No. While our Milwaukee dog bite injury lawyers appreciate your concern for the life of the animal that bit you and caused you to suffer an injury, the decision about whether the dog will be allowed to live is not one that you will make in most cases.
Typically, if the dog survives the situation in which you were bit, any decision about whether the dog should be put to sleep is made in court. Section 174.02 of the Wisconsin Statutes allows the state or a municipality to bring a civil action in court if the state or municipality believes that the dog should be put to sleep after a dog bite injury in Wisconsin. A court may grant an order allowing the dog to be killed only if it finds that: (1) The dog caused serious injury to a person or domestic animal on two separate occasions off the owner’s property, without reasonable cause; and (2) the owner of the dog was notified or knew—prior to the second injury—that the dog caused the first injury.
Thus, the decision is not yours to make. However, you do have other important decisions to make after a Milwaukee dog bite injury. Those decisions include where to get medical care and whether to pursue a civil action for damages. In most cases, damages may be available from your neighbor’s insurance company. For more information, please contact an experienced Milwaukee dog bite attorney today at 1-800-800-5678 or 1-414-223-4800.
