Vineland Dog Bite Lawyer
Call or text me at 609-277-3166
Being bitten by a dog in Vineland, New Jersey can be quite frightening. I, Joseph Monaco, have over 25 years of experience as a Vineland Dog Bite lawyer, which has provided me with the foundation to fully understand my clients’ hardships following a dog bite attack. A vicious Vineland dog can inflict serious bodily and psychiatric injuries. Emotional harm often lingers long after the physical effects of the attack have been overcome. If you or your child have been bitten by a dog in Vineland, New Jersey, call or text me at 609-277-3166 to learn your rights.
Small children are the most at risk for suffering a serious dog bite. Not only are kids more vulnerable to serious injury because their faces are closer to the height of the dog, but their youth and inexperience makes them less able to appreciate the dangers a dog may pose. Nonetheless, vicious Vineland dog attack are not limited to our children. Adults can suffer serious injuries from a dog’s powerful jaws, which can crush bone and tear skin and other soft tissues. Facial lacerations can be extremely horrific and permanently disfiguring. It is also not uncommon for a Vineland dog bite victim to experience post traumatic stress disorder. Fortunately, though, when a Vineland dog attacks occur, New Jersey law holds the dog’s owner or keeper strictly liable for the resulting harm.
What laws apply to Vineland New Jersey dog bite lawsuits?
In some states, dog’s owner gets “one free bite,” meaning that the owner is not liable if he or she did not know of the animal’s vicious propensities beforehand. However, New Jersey does not take this approach. A dog’s owner or keeper is always liable under New Jersey . N.J.S.A. 4:19-16 states:
The owner of any dog which shall bite a person while such person is on or in a public place, or lawfully on or in a private place, including the property of the owner of the dog, shall be liable for such damages as may be suffered by the person bitten, regardless of the former viciousness of such dog or the owner’s knowledge of such viciousness. For the purpose of this section, a person is lawfully upon the private property of such owner when he is on the property in the performance of any duty imposed upon him by the laws of this state or the laws or postal regulations of the United States, or when he is on such property upon the invitation, express or implied, of the owner thereof.
Vineland New Jersey Dog Ordinance
Chapter 224, Section 14 – Control of dogs by establishments
No dog kept in a kennel, pet shop, shelter or pound shall be permitted off such premises except on a leash or in a crate or other safe control.
Section 16 – Canvass by Chief of Police
The Chief of Police shall cause a canvass to be made of all dogs and cats owned, kept or harbored within the City limits either annually or biennially, at the direction of the governing body. The canvass shall end prior to September in the year of the canvass. Upon completion of the canvass, the Chief of Police shall immediately cause a report to be filed, on or before September 1 in the year of the canvass, with the Director of the Department of Licenses and Inspections and the Director of the Department of Health containing the results thereof. The report shall set forth in separate columns the names and addresses of persons owning, keeping or harboring unlicensed dogs or cats owned, kept or harbored by each person, together with a complete description of each such unlicensed dog or cat. The same information, for dogs only, must be reported to the State Department of Health and Senior Services.
Section 17 – Poundkeeper; seizure of animals
The City Council may, from time to time, by resolution, establish a pound, and the Mayor may, from time to time, as the occasion may require, nominate and, by and with the consent of the City Council, appoint a poundkeeper or dog warden who shall hold office at the pleasure of the City Council, or the City Council may, by resolution, enter into a contract with any Humane Society in the City or county or other similar association not organized for pecuniary profit, as poundkeeper, for the collection, keeping and retention and destruction of all strays found within the City limits, in accordance with the provisions of this article. Such poundkeeper, dog warden or duly authorized agent of such Humane Society so contracted with or any police officer may seize and take into custody and impound or cause to be taken into custody and impounded and thereafter destroyed or disposed of, as provided in this section:
A. Any animal off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring such animal, which said official or his agent or agents have reason to believe is a stray animal.
B. Any animal off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring said animal without a current registration tag on his collar, if registration is required by ordinance.
C. Any female dog in season off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring such dog.
D. Any dog or other animal suspected to be rabid.
E. Any dog or other animal off the premises of the owner reported to or observed by a certified animal control officer to be ill, injured or creating a threat to public health, safety or welfare or otherwise interfering with the enjoyment of property.
Section 19 – Running at large
No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog or other domestic animal shall suffer or permit it to run at large upon the public streets or in any public park or in any public building or any other public place or upon any other private premises outside the premises occupied by the owner or keeper of said dog or other domestic animal.
Section 24 – Control of dogs in public places; exception
A. No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog shall suffer or permit it to be upon the public streets or in any of the public places of the City unless such dog is accompanied by a responsible person and is securely confined and controlled by an adequate leash not more than six feet long.
B. Nothing in this section or in this article shall be construed to prohibit or prevent the running of any dog while used in hunting or in training, trial or practice runs, provided that such dog is accompanied by or under the control of the owner or other responsible person, and provided further that such hunting, training, trial or practice runs are conducted in such a manner as not to abridge the rights of owners of private property nor to conflict with the fish and game laws of the State of New Jersey or any other law, rule or regulation promulgated by the State of New Jersey or its duly authorized agents which has as its purpose the protection, preservation or control of game or wildlife within the State of New Jersey.
Section 30 – Confining animal which has bitten or scratched person
The Health Department and/or Police Department may serve notice upon the owner or person in charge of a dog, cat or other animal which has attacked, bitten or scratched a person to confine the animal, at the expense of the owner or person in charge of it, upon the premises of the owner or person in charge or at some other place designated in the notice for at least 10 days after the animal has attacked, bitten or scratched a person.
Call our Vineland Dog Bite Lawyers Today
Navigating the emotional and financial hardships following a Vineland dog bite requires representation by a skilled and experienced New Jersey Trial Lawyer. One who knows the law and treatment options in order for the proper steps to be taken legally and medically. If you need a Vineland Dog Bite Lawyer, let me, Joseph Monaco, put my knowledge, skills and experience to work for you. Call or text me at 609-277-3166 for a Free Consultation offering my over 25 years of experience. I will make sure you or your child recover monetary compensation to help put your lives back in order.
