Jacksonville Personal Injury Blog

The Orange County Sheriff’s office reports that officers shot and killed a pit bull after it attacked a 3-year-old boy and his father. It happened in the father’s back yard near Orlando. Deputies report that they tried to corner the dog but it tried to attack the deputies, so they shot the dog. The child’s father says the dog was a stray. But News4Jax reports that the father and grandfather were caring for the dog.

It turns out the dog belonged to a friend of the father. The boy was taken to the hospital with bite wounds on his face and the father was injured. The dog will be tested for rabies. Hopefully it does not have the disease or the boy and father will have to undergo a painful series of shots. The dog did not have tags making it difficult to track down the owner.

Dog Bites in Florida
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports more than four million Americans are bitten by dogs every year. Often the dog is acting out for the first time and often the breeds are those that have been trained to be dangerous. But whether the pit bull, the Chow, Akita, Rottweilers, and Doberman Pinchers are actually vicious, or bred and encouraged to be vicious, is up for debate. You would be well advised to contact a Jacksonville dog bite injury attorney if you have been bitten by any type of dog. You may find that the home owner’s insurance policy of the dog’s owner will cover your medical treatment.

Source: http://www.news4jax.com/news/22507515/detail.html

A three-year-old girl was mauled to death by a Pit Bull tied to a tree. It happened Saturday, February 20, 2010 in Ocala at the home of the girl’s family who owned the dog. The mother was not supervising when the dog attacked the little girl and when the mother came outside and found her, the girl was already dead. The family breeds pit bulls for a living and Marion County Animal Control removed four dogs in all from the home. The three other children who live there and the father were not home at the time of the attack.

Our condolences go out to the family for the death of this little girl. No matter what the circumstance, losing a child is a tragedy that will never be forgotten.

Florida Dog Bite Statistics
Every year it’s estimated there are about 4.7 million dog bites in this country that result in 30 deaths. And the number of canine homicides, as they’re called, seems to be growing from the 80s and 90s. About 800,000 dog bite injuries end up seeking medical treatment. Men are twice as likely to be injured as woman, but often children are the victims of vicious dogs who perceive them as easy prey. Often it is more than one dog, or a pack, that will attack. About two dozen breeds have been linked to fatal dog bites, with Pit Bulls and Rottweilers at the head of the list.

Continue reading "3-Year-Old Killed By Pitt Bull" »