Pitbull attacked my husband?

Question

My husband was attacked by a pitbull this afternoon. I rushed him to the hospital and he has several stitches in his leg. The guy who owned the dog shot and killed it after it attacked my husband. Now the health department can not quarintine it to watch for rabies. Also when he shot it, he did so several times and one of the bullets went through the jaw, and if it hit the cranium, then the brain is damaged and they can not tell from examing the brain if it has rabies. It did not have any rabies shots, actually any shots for the other stuff besides rabies. Now what do we do? If they can't tell from the brain if it has rabies, my husband will have to go through that terrible series of rabies shots. Has anyone had to take them and are they are awful as we have heard. What do we do about the guy and his pitbull attacking my husband. My husband did nothing at all to provoke the dog. It just attacked for no reason.

Answer 1

If they can not tell by exam if the dog was rabid your husband will most likely have to have shots.
What a horrible incident. How irresponsible ofthe owner to have a dog who had no shots.
I will never understand why people have pets if they can not afford to care for them.
I also do not understand why they take no time to train the dog or teach it manners.
I see so many good dogs with awful owners. It makes me sick.
Good luck I hope your husband is ok and will not be to upset by the whole thing.

Answer 2

They will most likely give him the shots since the brain cannot be tested and rabies is fatal. The shots are not bad!!! They are no worse than a tetnus shot!!!!! And they do not give them in the stomach!!!! They go in the arm like any other shot!!!!!!!

Maybe they can still test the brain. They need a certain part of the brain, so maybe they will try. Getting a vet to do a necropsy will do no good. Rabies MUST be confirmed by the brain tissue!!!!!!! They do not accept a vets word, it goes to a special lab set up for the specific test that has to be done. It is nothing to mess around with!!!!!!

You should not have to pay for the shots. The state covers them if you insurance does not.

Answer 3

Sorry for the incident. Having gone through something similar, I can relate.

Only some brain tissue is needed to test for rabies. I am presuming you have a police report and you're not just taking the guy's word that the dog is destroyed. The health department needs to be aggressive about hiring an excellent vet to perform a necropsy on the remains of the dog, as there are other methods to determine rabies other than brain matter.

The shots, if needed, are not so bad. More a hassle than anything else. They are nasty for a child... adults... not so much.

As for liability, obviously you have a case if you care to hire a personal injury lawyer and go after the owner. Your medical expenses, lost wages and loss of spousal consortium is easy. More is possible if you want it.

Good luck.

Answer 4

You can still go after the guy for medical costs. And he shouldn't have destroyed the dog like that - he should have waited until the police needed it for evidence (like you are saying) and it should have been humanely euthanized, not shot in the head.

To be safe, your husband should have the shots. It is a series, of I think 3 sets of innoculations over a duration of time, and the shots are in the stomach. It's not fun. He should also have a tetanus shot for sure (which I am sure the hospital took care of when they stitched him)

This man needs to be held accountable. True, pits are known for being violent, but a good owner can put it through training and a pit can be as nice a dog as any other. The fact that it never had shots show that he is a negligent owner, and he shouldn't be alowed to own pets. And the fact that he SHOT the animal to kill it means he could be arrested for animal abuse - he should have let the authorities put the dog down appropriately. THis man should pay for your medical expenses, and should NOT be allowed to own pets.

Answer 5

Your husband should have a rabies shot to be on the safe side. I had to get them when I was attacked by a german shephard when I was a child. You don't have to have as many shots as you used to. I think your husband should receive some compensation for his injuries from the owner of the dog. Pit bulls are generally very aggressive and he should have been on a leash. Ontario, Canada has just past a law making it illegal to own a pitbull. If you owned one before the law took effect which is very recent, the dog must be neutered or they will put the dog down. There have been too many unprovoked attacks, and even a neutered pitbull must be kept on a short leash and not taken to public places.

Answer 6

they don't necessarily need the whole brain; they can use a salivary gland or a SAMPLE of brain-tissue.
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the post-exposure shots =are= painful; but they are NOWHERE NEAR as painful as the original, INTRA-abdominal shots [over a dozen of them, with a honkin' horse-needle, into the belly - owee!].
the rabies-series is now only 3 shots, & they are intra-MuSCLE, which yes, burns... but considering that rabies is FATAL, & a short nasty BURN is not, a couple days of sore muscle is a cheap price to save Ur life...

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the rabies shots run abt $300 apiece, so Ur talking abt a grand here; at the very LEAST, all of Ur rabies shots [if the health auth's think he needs 'em], =All != of his stitches, bandaging, anaestetic, etc, Should All Be Covered By The Dog-Owner.

he may also be facing criminal charges, for failure to keep the rabies vacc current, as well as failure to safely confine his dog, failure to license his dog, & possibly "harboring a dangerous dog", if the dog has a HISTORY of aggressive behavior.
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if any of Ur husband's costs are Not re-imbursed by the owner, INCLUDING LOST TIME FROM WORK, U can [and should] take them to civil court, to recover a judgement.

hope the dog is neg for rabies virus...

Answer 7

Ok. I am really sorry about this. Of course it had to be a Pitbull, go figure. I would destroy my Pit to if he showed any sign of aggression. I do not think the owner did a bad thing but I do think the owner did it to protect himself. If the dog is not alive he looks good and then thinks he has no liability. I do not think a lawsuit will do much good exspecially if the guy did not have enough sense to train his dog. Believe me, if his dog was that aggressive there were signs before this and the owner probably encouraged it to some degree. I would say the series of shots would not be a bad idea. I am really sorry about the attack.

Answer 8

He will probably have to get the shots and yes I have heard they are really bad. It is a shame that the dog was killed and cannot be tested. He was a very irrspinsible owner to not get his dog vaccinated. You need to go to the police and make a report on the guy. I am sure there is a report from the hosspital too. You also need to consult a lawyer about your rights, because the owner is liable for all your husband's medical bills. Do you know the guy that owned the dog? Know his name and where he lived? If not, talk to people around where it happened and see if any one has any info on him.

Answer 9

Your insurance will not pay for any of this. GET A LAWYER!
Unfortunately, your husband will need to endure the series of rabies shots for his own safety. You will need to sue the dog owner for pain and suffering for his rash actions due to the rabies series he going to receive. Also the dog owner will have to either pay up on the hospital costs out of pocket or through his homeowners insurance. Either way GET A LAWYER, I can't stress that enough.

The dog owner does have the right to destroy the dog based on the danger it poses and history of the dog's inability to control itself. However, he will have to have a permit to own a gun, and have it registered with the state. Which could be yet, another violation.

GET A LAWYER!!!

Answer 10

The law states that, for the protection of both yourself & your dog, you should have a sign up on your property to warn people that you have a dog on the premises. The sign should preferably have both writing AND a picture of the breed (in case someone claims they cannot read). If you have a sign up & and someone insists on coming onto your property, they then do so at their own risk. If I were you, I would put a sign up immediately & call their bluff - let anyone try & prove that you didn't have your sign up at the time of the incident. I would say that this guy is trying to pull a 'fast one'. If this was a serious matter, the first thing that would have happened is that you would have had a visit from the Police, NOT a letter from some solicitor. Get your sign up asap & ignore the letter. By the way, I had a similar problem & the advice I give to you now actually was given to me by the Police.

Answer 11

I would say go ahead and have the shots, better safe than sorry. Some pitbulls are like that, they are just mean and I don't trust them at all. A 2 year old girls in this area was killed by one about a year ago.

I would think the dog's owner would at least be responsible for all medical bills. I wish you both all the best.