Bitten by dog

[Guest]

Without going into too much detail, somebody I know was bitten today by a dog on a public road in a totally unprovoked attack. The person involved went to the Centro do Saude and reported it to the GNR who said that they should get a lawyer if they want to press civil charges. Has anyone had any experience in this sort of thing - i.e. good lawyer, costs involved, chances of success etc?

[Guest]

I have direct (but second hand experience - it wasnt me that was attacked) - never mind lawyers - the first thing you will need is the patience of a saint - it will take years and loads of cash to pursue it seems - sad but apparently true

[blue]

Does your friend know who owns the dog?

[Guest]

Come on ..dont be silly......This is Portugal .( Cowboy land ) .forget it.....go private on the medical side.....On the Law......there ainst none.....I have been there and done that..nobody gives a dam......Cynical...yes very..sorry but I love living here because of all the reasons we discuss..but in this and similar cases.we still live in the bloody middle ages....nothing will happen....an the Portuguese do not give a damm..........

[digger]

I don’t know what the laws are re dogs in Portugal, but after being twice bitten, and shrugs all round, I am under the impression that the hand that feeds the dog (the owner) has zero responsibility! Furthermore, it seems socially acceptable for dogs – with or without an apparent master – to terrorise and bite humans.

[Guest]

Firstly, if the dog had a collar on, then normally we can assume it belongs to somebody.

Secondly, all dog owners are obliged to register their dog at the local Parish office at which time a numbered tag is supplied to be worn on the dog's collar.

Is your friend aware of the whereabouts of the owner...

Is the owner Portuguese...if so does your friend speak Portuguese or knows someone who does.

Take any bills involved, inclusive of proof on any loss of earnings etc and present copies of all to the owner requesting that he or she refunds you or you will instruct a lawyer to sue them. Not nice, but I believe that this is the only way your friend may receive some satisfaction.

A court will only be interested on your friend's actual lost and one can never be certain if costs may or may not be awarded. I.e. It could take a considerable time to get such a case into court and in the meantime your friend could run up healthy legal costs, which may or may be got back. So if your friend wins the case, the court may not award compensation to cover all and your friend could find that he/she is shelling more money out to cover the legal fees.

Of course this is not an acceptable situation, but more or less reality here.
I would suggest confronting the owner as set out above, is possible.

Nightrider..

[Guest]

Firstly, if the dog had a collar on, then normally we can assume it belongs to somebody.

Secondly, all dog owners are obliged to register their dog at the local Parish office at which time a numbered tag is supplied to be worn on the dog's collar.

Is your friend aware of the whereabouts of the owner...

Is the owner Portuguese...if so does your friend speak Portuguese or knows someone who does.

Take any bills involved, inclusive of proof on any loss of earnings etc and present copies of all to the owner requesting that he or she refunds you or you will instruct a lawyer to sue them. Not nice, but I believe that this is the only way your friend may receive some satisfaction.

A court will only be interested on your friend's actual lost and one can never be certain if costs may or may not be awarded. I.e. It could take a considerable time to get such a case into court and in the meantime your friend could run up healthy legal costs, which may or may not be got back. So if your friend wins the case, the court may not award compensation to cover all and your friend could find that he/she is shelling more money out to cover the legal fees.

Of course this is not an acceptable situation, but more or less reality here.
I would suggest confronting the owner as set out above, is possible.

Nightrider..

[Guest]

Firstly, if the dog had a collar on, then normally we can assume it belongs to somebody.

Secondly, all dog owners are obliged to register their dog at the local Parish office at which time a numbered tag is supplied to be worn on the dog's collar.

Is your friend aware of the whereabouts of the owner...

Is the owner Portuguese...if so does your friend speak Portuguese or knows someone who does.

Take any bills involved, inclusive of proof on any loss of earnings etc and present copies of all to the owner requesting that he or she refunds you or you will instruct a lawyer to sue them. Not nice, but I believe that this is the only way your friend may receive some satisfaction.

A court will only be interested on your friend's actual lost and one can never be certain if costs may or may not be awarded. I.e. It could take a considerable time to get such a case into court and in the meantime your friend could run up healthy legal costs, which may or may not be got back. So if your friend wins the case, the court may not award compensation to cover all and your friend could find that he/she is shelling more money out to cover the legal fees.

Of course this is not an acceptable situation, but more or less reality here.
I would suggest confronting the owner as set out above, if possible.

Nightrider..

[nightrider]

Moderators...for some reason...Nightrider is being displayed..when I have not logged in...and when I think I am logged in I am not!!!! Hence the duplication of postings such as above!!! Any ideas why this is happening!

[Audrey]

We have just managed to purchase property in Carvoeiro, after 3 months of one delay after another.
We where looking for help to furnish the apartment, there has been lots of useful information over the last few days.

We hope to gain from all this advice when we visit Jan or Feb of next year.

Have just been on holiday in Thailand to celebrate our silver wedding.
Husband bitten by puppy helping our friend, who, the dog was annoying, my husband has now had 5 injections for rabies. We never thought to find out who owned the pup, only where the nearest hospital was.
We never once thougt who we could sue,only that my husband would be OK.
That is still to be confirmed.
Husband ok, I am still slightly wary.

[Guest]

Thanks for all the advice. My friend has the address of the owner but didnt go to confront them as they were too shaken to do that.The GNR went immediately to the house and spoke to the owner to check their licences and had the dog impounded for 14 days and I think they will receive a 500euro fine.The owner at the time of the attack didnt appear but a witness to the attack spoke to the owner later and said he spoke english.So far medical expenses have been negligible as the wound incurred, although it broke the skin, didnt require stiches or any major treatment. The purpose of pursuing it through a lawyer was not for monetary gain, but to try and make the owner be more responsible as he didnt show any remorse or even apologise - unfortunately it will be the dog that gets put down.Secondly, my friend suspects she may be pregnant and the GNR said if anything happened to the baby from this attack you would need the lawyer involved now. Apparently the GNR drew their guns when they went to visit even though this time it was behind a gate! The worrying thing is if it had been a child it had gotten hold of the damage would be far worse.

[cowboy]

It's intresting that only one poster mentioned rabies....

Husband bitten by puppy helping our friend, who, the dog was annoying, my husband has now had 5 injections for rabies. We never thought to find out who owned the pup, only where the nearest hospital was.

That was the first thing I thought of.

... had the dog impounded for 14 days ...

Sounds like they are impounding the dog to see if it shows signs of rabies.

...although it broke the skin, didnt require stiches or any major treatment.

... my friend suspects she may be pregnant....

Breaking the skin is enough to transfer whatever (if anything) the dog had that could endanger your friend.

If your friend is truly worried about the effect of the dog bite, I would suggest that she hire a vet to draw a blood sample from the dog, and send it to a lab (two independant labs, if she can afford it) for a blood work-up....and do the same for herself.

That should help ease her worries (or, at least she'll know what she's up against).

[nightrider]

Without going into too much detail, somebody I know was bitten today by a dog on a public road in a totally unprovoked attack. The person involved went to the Centro do Saude and reported it to the GNR who said that they should get a lawyer if they want to press civil charges. Has anyone had any experience in this sort of thing - i.e. good lawyer, costs involved, chances of success etc?

Guest did advised from the above original posting that the person bitten went to the local medical centre (Centro do Saude) and therefore, would have been looked out for rabies etc.

As a matter of interest, I shall try and seek information for what purpose the owner was fined 500€...because it sounds to me like the dog was not registered at the local Parish Council. I.e. you cannot register a dog without a valid Rabies Certificate issued by a practising vet in Portugal. When I arrived in Portugal with Yogi Bear about 5yrs ago, even though my Uk rabies certificate was up to date my local parish council would not accept it. Dra Kirsten Peters our vet had to give Yogi another Jab, before I could registered him.

I am not sure on the period of time that Rabies would show itself, would it be 14days!...(Guest says the dog was impounded for this period?)
again this is something out of interest I am going to check.

Any complaint made to the police is recorded and if the Guest's friend has not done so already must ask for a copy of the complaint, which she would have been asked to attend the Police Station and sign.

A one of lawyer's letter to the dog's owners putting them on notice... in the event (hopefully,not) of any later problems, may well prove worth while. As an individual, you can obtain the dog owners name and address from the police and send a registered letter (in Portuguese) to them and therefore,again putting the owner on notice etc.

I will try and look into both the 14days period as mentioned above and what the €500 fine was actually for. In the meantime if anyone is aware of the answers please kindly post.

Hope Guest's friend is feeling ok now.
Regards
Nightrider

[Guest]

As promised:


€500 fine by police..... spoke to AFPOP Tel: 282 458 509
None of us are sure what the above fine was actually for, therefore a spokesperson for AFPOP suggests check with the Police exactly what their fine was for.


Rabies: www.rabavert.com/glossary.html...

Regards
Nightrider

[nightrider]

correction:

www.rabavert.com

Nightrider