30 Stitches for Woman Bitten by Dog

A woman has suffered a horrific facial injury after being attacked by a Staffordshire bull terrier. The 47 year old woman had to have 30 stitches to deal with the wounds she suffered. According to the BBC website, the woman was attacked whilst standing at the door of a tenant’s residence while undertaking her job as a housing officer. She has been left with scars and is now said to be a lot more wary around animals and due to her injuries she had to take five weeks off work.

Bron Afon Community Housing, the victim’s employer, successfully applied for an injunction to stop the owner having any dogs in or around their property for a period of 12 months.

Mr Duncan Forbes, the Community Housing chief executive, in commenting on the attack stated, “The vast majority of dog owners are responsible but it is their responsibility to make sure their dog does not cause a danger to others.”

Making a personal injury claim in situations involving injuries caused by animals can be very difficult. If the owner of the animal cannot be traced then it is almost impossible to make a claim. As a result it is beneficial to report any incident to the police, both for the purposes of police possibly tracking the owner and keeping a potentially dangerous and harmful animal from causing injury to anyone else.

Dog bites are covered under the Dangerous dogs act 1991 with s.3 stating
If a dog is dangerously out of control in a public place (a) the owner; and (b) if different, the person for the time being in charge of the dog, is guilty of an offence, or, if the dog while so out of control injures any person, an aggravated offence, under this subsection.

If you, or someone you know has been the victim of a dog attack then why not see if we can help you claim compensation.