raleigh, North Carolina’s Dog Bite Rules “Go Easy on the Dogs?”" »

Injuries from dog bites can be more serious than you think—especially if you are mauled or attacked by a large or dangerous dog.

In North Carolina, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area is reporting more than 550 dog bite incidents this year so far. Children and the elderly tend to be at highest risk for being attacked by a dog.

North Carolina has a dog bite law that holds the owner of the dog strictly liable for injuries inflicted by the pet on another person or another person’s property if the pet was unrestrained when the attack occurred. That said, the owner must have allowed the dog to run at large at night, the dog must be of a certain age, and the injured victim must prove that the dog owner knowingly and purposely allowed the dog to be at large without restraint.

If a victim incurs a serious dog bite injury when the dog was not “running at large,” the dog owner can be held strictly if the dog was previously declared a “potentially dangerous dog.” A dog is declared “potentially dangerous” if it has killed or injured another animal while not on the owner’s property or previously terrorized or seriously terrorized a human being.

Dog bite injuries can range from minor bite marks to serious injuries, including abrasions, punctures, lacerations, tissue loss, fractured bones, facial injuries, permanent disfigurement, scars, rabies, infection, and death. Emotional and mental trauma can also result. Some mauling injuries, especially to the face, may require multiple surgeries (including reconstructive surgery and plastic surgery).

Every year, about 800,000 people require medical care for their dog bite injuries. Some 4.7 million people a year are attacked by dogs. 15-20 dog bite injury victims die annually.

In 2004, the following dog breeds topped the CDC’s list of dangerous dogs:

• Pit bulls
• Rottweilers
• German Shepherds
• Huskies
• Alaskan Malamutes
• Doberman Pinschers
• Chow Chows
• Great Danes
• St. Bernards
• Akitas

If you or someone you love has been seriously injured by a dog in North Carolina or South Carolina, an experienced dog bite lawyer may be able to help you prove that the dog attack occurred because the owner was negligent.

Defending yourself against a dangerous dog, WCNC, November 14, 2007

North Carolina Dog Bite Law

CDC's 10 Most Dangerous Dogs List, Free Republic, January 14, 2004

Related Web Resource:

Dog Bite Statistics, The Pet Friendly House

Continue reading "North Carolina's Charlotte-Mecklenburg Area Reports Over 550 Dog Bite Incidents This Year " »