Personal Injury Claims often arise from injuries caused by animals when it can be shown that the owner or keeper of the creature was legally negligent in failing to prevent it attacking and injuring someone. Fortunately, most animal owners carry insurance against such claims.
Recently we have had a fair few cases arise from attacks by dogs, and not all are as a result of bites.
I have just settled a case for a man who was attacked by a large dog that was not on a lead in a public park. It made an unprovoked lunge at him and bit him. We have just settled the claim for a five figure sum.
A few months ago, we won a claim for an elderly man who was walking from his house to the local shop when he was injured by a neighbour’s dog which was on an extendable lead. He was knocked to the floor and suffered head and shoulder injuries.
Some years ago I acted for a young woman who suffered nasty facial injuries when she was bitten by her employer’s pet and also for an unfortunate man who was attacked by the landlord’s dog whilst he was urinating in a pub toilet.
It’s not just dogs…
Horses are capable of causing nasty injuries if not controlled properly. A client suffered a fractured shoulder when a horse, complete with rider, reared up at her on a public footpath, causing her to fall. We also succeeded with a claim against the owner of a horse in North Derbyshire which escaped from his fields and collided with a motorcycle on a main road.
Cows are also dangerous, particularly when they have calves with them. A lady client of ours won damages of more than £20,000 after she was trampled by several cows whilst out walking with her husband. Another client was injured by cows that were startled by noise created by farm machinery. A lady from a farming community was badly injured when an escaped cow ran up her drive and knocked her down, leading to a claim against the owner.
Any person or organisation which owns any type of animal that they know is likely to cause bodily harm or has the potential to do so if kept uncontrolled may be liable for compensation if it does injure someone. So far, I’m not aware of any claims arising against domestic cat owners but I would recommend that anyone who owns a dog, horse, farm animal, boa constrictor, or whatever it may be should make sure they have appropriate third party insurance.
If you would like advice about an injury caused by an animal, please call us on 0114 218 4000 to arrange a meeting which will be free of charge
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