Dog Bite in CA

While at a school yard my 3yr old daughter was bit by a 6mo old lab that was unleashed.  A witness told the Firemen there that she saw the dog just playing with the little girl and the little girl just fell.  My husband was about 20ft away and immediately yelled at the dog and picked up my daughter.  She had bite marks on her face, and the dog continued jumping at my husband trying to bite my daughter's feet. 

Would I file a personal injury lawsuit with this situation?  The Animal Control Officer verified that the marks on my daughters face were dog bites and quarantined the dog.  My daughter still has nightmares and wakes up crying and has become very "clingy".  Would I be able to find the procedure for filing a lawsuit somewhere? 

This isn't the lottery.

Do you have actual damages?

superman1:

This isn't the lottery. Do you have actual damages?

That's not even remotely close to being helpful.

The child's got bite marks on her face, for pete's sake.

You can certainly file a personal injury lawsuit and, depending on how much, you might even be able to use small claims court.

However, you might not have to file a lawsuit.

There's a couple of things to do first.

1 - Has the owner been identified? That's the first thig you have to do. If you can't do that, there's nobody to file against.

2 - Document the incident. Get a copy of the report from Animal Contral. Get dated photos of the injuries. Get your child to a doctor to get the injuries treated. Without treatment and medical expenses there is little or no claim.

3 - Your child's emotional reaction to the dog is not worth any money. But for her own sake, a couple of visits to a child psychologist to overcome any fear of dogs should be done ASAP. The sooner she gets seen for it, the sooner it will be relieved.

4 - Put the dog owner on written notice of the incident and the injury. That is likely to get reported to the owner's insurance company which, in turn, will probably offer something just to make the claim go away.

5 - Study up on CA dog bite law.

http://www.dogbitelaw....

And sue for what?

Did she see a doctor? Are there scars?

Thank you for your help Jack.  All of the above has been done except for #4.  I didn't know if that could be done since the bite didn't occur on her property but at a schoolyard. 

I'm not sure what you mean by putting them on written notice.  How would a copy of it get to the insurance company? 

We just wanted to get our medical expenses back, which at this point is about $600.  She is still seeing the psychologist only because I want to be sure there isn't something else going on that is causing the nightmares and suddenly being afraid to be away from our sides.  She goes to daycare happily and excited so there isn't any apprehension there but just wanted to be sure. 

chowchowkathi:

All of the above has been done except for #4. I didn't know if that could be done since the bite didn't occur on her property but at a schoolyard.

Doesn't matter.

The owner is responsible for the dog wherever it goes. CA has a strict liability statute. See the link to CA dog bite law that I provided.

chowchowkathi:

I'm not sure what you mean by putting them on written notice.

A letter to the owner notifying of the injury and that the owner is responsible and that the owner will pay for any monetary damages incurred.

chowchowkathi:

How would a copy of it get to the insurance company?

The owner (if smart) would forward the letter to the insurance company and get a claim opened.

Some people (the dumb ones) try to bluff these things through without notifying their insurance company.

Regardless of the insurance company involvement you can still sue the owner if you have to.

chowchowkathi:

We just wanted to get our medical expenses back, which at this point is about $600. She is still seeing the psychologist only because I want to be sure there isn't something else going on that is causing the nightmares and suddenly being afraid to be away from our sides.

Good move.

The cost is possibly compensible if there is something related to the dog incident.

In addition to actual costs, your child is just as entitled to "pain and suffering" as an adult.