The professional association of plastic surgeons NVPC is sounding the alarm about the number of serious biting incidents involving high-risk dogs in our country. In the past year and a half, they registered more than 100 serious biting incidents with personal injury. The victims are often young children. It is important that the personal injury damage is fully recovered from the dog’s owner. MCJ Advocatuur can help you with this.
Plastic surgeons accurately record the number of biting incidents involving dogs. They record who the victims are, where the incident happened, what the injury was and which type of dog was the instigator. They counted 100 serious incidents requiring recovery surgery since the beginning of 2022. They talk about worrying figures.
Damage
In most cases there was injury in the head/neck area and muscle and tissue injury to the hands, arms, legs and feet. In addition, the victim often suffers scars and there is often significant psychological damage after an attack by a dog.
Young children are often victims
The victims are often very young. Almost half of the victims are younger than eight years old. One in ten victims is a baby.
Liability of the owner
The owner of the dog is liable for personal injury as a result of a dog bite. This is regulated in Article 6:179 of the Dutch Civil Code. It means that the owner of the animal, or his liability insurer, must compensate the victim for the full damage.
But being entitled is different from receiving justice. It can be difficult to reach agreement on the nature and extent of the damage. It is therefore advisable to seek specialized legal assistance.
Contact MCJ Advocatuur
Do you want to know more? Please feel free to contact us.