Seemingly every week we read about another pit bull attack in Pennsylvania that leaves the victim with serious injuries, including permanent facial scarring.  Unfortunately, Pennsylvania does not have any law that requires pit bull owners to carry insurance.  As a Pennsylvania dog bite attorney, I often find that pit bull owners who rent rarely pay for renters insurance.

Without renters insurance coverage there is no source of funds to pay for past, present and future medical bills.  Nor is there any compensation available for all of the pain and suffering endured by the pit bull attack victim.  In January of 2010, a 22 year-old woman was attacked by a pit bull that charged through the front door of an apartment on 6th Street in Lansdale, Pennsylvania.

The Bucks County PA dog bite victim was bitten on the face, lip and nose.  Plastic surgery was performed at Abington Hospital.  70 stitches were needed to close all the wounds.  As a PA dog bite lawyer, I was hired to represent the victim.  The pit bull owner was a young woman who did not have renters insurance.

The landlords did not live at the property and had no knowledge of any prior vicious propensities of the pit bull.  They correctly took the position that they were not responsible for the actions of their tenant’s dog.  Without insurance coverage there was no money available to pay for the personal injury claim.

Why not sue the renter individually?  In 2008, your PA dog bite attorney filed a lawsuit in Monroe County, Pennsylvania against a pit bull owner whose dog attacked a young boy.  While trying to escape, the boy fell and broke his hand.  The pit bull owner’s homeowners insurance policy lapsed before the attack.  Within days of the filing of the lawsuit, the dog owner filed for bankruptcy and the personal injury claim was eliminated through the bankruptcy court.  Without a change to the Pennsylvania Dog Law, PA dog bite victims will frequently be victimized twice.

If you have been injured in a PA dog bite attack, please contact Attorney Thomas Newell for a free home consultation at 800-980-4842 or online at www.PADogAttackLawyer.com Attorney Newell has been representing Pennsylvania personal injury victims since 1981.

Legislative bills are pending in Harrisburg that would limit the time and conditions in which dogs can be chained or tethered in Pennsylvania.  Advocates of House Bill 1254 and Senate Bill 1435 are stressing the need to diminish the cruel and inhumane treatment of dogs subjected to constant tethering.

While your Pennsylvania dog bite lawyer fully supports this admirable goal, he also firmly believes that a reduction in the tethering of dogs will prevent needless dog bite attacks here in PA.  The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) authored a study that concluded that chained dogs are 2.8 times more likely to attack humans than dogs that have not been chained.  That percentage increases even more when discussing un-neutered males.

“Chaining” or “tethering” a dog refers to the concept of attaching a dog to a stationary object, such as a stake on the owner’s property in order to keep the dog under control.  Dogs are instinctively social animals who love interaction with humans and other dogs.  A chained dog is deprived of that interaction and frequently becomes aggressive and unable to distinguish between a threat and a routine social encounter.

Your PA dog bite attorney is well aware of the tragedies caused by tethering.  In January of 2009, eight year-old Brianna Shanor began living with temporary guardians in Beaver County.  The homeowners owned a rottweiler mix dog that was chained to/in a camper.  On Jan. 19, 2009 the 8 year-old  wandered near the chained dog.  The dog owner later found the girl mauled to death inside the camper.  She died a horrific death – blood loss due to multiple dog bites to the neck.

Attorney Thomas Newell believes that dogs’ rights advocates and victims’ rights proponents should be working together to promote public support to pass an effective anti-tethering bill in Pennsylvania.  Improving the lives of dogs here in PA will reduce the number of senseless dog bite attacks.  By limiting tethering, as the States of Connecticut, California and Texas have done, we can help prevent the tragedies that have taken lives such as Brianna Shanor.

For more anti-tethering information I refer you to www.UnchainYourDog.org and www.humanesociety.org.  If you or a family member has been injured due to an unprovoked dog bite attack, I suggest you contact me, Attorney Thomas Newell for a free home consultation at 800-980-4842 or online at www.PADogAttackLawyer.com.  I represent dog bite attack victims throughout Pennsylvania.