An 82-year-old Passaic woman was injured by a neighbor's dog on Aug. 6. The animal, a pit bull, jumped the fence between the woman's and her neighbor's property and attacked her as she fed her birds.
The incident occurred on a Tuesday afternoon at the victim's Ninth Street home. The pit bull, one of two dogs at the neighbor's residence, got away from its owner's daughter and leaped over the fence. The dog attacked the victim, causing serious injury to the victim's arm and leg. The woman managed to escape from the pit bull and get back into her home, and the dog jumped back over the fence to its owner's yard.
When police arrived, the dog was standing calmly on its owner's property. It was taken to the Passaic animal shelter without further incident. The pit bull will be quarantined to see if it had any disease, and will most likely be euthanized due to the violent nature and serious injury caused by the attack. The victim was taken to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson.
The serious injuries that dog bites can cause often result in scarring and disfigurement. A victim of a dog attack can also suffer from emotional pain caused by the viciousness of the animal attack. A competent and experienced personal injury attorney may be able to assist in determining fault in a dog bite claim. If the owner of the dog knew about its violent propensities, the owner could be found to have liability for the victim's medical expenses, pain and suffering, and other penalties. Our Woodbridge injury attorney at Palmisano & Goodman, P.A. can help in determining whether compensation is available in a civil lawsuit against the owner.