While much of New Jersey is urban, even this state has its own share of rural areas with open fields and country roads along which people can take a relaxing morning or evening walk. Pet owners who do live outside of the city therefore, need to understand that they will be held accountable for dog bite damages if their family pet wanders from its home and attacks a passerby. The issue of animal bites can have an effect on families and residents in New Jersey and across the country.
After all, serious dog bites can leave a person enduring permanent and very visible disfigurement on their faces or other parts of their body. In one recent case in Iowa, a woman and her husband were walking in a rural area with their own dog. An unrestrained dog emerged from its own yard and charged at the couple.
The dog then attacked the woman, biting her stomach and her upper leg. Tragically, the dog then severed the woman’s nose from her face. While her husband tried to stop the dog, he only managed to succeed once he bit the dog on the nose. The dog also bit the husband during the attack, and he had to miss work after the site of the bite on his arm got severely infected.
Thankfully, both the woman and her husband have health insurance. However, even if the insurance does cover all of their medical expenses, the woman and her husband have also sustained a significant amount of pain and suffering.
Because the locale where this took place has no law stating otherwise, the dog will eventually be released to its owner after some time in quarantine. The owner apparently has yet to come forward to claim the animal; the person with whom the dog ordinarily stays denies ownership, saying the dog belongs to a homeless man and he just feeds the animal from time to time.
Whoever does own this dog may wind up paying the woman and her husband compensation for both lost wages and out-of-pocket medical expenses, as well for their substantial emotional pain.
Source: New Jersey Herald, “Iowa woman says husband bit dog to stop attack,” May 3, 2013
