On March 8, 2019, the honorable Mary Elizabeth Ott entered judgment in accordance with an astounding $250,000 verdict reached by the jury in favor of the plaintiff – a client represented by Attorney Geoff Meyerkord and our legal team at Meyerkord & Kurth. The jury found that our client’s three-year old son suffered $250,000 in compensatory damages as a result of a severe dog bite.
The defendant decided to bring her dog out during Halloween despite the fact that the dog had been stressed by trick or treaters coming to its door on Halloween night. Subsequently, the defendant’s dog bit the plaintiff’s son in the face, causing permanent scarring and disfigurement known as “animation deformity.”
Under Missouri’s dog bite statute, dog owners are strictly liable for injuries caused by dog bites that were not provoked by the plaintiff. Strict liability means that the dog owner is liable for damages that arise from a dog bite regardless of whether they exercised reasonable care to prevent a dog bite.
Here, the defendant alleged that the plaintiff’s son provoked her dog to attack. However, after considering all the relevant circumstances, the jury ultimately determined that the defendant was 75% liable for the plaintiff’s $250,000 damages.
In a personal injury case, compensatory damages are awarded to injured plaintiffs to make up for certain losses they incur such as medical expenses, diminished earning capacity, pain and suffering, and mental anguish. Throughout the country, dog bite verdicts have been reported to reach several millions of dollars.
Dog bite injuries can be very severe depending on the circumstances involved. According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there were 365,000 emergency room visits for dog bites in 2007. In extreme cases, a dog bite can lead to permanent disabilities and possibly life-threatening injuries. Particularly vicious dogs can maul their victims to the point where they require extensive medical and surgical treatment, sometimes involving years of subsequent physical or occupational therapy. Furthermore, dogs can carry rabies – a disease that has no known cure and can cause an excruciating death in infected persons if not treated early.
Hire an Effective St. Louis Dog Bite Attorney for Representation
If another person’s dog has injured you, you might be entitled to a legal remedy. Therefore, you should consult an experienced St. Louis dog bite attorney to help explore the merits of your case. At Meyerkord & Kurth we have years of valuable experience litigating personal injury matters, including dog bite cases. We are dedicated to helping you recover an amount that will justly and adequately compensate you for the injuries you sustained as a result of a severe dog bite injury.
Read more on our Press Release.
Contact Meyerkord & Kurth online or call us at (800) 391-4318 to schedule a free initial consultation today.