Dog Bite Lawyer in Bend, Oregon
Bitten by a dog?
Oregon holds the owner responsible. We hold them to it.
Man’s best friend is sometimes man’s worst enemy. A dog bite can cause permanent scarring, nerve damage and loss of sensation, and infection. If an aggressive dog has bitten and injured you or a loved one, you may be entitled to compensation under Oregon law.
Precision Litigation Northwest is experienced and skilled in personal injury litigation and settlement and will handle the complexities of your dog bite injury case. There’s no fee unless we get money for you.
Contact Precision Litigation Northwest today for your free consultation.
What Do You Need to Know About Dog Bite Laws in Deschutes County, Oregon?
Dog Bite Settlements
Under Oregon law, you’re entitled to recover the following damages:
- Compensation for any medical bills, hospitalizations, emergency care, and follow-up care
- Payment for counseling
- Reimbursement for the cost of any plastic surgery
- Compensation for lost wages and diminished future earning capacity
- Pain, suffering, and decreased quality of life
- Disfigurement or scarring
- Disability
- Wrongful death
If a dangerous dog killed your loved one, the negligent dog owner can be held liable. We are sorry for your loss and are here to get you the compensation you deserve for your family’s pain and financial hardship. Our dog bite attorneys in Bend will work tirelessly to prove that the dog’s owner was strictly liable, negligent, and careless.
Proving strict liability and that the dog was “potentially dangerous” is not easy for a person to do on their own. When you contact us to represent your interests in a dog bite lawsuit, we know exactly what evidence to gather to prevent the owner from escaping their responsibility. There’s no fee until we win your case.
Contact Precision Litigation Northwest today for your free consultation.
Dog Bite lawyers near you
Serving clients in central and wider Oregon. Local pages for the communities we serve most:
Oregon’s dog bite law: what you have to prove and what you don’t
Oregon splits a dog bite claim in two. For economic damages, the medical bills and the lost income, you do not have to prove the owner knew the dog was dangerous, and the owner cannot defend by saying the bite came as a surprise (ORS 31.360). For noneconomic damages, the pain, the scarring and the fear, the claim rests on the owner’s carelessness or on what the owner knew about the dog. That is where the “potentially dangerous dog” history, earlier complaints, leash violations and what the neighbors say all come in.
The owner can still argue provocation, and Oregon’s comparative fault rule (ORS 31.600) reduces a recovery by your share of fault and bars it above 50 percent. Reaching over a fence, cornering a dog or ignoring a warning are the usual arguments. With a young child, the question is usually not provocation but whether the dog should have been loose at all.
Who actually pays a dog bite claim
The dog’s owner is usually a neighbor, a friend or a family member, and people hesitate to make a claim for that reason. The claim is almost always paid by insurance, not by the owner. Homeowner’s and renter’s policies commonly cover injuries a dog causes, on and off the property, and a landlord’s or business’s policy may apply when the dog was kept there with permission. We find every policy that responds and deal with the insurer directly, so the relationship with the owner does not have to carry the claim.
If you were bitten while working, delivering packages, reading meters, doing home care or landscaping, workers’ compensation covers the medical bills and part of your wages, and a separate claim against the dog owner covers what workers’ compensation does not, including pain and scarring. Both can proceed at the same time.
Dog bites in Bend and Central Oregon
Bend is a dog town. Off-leash areas, the Deschutes River Trail, the Old Mill District, the trailheads west of town and every neighborhood sidewalk put people and unfamiliar dogs close together, and most bites we see happen on a walk, at a front door or in a friend’s yard. Outside Bend, ranch and farm dogs around Prineville, Madras and La Pine account for some of the most serious injuries, often to children and to people arriving at a property for the first time.
Report the bite to animal control for the county or city where it happened, and get the report number. The report records the dog, the owner and the date, and it starts the process that can classify the dog as potentially dangerous under Oregon law. That record helps prove what the owner knew if the dog has bitten before, and it protects the next person if the dog bites again.
What to do in the first week after a dog bite
A dog bite claim must be filed within two years of the bite (ORS 12.110), but the evidence that decides it, the report, the photographs and the witnesses, is gathered in the first weeks and is much harder to gather later.
- Get the wound cleaned and seen the same day, at St. Charles, an urgent care or your own doctor. Bites infect easily, and the visit records the injury.
- Get the owner’s name, address and the dog’s vaccination record. If the rabies status is unknown, tell the provider.
- Photograph the wounds daily as they heal, and again once scars form.
- Report the bite to animal control and keep the report number.
- Get the names of anyone who saw it happen.
- Keep the clothing and anything that was torn.
- Do not accept a payment or sign anything from the owner or an insurer before talking to a lawyer.
- Call 541-948-8830.
Scarring, children and why timing matters
Many dog bite injuries are to the face, the hands and the arms, and many of the people bitten are children. Scars keep changing for a year or more after the bite, and plastic surgeons often will not decide on revision surgery until they settle. An insurer will offer to close the claim long before then. We wait for the medical picture to be complete, get the treating doctors’ opinions on future procedures in writing and value the claim on what the injury will cost over a lifetime, not what it has cost so far.
Beyond the emergency visit and wound care, a dog bite claim can include antibiotics and rabies treatment, scar revision now and years from now, counseling for a child who is afraid to go outside, the income a parent lost staying home, and the pain and disfigurement themselves. If a dog killed a family member, the claim is brought under Oregon’s wrongful death statute (ORS 30.020) by a personal representative for the family.
What the first meeting covers and what goes into the demand
The first meeting is free and usually takes an hour. Bring the animal control report number, the photographs, the owner’s name and any insurance information you have, and your own medical and insurance cards. We explain the contingency fee, which means no fee unless the claim recovers money, and walk through what the next months look like. Most of what we need after that we gather ourselves, with your signed releases.
The demand goes to the owner’s insurer once the scars have settled and the doctors have given written opinions. It contains the report, the dated photographs, the medical records and bills, the plastic surgeon’s opinion on future revision, the counseling records, the wage loss documentation, the witness statements and anything on the dog’s history. An early offer from a homeowner’s insurer is built on the emergency room bill alone, which is why we wait. Your health insurer may claim repayment from the recovery, and we negotiate that lien before the money is paid out.
Frequently asked questions
What Do You Need to Know About Dog Bite Laws in Deschutes County, Oregon?
How much a dog owner is responsible for depends on the kind of loss. For medical bills and lost income, Oregon law does not require proof that the owner knew the dog might bite (ORS 31.360). For pain and suffering, the question is usually how much notice the owner had that the dog might hurt someone, such as an earlier bite or attack. That is sometimes called the ‘one bite rule.’