Now that the bruising and swelling (of which there was quite a bit) has gone down, the bites themselves don't look all that bad - they're fairly superficial and should heal up within a week or so. Also, there's no tendon damage (that would have put me into another line of work - permanently).
Except that one of the teeth marks (the one that did go super-deep) is still bleeding. It's just one, and it's not bleeding much, but there's still blood when I have to change the dressing (twice a day) and my doc's refusing to sew it up. I don't feel like I should argue with him about it, as he went to med school and I didn't, but it's a damned nuisance. Hopefully it'll close up in the next day or so.
According to the Ambulance Chasing Lawyer, if doggie's owners rent their house, I'm shit out of luck as it would be impossible to collect a judgment, and quite frankly I'm not all that injured - the chance of my getting a settlement worth more than a few hundred dollars is slim, and ACL might not want to bother if there's not going to be a decent payout for him.
We'll see.
Honestly, I'm less interested in financial gain and more interested in pounding doggie's owners into a bloody pulp with the golf club I was saving for the tomato plant thief.
Something I've learned while laying on the couch with my leg elevated while wondering if it's ever going to stop fucking bleeding:
The remake of The Producers isn't nearly as funny as the original.
Maybe it's just me.
Couch of the day:
18 comments:
Hope you keep getting better. What project(s) are you working on these days?
Sorry to hear about your troubles. Hope your leg is healing up and you'll soon be fully fit. People who have pets and can't control them shouldn't be allowed to keep animals.
and in a total change of subject, today's couch looks pretty neat, I wouldn't mind having that myself!
Peggy, post some pictures of your leg.
The remake had entirely too much singing.
That's one of the best couches! The color takes the cake!
The remake didn't have nearly enough Gene Wilder...
Yeah, forget the lawsuit. Just go all "Jack Nicholson" on their asses.
Hi Peggy,
from what I know animal bites, except in live threatning situations, are not sewed for two reasons.
One is that an aninal mouth is not the most sterile environemnt and the probability of infection is very high if the wound was closed. Having it opened the draining from the wound and the regular cleaning and desinfection reduce dramatically the probabilities of infection.
Second a bite wound is a very irregular and mashed wound and even sewing it takes a long time to heal and can leave a nasty scar because the flesh may grow on the wrong way because of the sewing. Usally if it is not sewed the wound heals without or with light scars because the flesh can grow freely.
Hope it heals faster and get well soon
Regards
Jose
What Christopher Boffoli said.
I'm sorry to hear what happened to you. This could have been much more serious. I'm especially outraged to hear how shitty animal control was during this whole situation. You definitely should link to them so we can write them some nasty notes.
What hospital did you go to?
OMG, girl!
Glad you're OK - that must have been scary. :(
You could get one of these...
http://www.fordogtrainer.com/dog-training-equipment-dog-bite-suit.html
The good news is that you're not currently working-things haven't quite yet picked up, though probably soon. My grip husband started making calls, and (too much) work will start rolling in. Feast or famine, baby! BTW-did an LAPD or WHSD bother to show up to take a dog bite report? (Don't know if you're in LA City or WH) I used to live on the corner of Willoughby and Genessee, the dividing line for LAPD and Sheriff, and they'd fight over who DIDN'T have to take the report. They would measure from the sidewalk to the middle of the street to see which jurisdiction the wreckage of car accidents fell into. Really.
Forgot to mention-some new DVD releases to watch, if you can get out. "The Matador" w/Pierce Brosnan, and "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" w/Robert Downey Jr. Very entertaining "summer" movies. Not much thinking involved (grin) and fun.
To me, letting your dog run loose whereby it attacks or terrorizes anyone should be treated as a criminal act (unless you can prove that the dog getting loose was someone else's fault). The dog owner/handler caused your injuries and should be held liable as if he had bitten you him/herself. The dog was acting on instict, the owner is a negligent @#$% who could have gotten you, his dog or any number of people and pets killed by failing to restrain the dog. You suffered battery with a deadly weapon--why isn't the dog owner (or whomever was responsible for the dog at the time of the attack) in jail?
It's frustrating because I can't find some letter of the law that asserts criminal punishment for this attack.
I don't know if any of this will help in your pursuit of justice (I suppose your attorney knew of/advised you of this already) but here are some links anyway:
http://www.dogbitelaw.com/PAGES/danger.htm
"Civil Code section 3342 represents a fundamental determination of legal policy by the California Legislature that the risk of a dog unexpectedly biting a person is to be borne by the person who has chosen to own that dog and thus create that risk for society, even when the owner is not at fault in any way and has no reason to know that the dog is vicious. The statute is "designed...to prevent dogs from being a hazard to the community." Davis v. Glaschler (1992) 11 Cal.App.4th 1392, 1399. The dog owner has created an unavoidable risk for society and therefore should be held responsible for the consequences of that risk..."
http://www.aboutdogbites.com/victims_rights.html
"Special Rules Regarding the Liability of Dog Owners: Strict Liability for Any Bite
Many states, including California, have adopted special laws which have modified "common law" liability rules relating to dog attacks. The California Legislature has enacted a law, codified as Civil Code Section 3342, which makes a dog owner subject to strict liability for any dog bite attack. The elements of this action are set out in the jury instruction which is read to juries who decide dog attack lawsuits in California:
"... The essential elements of such a claim are:
* Defendant owned a dog;
* The dog bit the plaintiff;
* The plaintiff, at the time of the bite, was in a public place or lawfully in or on a private place; and
* The dog bite caused plaintiff to suffer injury, damage, loss or harm.
The owner's liability for such a dog bite exists regardless of whether the dog previously had been vicious, whether the owner knew of such viciousness, or whether the owner was negligent in respect to the custody or care of such dog."
A California appellate court opinion has held that the word "bite" does not require a puncture or tearing away of the skin to cause a wound. The Court held that a dog must have the plaintiff or plaintiff's clothing in the grip of his closed jaws, and that this "bite" must cause plaintiff injury... "
http://www.aboutdogbites.com/contact.php4
http://www.animallaw.info/articles/ovusdogleashlaws.htm
Holy Moly! Damn dog! Man can I sympathize with you. I delivered papers when I was a kid and got 5 times! Only one actually drew blood - though I did have a German shepard tear the arm off a ski jacket I was wearing.
I'm glad you're feeling better and I hope that dog was removed from the world. I know that might piss off a few animal lovers but just imagine what would have happened had some little kid - maybe say, as high as your knee - been walking around.
RJ
Hope you're better. That's one amazing story!
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