Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg
Two 1-year-olds were taken to the hospital for treatment stemming from two separate dog attack incidents in South Florida over the weekend, according to local media reporting.
The first attack happened in Hollandale Beach and involved a child who was with at least one adult when the incident took place at the 400 block of Southeast Ninth Street, reporters with The Miami herald wrote. The child’s mother was “changing the baby” when they were attacked. The mother was able to get the child away from the dog.
The extent of that 1-year-old’s injuries were not immediately available Monday. It is unclear whether the mother suffered any injuries while rescuing her child. The animal is described in articles from local media as “the family dog.” The child was taken to the hospital by a Good Samaritan, according to reporting from NBC6 South Florida. The child’s father told reporters that the dog, an American Bully, “never showed signs of aggression” before this incident. The animal was surrendered to Broward County Animal Care and Control and was euthanized, NBC6 South Florida reported.
The second incident happened Friday morning at Beach View Park in Miami Beach. The family was vacationing in the area when they stopped in the park and their 1-year-old daughter was bitten in the face.
The attack, the girl’s father told reporters, happened within seconds while the girl was walking away from the dog and toward the playground. Earlier in the day, the man told reporters that he had questioned the animal’s owner about whether their pet was safe around children and was assured that he was “a family dog, very safe, and good with kids.”
As the child was walking away, her father recalled the animal suddenly lunging at her. She sustained injuries to her eye and cuts along her face. The child has limited vision in one eye from the attack, the father told reporters.
“No sleep, a lot of crying, a lot of pain,” he said. “She’s very nervous. Her right eye is very swollen, so she has limited vision on that eye.”
It is unclear whether or not the dog was on a leash at the time of the incident.
Leesfield & Partners
Leesfield & Partners has 50 years of experience handling personal injury cases throughout Florida. In that time, the firm has become among the top personal injury law firms in the country, regularly securing record verdicts and settlements for injured clients and grieving families. Our attorneys are skilled in product liability claims, boating injury cases, cruise ship injuries, medical malpractice, car accidents and animal attacks.
In 2023 insurance claim data, Florida was recorded as the state with the second-highest for dog bite incidents in the U.S. behind California. The dog bite claims recorded for that year was 1,532 in Florida. Children, especially boys, between 1 and 9 years old are at the highest risk for dog bites. This is because younger children can misinterpret a dog’s body language and engage in behavior such as hugging, petting them while they are eating, or other unwanted touching that results in an animal snapping or can provoke a bite. The gender gap in attacks has previously been attributed to behavioral differences and researchers have suggested that boys engage in more risk-taking or misreading of dog signals. When attacked, younger children are more likely to be bitten on the head or neck, which can cause serious and sometimes fatal injuries.
An average of two Floridians die annually and 600 others are hospitalized from dog bite injuries, according to the Florida Department of Health.
While often described as “man’s best friend,” it is important to recognize the damage that they can do when they feel threatened.
Liability
In Florida, dog owners are strictly liable for injuries their dogs cause to other people. This means an owner can be held responsible even if the dog has never shown aggression or bitten anyone before.
Premises liability law also requires property owners to maintain their property in a reasonably safe condition for lawful visitors. This duty includes taking reasonable steps to protect invitees from dangerous conditions — such as pets — on the property. If a dog bites or injures a guest, then the property owner may be held liable. This is particularly true if they knew or should have known that the dog posed a risk.
Leesfield & Partners has handled multiple cases in which our clients were bitten and/or attacked by dogs and other pets and who have suffered severe and painful injuries as a result.
Previous Cases
It should be noted that dogs aren’t the only pets prone to attacking people and causing serious injuries. Trial Attorney Eric Shane recently obtained a confidential result for a client who was attacked by a neighbor’s pet at their Monroe County condominium.
One case involving a dog bite resulted in a $1.5 million recovery for a 77-year-old client. In that case, the elderly woman was walking from her front door to check the mail while walking her leashed dog, a 20-pound Welsh terrier. A neighbor was walking by the home at the same time with their dog who lunged so forcefully at the terrier that the neighbor lost control of the leash.
In an effort to protect her pet, our client stepped between the animals, causing the larger dog to maul her arms. Injuries sustained by the woman in the attack included deep wounds to her forearms and right elbow and broken bones in her left hand. A passerby stepped in to stop the attack.
Leesfield & Partners handled a case in which a woman who was walking down a neighborhood sidewalk in front of the home of an aggressive animal was attacked. The woman was passing by an unlocked gate when a large Chesapeake Bay Retriever who mauled her right arm and shoulder while a dog sitter refused to intervene. Thankfully a passing driver stopped and called 911.
The firm previously represented a therapist making house visits who was attacked by a large dog who bit her in the stomach, its jaws ripped through her hand and tore off an index finger.
In another case, our client was horrifically mauled by a dog who jumped out of the window of its owner’s parked car while the owner, a neighbor, was speaking to our client. Injuries sustained in that case were wounds to her forearm and leg.
In a case involving a dog bite and an animal rescue organization, Leesfield & Partners recovered $800,000 for the injured client.
