Personal Injury Law

Dog Bite Lawsuit Targets Dr. Phil?s Canine Companion

By guest-writer

A man famous for dispensing personal advice may soon need advice of his own. Legal advice, that is.

Dr. Phil, Oprah’s designated psychologist, recently found himself in legal trouble after his dog Maggie attacked Janet Harris, a former friend of Dr. Phil and his wife, Robin. Harris has filed a personal injury lawsuit against the famous couple.

According to sources, Harris alleges that the dog, a rare Korean Jindo, attacked her without any warning or provoking on her part. The animal attack allegedly left Harris with deep puncture wounds on her extremities that caused profuse bleeding.

In addition, Harris claims that the wounds she suffered during the attack later became infected, which led to an extended period of home nursing care. During this time, Harris had to pay for a week of antibiotics, IV fluids, and steroids.

Dr. Phil, the mustachioed television troubleshooter, had adopted the dog in 2009 from a shelter. Sources say that Korean Jindos are a rare breed of hunting dogs that are known to be very protective of their families. Korean Jindos also have a remarkable sense of smell and are known to have a strong sense of hierarchy with other animals.

According to reports, Maggie was a constant companion of Dr. Phil, and the television personality even had the dog on his show as a guest.

Despite the dog’s relative fame, Harris claims that Maggie was a dangerous animal. In her dog bite lawsuit, she says that Dr. Phil and his wife were negligent in their treatment of the dog because they knew that Maggie had an “unpredictable temperament,” and had previously bitten other people and animals.

The negligence lawsuit also alleges that Dr. Phil and Robin, whose last name is McGraw, refused to help pay for Harris’s medical treatments.

In her lawsuit, Harris is seeking compensation for her medical treatment, loss of earnings, pain and suffering, and other damages.

While this story seems bizarre, personal injuries are caused every day from attacks by animals that are not properly restrained by their owners. Often, these attacks result in extensive medical treatment for injured plaintiffs.

In order to win this type of personal injury case, you’ll need to be able to prove that the animal owner failed to exercise a reasonable duty of care. This may be proven by any evidence showing that an animal was not properly restrained.

In addition, you must be able to prove that the owner’s negligence was a direct cause of the animal’s attack. Finally, you also need to show that your injury was caused by the animal.

Dog bites and other forms of animal injuries are usually governed by tort laws, which vary widely by state. In order to ensure that you don’t miss a key statute of limitation, you may want to contact an injury attorney in your area.

To learn more about your unique personal injury case, call a local injury lawyer today.

Full post as published by The Injury Blog on February 14, 2011 (boomark / email).