Most dog owners are respectful, responsible, and look out for their neighbors. Yet some owners fail to keep their dogs on a leash or protect others from potential dog bites. When dog owners are negligent or irresponsible, our lawyers hold them accountable.
CPY Law can help you seek compensation for medical bills and lasting trauma if you’ve been bitten, attacked, or mauled by someone’s dog. Our attorneys also consider the long-term impact of a dog attack on kids, helping parents and guardians seek accountability for their children.
Your recovery is our fight, and we take it seriously. For a free, no-obligation case review with our dog bite lawyers in Kansas City, MO, contact CPY Law today.
Potential Injuries in a Dog Attack
Dogs bite down with surprising power. The force of an average dog bite is around 100-300 pounds per square inch (PSI). Larger and stronger dog breeds have bites that can exceed 700 PSI. This can cause catastrophic and potentially life-threatening injuries.
- Puncture Wounds: A dog’s teeth can pierce the skins, causing major puncture wounds in the bite area.
- Lacerations: When dogs tear with their teeth or scratch with their paws, there’s a risk of major cuts.
- Rabies: If a dog is rabid, it can pass on a terrible viral infection to humans through its saliva. If rabies is not properly diagnosed and treated, it could prove fatal.
- Tetanus: Tetanus is a bacterial infection that could be transmitted to humans through a dog bite. Tetanus could be life-threatening without proper care.
- Other Infections: Dog bites have also been known to cause capnocytophaga, pasteurellosis, and staph infections.
- Avulsion and Scarring: If skin or other tissue is torn away during a dog attack, it can lead to permanent scarring.
- Nerve Damage: Deep bites and scratches can affect muscles and nerves, potentially reducing sen
- Broken Bones: Extremely violent attacks that involve large dogs can cause broken bones, especially of the fingers, hands, wrists, and arms.
- Psychological Trauma: Dog attacks can have lasting effects on your mental health, causing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), panic attacks, anxiety around other dogs, and insomnia.
Dog Attacks Have Lasting Impact on Toddlers and Children
Dog attacks are extremely traumatic events that can affect a child’s growth, development, and sense of well-being.
Severe injuries during a dog attack can leave a child with physical scars, permanent nerve damage, vision loss, and severe bone fractures. The young survivor may also struggle with PTSD, a fear of dogs in the future, terrible nightmares, and lasting anxiety.
Parents and Legal Guardians Can Sue on Behalf of Injured Children
If your child was attacked by a dog, you can sue on your child’s behalf to seek compensation. Our Kansas City dog bite attorneys can guide you through this process, and help you understand the long-term effects the attack could have on your child’s life.
Who Is Liable in a Dog Attack?
Under RSMo § 273.036, the dog’s owner is strictly liable for any bites whenever a person is attacked on public property or is lawfully on private property. It’s also possible to hold the dog’s handler at the time of an attack liable (e.g., a dog walker or pet sitter), and potentially even a business or organization with dogs on the premises.
Our Kansas City dog bite lawyers will consider the nature of the dog attack, what happened, and make sure all at-fault parties are held accountable.
Compensation in Dog Bite Claims
Dog attack victims can seek compensation for any losses caused by the dog attack. This includes economic damages (tangible and measurable financial losses) and non-economic damages (subjective and intangible losses).
- Medical Bills: This includes any stabilizing care, surgery, vaccinations, and follow-up visits.
- Future Medical Needs: This includes long-term health needs such as physical rehabilitation, reconstructive surgery, psychological counseling, and occupational therapy.
- Damaged Property: This includes any torn clothing, damaged cellphones, lost jewelry or valuables, and any harm to your belongings during the attack.
- Lost Income and Future Earnings: This includes lost wages due to time away from work and any loss of future earning potential if your injuries result in a long-term or permanent disability.
- Pain and Suffering: This includes emotional distress, mental anguish, chronic pain, and ongoing sleep disturbances.
- Lower Quality of Life: This includes any loss of enjoyment in life, inability to engage in past hobbies, loss of consortium, and any strain on your interpersonal relationships.
The Kansas City dog attack lawyers at CPY Law will evaluate all of your losses and help you understand the true value of your claim.
Compensation for Fatal Dog Attacks
If you’ve lost a family member in a fatal dog attack, you have our deepest sympathies.
When you are ready to share what happened, we can discuss filing a wrongful death lawsuit. Compensation for fatal dog attacks can be used to cover funeral expenses, grief counseling, and the emotional pain of losing a loved one’s companionship.
Partial Responsibility: Missouri’s Pure Comparative Fault Law
You can still seek compensation if you were partly at fault for a dog attack. This is because Missouri follows a pure comparative fault rule (RSMo § 537.765).
Pure comparative fault means that you can still seek compensation even if you were partly or mostly at fault for a dog attack. Your compensation will be reduced by your share of responsibility for what happened.
Some insurance companies may claim that you provoked a dog and were partially at fault for the attack to reduce how much you’re paid out. Our dog attack lawyers in Kansas City will push back against those claims. CPY Law wants every client to get what’s fair.
How Long Do I Have to File a Dog Attack Lawsuit in Kansas City, MO?
The deadline to file a dog bite lawsuit in Missouri varies depending on the nature of the attack.
- For dog attacks that cause injuries, you typically have five years from the date of the incident to file a personal injury lawsuit (RSMo § 516.120)
- For fatal dog attacks, you typically have three years from the date of death to file a wrongful death lawsuit (RSMo § 537.100)
There are some exceptions to these statutes of limitations. For example, if the survivor of the dog attack was a minor at the time of the incident, the statute of limitations may be paused until that person turns 18. For dog attacks involving state or government entities, you will need to file a formal notice of a claim within 90 days of the attack.
While you may have a few years to take legal actions, it’s best to contact our Kansas City dog bite lawyers ASAP. Our attorneys can begin securing evidence and ensuring you get the treatment you need for your injuries. We can also start building a case and negotiating a fair settlement with the insurance company.
Why Choose CPY Law After a Dog Attack in Kansas City
If you got attacked by a dog in Kansas City, our attorneys are ready to help. Our attorneys are built for the fight ahead. While we deal with the fight, you and your family can focus on the recovery process.
Here’s why people throughout Jackson, Clay, Platte, and Cass counties trust CPY Law.
- Reliability and Legal Excellence: The team at CPY Law have decades of combined legal experience here in Missouri. We always work closely with clients to identify the best solutions for their case.
- We Hold Ourselves and Others Accountable: Our law firm seeks accountability from others. We also demand the same from ourselves. When you hire us after an animal attack, we will own the problem and lead the fight forward. We do what we say, and we ask the same of our staff and colleagues.
- Free and Confidential Consultations: At CPY Law, you don’t have to worry about upfront costs just to speak with an attorney. Consultations with us are free, confidential, and no obligation. We just want to hear what happened and give you our honest assessment about your case.
- Clients Pay Us Nothing Unless We Win: At CPY Law, you owe us nothing unless and unless we win. Since we work on a contingency fee basis, our attorneys only get paid after your dog bite case is successfully resolved. If we don’t win, you pay nothing.
Contact Our Kansas City Dog Bite Attorneys Near You
If you were attacked by a dog or your child suffered a dog bite, our attorneys can help. CPY Law can hold dog owners accountable for negligence, and will seek maximum compensation so you can cover your medical expenses and other bills. For a free and no-obligation consultation with our dog bite lawyers in Kansas City, contact our law firm today.
Frequently Asked Questions About Dog Attack Cases in Kansas City
Below are some of the most common questions we’ve heard from clients who’ve been bitten, attacked, or mauled by a dog in Kansas City.
Under Missouri law, will the dog that bit or attacked me be put down?
No, not necessarily. In Missouri, a dog that bites, attacks, or mauls someone will not automatically be euthanized. Multiple factors have to be considered, including the severity of the attack, local ordinances regarding dog attacks, whether the dog has a history of aggressive behavior or past attacks, and whether the attack was provoked or unprovoked.
A dog is more likely to be put down if the attack results in death or catastrophic injuries, there is a history of past dog attacks, and local authorities consider the dog a threat to public safety.
What should I do if I’m attacked by a dog in Kansas City, MO?
If you or a loved one was attacked by a dog in Kansas City, we recommend taking these steps:
- Get Contact Info from the Owner and Witnesses: If the owner of the dog or the person caring for the dog is present, get their contact information. Also get contact information from witnesses who saw the bite or attack occur.
- Document the Attack and Any Injuries: Take photos and videos of your injuries, the site of the attack, and the dog (if it is safe to do so).
- Get Checked Out by a Doctor: Dog bites can lead to rabies, infections, and other serious health problems. Make sure to see a doctor as soon as possible after the attack.
- Report the Dog Attack to Animal Control: Report the dog attack to Kansas City Animal Services. You can reach out to the city’s Animal Services Division with any concerns related to animal welfare and public safety.
- Speak with a Dog Attack Lawyer: Reach out to the dog bite attorneys of CPY Law to discuss what steps you can take next to maximize your compensation.
Can delivery workers sue if they get attacked by a dog while on the job?
Yes. The state of Missouri allows delivery workers to sue for injuries caused by a dog while they were doing their job. When a mail carrier or delivery person is dropping off items at a property, the delivery person is there lawfully and not considered a trespasser.
This applies to USPS mail carriers, package/parcel delivery people (e.g., FedEx, UPS, DHL, Amazon), and food delivery drivers (e.g., DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, Postmates).
Are there any special laws in Missouri for animal attacks involving police or service dogs?
Yes, for police dogs.
In Missouri, a police dog (K-9) is exempt from regular dog bite statutes if the K-9 was deployed by law enforcement and performing official duties at the time of the attack. There may be some legal discussion regarding excessive force and whether it was necessary to deploy a police dog.
Service dogs in Missouri are subject to normal dog bite laws in the state. While the dog is a service animal, the owner of the service dog is still responsible for any bites or attacks.
Can Kansas City landlords be held liable for a tenant’s dangerous dog?
Yes, though this depends on the nature of the dog attack.
Landlords can potentially be held liable for a tenant’s aggressive dog if the landlord knew that the dog could be dangerous or attacked people in the past and failed to take reasonable actions to protect others or ask the tenant and their dog to leave.
