Take These Three Steps If You Experience A New Haven Dog Bite Injury

Whether you’re a dog person or not, it’s hard to argue that these furry creatures provide a lot of companionship and love for many people throughout our area. With spring weather in full swing you may be passing by more dogs than humans on the streets of New Haven. It can be tempting to go up and pet these beautiful animals, but it may also put you at risk of experiencing a New Haven dog bite injury.

There are many things you can do to make sure you don’t get bitten by a dog and are able to enjoy your interactions with them. You should never approach a strange dog that is off its leash. While it may be tempting to reach your hand out and pet the animal, especially if she/he runs over to you, you may be putting yourself at grave risk of being bitten. Even if a dog is on its leash you may not want to reach down and pet her/him without the permission of the human who is holding the other end of the leash. A dog’s owner generally has a sense of how the animal will react when meeting a new person and you should take their advice to avoid getting bitten.

When you take certain steps to make sure you are not bitten you may be able to avoid a bite all together, but sometimes this is not possible and a dog bite occurs anyway. If this is the case, you will want to take a few important steps before you even think about how the owner will be held accountable in Connecticut which is a strict liability state. Before you think about how this affects you long-term you are going to want to take some steps to protect yourself in the short term. Here are the things you should be doing to take action immediately if you’ve been bitten by a dog.

1.) Get to a place where you are able to wash the wound that was caused by the dog bite thoroughly. You should make sure you are using soap and warm water for at least 5 minutes to wash away any bacteria that might have made it’s way into the wound. If the dog broke skin, this may become increasingly painful, but it is critical to your ability to eliminate long-term risks from the dog bite.

2.) In the event that the wound is bleeding you will want to apply gentle, steady pressure to the wound so you can control the bleeding. You can use anything that will be able to apply pressure. If you have a band-aid and the wound is able to be covered by a single band-aid that will do it. If the wound is bigger then you may need to use a cloth or an old t-shirt to wrap the wound so the bleeding stops. While you do not want to cut off circulation you will want to make sure you apply enough pressure so the bleeding stops and that may mean that whatever you are using is tied on tightly.

3.) Seek medical attention. Whether the bite that you have experienced is big or small you should still seek medical attention. A medical professional will be able to assess your injury, help stop any bleeding that you were not able to stop on your own and provide you with a plan forward to make sure that the injury heals properly and in a timely manner. If you do not seek medical attention you may find yourself in a situation where you are going to need further attention down the road due to an infection forming as the result of bacteria in the wound.

A New Haven dog bite can range in severity from a simple scratch all the way up to a wound that may require significant medical attention and even amputation. While most dog bites never arise to that level, they are often significant enough to require multiple days, weeks and even months of recovery and therefore can significantly impact your life on a day to day basis. It is for this reason that you shouldn’t just ignore the bite and let the owner of the pet get away without any repercussions. You should get your wound cared for and then think about how you might wish to proceed as these types of injuries are not your fault and you should not have to deal with the fallout on your own.

Injuries suffered due to a dog bite can be quite complex to navigate so it is important to have an experienced attorney as part of your team to get it sorted out for you. Contact our office and one of our experienced attorneys will review your situation and work with you to protect your long-term interests.