A “One-Bite” State: Making Sense of Georgia’s Dog Bite Law

Understanding and Preventing the Likelihood of a Dog Bite Attack in Georgia

Signs of Infection after a Dog Bite Attack in Georgia

6 Tips to Prevent Dog Bite Attacks in Georgia

When Kids Suffer Emotional Injuries from a Dog Bite Attack in Georgia

2 Ways Owners Can Be Held Liable After a Dog Bite Attack in Forest Park, Georgia

5 Things Not to Do After a Dog Bite Attack in Forest Park, Georgia

Factors that Increase the Risk of a Dog Attack in Georgia

Determining Whether You Provoked a Dog Attack in Georgia

First Aid after a Dog Attack in Georgia

Proving Liability after a Dog Attack in Georgia

Atlanta Dog Bite Lawyers - Children May Be at Risk from Dog Bites from Pets

Peachtree City Newnan Dog Bite Attorney - Eye Injuries Frequently Seen in Dog Bites Involving Children

Decatur Dog Bite Attorney - DeKalb County Dog Bite Attack Leaves Child in Hospital

An eight-year-old child was severely mauled by two dogs in Dekalb County last week.  She continues to remain in a critical condition at Children's Health Care of Atlanta at Egleston.

Erin Ingraham was attacked by the Staffordshire Terrier dogs as she was playing in her own yard. The dogs were apparently left in their owner's garage with the door open. There were no leashes or other restraints to keep the dogs on their own property.  Two officers who responded to the scene were able to pull the two dogs off the little girl. One of the dogs was shot when it attacked an officer, and the other dog ran back into its owner's house and was soon caught. The second dog is likely to be euthanized.

The dog's owner, Twyann Atrrell Vaughn, is expected to be charged in the attack.

Erin has already had vascular and plastic surgery. The road to recovery is going to be a long stretch for this little girl, and my thoughts and prayers continue to be with her and her family.

There is no concrete information yet about whether the dogs had a previous history of attacks, or whether Vaughn has been cited before for any attacks involving his dogs. However, his neighbors say that the dogs seemed very aggressive.  Residents in the area were always fearful of an attack. Apparently, the dogs had been involved in attacks on a neighbor's pet cat, as well as on another person.

 Jason Schultz is an Atlanta dog bite lawyer, helping injured victims of dog bites recover compensation for their injuries.

Georgia Dog Bite Lawyer - Infant Deaths in Dog Bites Raise Questions

Marietta Dog Bite Lawyer - Vicious Pit Bull Attacks Child

Atlanta Dog Bite Lawyer - Atlanta Girl Seriously Injured in Dog Bite Attack

Georgia’s Dog Laws Lack Bite

State laws that govern how and when a vicious dog in Georgia is declared to be one are weak, this news report says, and many cities are enacting stronger laws of their own to deal with the problem.

According to Georgia law, a dog can be declared vicious when it has attacked a human being without any provocation, but for this, he needs to have two bite attack incidents on his record.  The Leesburg City Council is just city that doesn't believe that the law is as strong as it should be.  They have put more bite into their own dog laws. These new laws will define a dog as potentially dangerous not only when it has attacked other human beings, but also when it has attacked domestic or pet animals. In Albany, a dog that is chained can be declared dangerous and vicious, even in the absence of an actual attack or injury.  The city of Albany also regulates the size of the enclosure where pet dogs are confined, to a minimum of 200 square feet. A dog that is confined in an enclosure smaller than this may get less exercise and may feel trapped and confined, and therefore, be dangerous, or so goes the logic.

The increased spotlight on aggressive dogs has been augmented by the wrongful death of a five-year-old girl in Thomasville by her family's pet pit bulls. Chyenne Peppers was attacked by the three dogs, one of which was roaming free in the yard while the other two remain chained. The attack was apparently instigated by a pregnant female pit bull, and the other two dogs quickly broke the chains, and joined her in the mauling. The dogs have been turned over to animal control for euthanization, but the attack has raised questions in the community. The sheriff of Thomas County wants a complete ban on pit bulls. The call has raised the ire of pit bull lovers who insist that these are good dogs and if well trained, are good family dogs. All dogs can bite or attack family members they say, and it's unfair to single out pit bulls as a breed. While that may be true, the fact is the majority of dog bite attacks in Georgia and throughout the country are from aggressive breeds like pit bulls and Rottweilers.

As state laws continue to be ineffective in preventing dog bite attacks and keeping dangerous dogs off the street, it's increasingly evident to Georgia dog bite lawyers like me, that there is an urgent need for these laws to be made tougher in an effort to protect the innocent victims, usually children, of the inevitable trauma of a dog attacks.

Dog Bite Attack in DeKalb County, Georgia Leaves Three Injured

Barely a week before a vicious dog bite attack that left a DeKalb County man with leg injuries and two children severely injured, the owner of the pit bulls had been asked to repair a broken fence, which is thought to have been the route through which the animals escaped.

According to 40-year-old Maurice Jones, the two pit bulls came running into the yard where he was, chasing two children, aged 3 years and 14 years. All he heard was the children screaming; the dogs weren't barking at all. By the time he got up to investigate, the dogs were at his feet, biting his calves and ankles. Jones suffered several puncture wounds, and had to be rushed to the hospital. The two children suffered head and ankle injuries.

According to Jones, the pit bulls belonged to the neighbor of the person in whose house the attack took place. The dogs seemed to have escaped from their owner's yard through a hole in a damaged fence that separated the two houses. The owner of the house had apparently asked the neighbor to get the fence fixed just a week before the dog bite attack took pace. DeKalb County police are conducting investigations into the tragedy which occurred on December 27th.

There does seem to be negligence on the part of the owner of the dogs here, considering that they managed to escape from their enclosure, and make it to their neighbor's house. An owner is required to keep unsafe animals under strict supervision, leashed at all times to avoid precisely the sort of dog bite attacks that have occurred here.

According to research, among all dog bite attack-related fatalities, those that are caused by a pit bull bite are the most frequently occurring ones, accounting for up to one third of all such deaths. Most of the victims are children, and as one study in California showed, pit bulls don't think of children as playmates, but as prey. Injuries that result from these attacks, no matter whether they are inflicted on a three-year-old or a sixty-year-old, are often severe, leading to disfigurement and scarring. In many cases, victims need plastic surgery to repair the damage done by these vicious attacks.

The victims here should consider filing a dog bite injury claim against the owner of the pit bulls. Fortunately, civil courts make it possible for victims of such attacks to obtain compensation for their pain, suffering, trauma, medical bills, and any lost wages with the help of a Georgia dog bite lawyer.