The Law Offices of Matthew J. Quinlan represents dog bite victims across the Bay Area. We also compassionately represent families who have lost a loved one in a tragic dog bite incident. Our skilled lawyers go to work immediately to secure compensation for the emotional and financial damages the family members left behind will suffer. Contact us for a free dog bite case consultation to find out how to demand justice and support for your family.

Should My Family Contact a Lawyer After Losing Someone to a Dog Attack?

Yes. In California, dog owners can be held accountable for dog bite injuries and even the loss of life. Families would often be able to seek help from the dog owner’s homeowners insurance policy. However, giant insurance companies will do their best to avoid having to accept responsibility.

A San Francisco dog bite lawyer fights back when insurance adjusters try to blame a dog attack on an innocent victim. An attorney will also demand the maximum in support for families while an insurance company attempts to limit the financial assistance they must provide to grieving families. MJQ Law helps close relatives seek justice on behalf of a lost loved one and secure the support they’ll need to protect their futures.

Fatal Dog Bite Dangers in San Francisco

The Bay Area is known as a dog-friendly region and plenty of residents share their lives with their pets. But dog owners have to accept more responsibility for their pets because frightening attacks and even tragic deaths continue to occur across California.

California officials have seen a recent uptick in serious dog bite cases. In a 2024 article, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that our state saw 48,600 dog bites requiring an emergency room visit in 2022. That was up around 32% from 2020 incidents.

Broken bones, infection, viruses like rabies, and internal organ damage can lead to life-threatening situations for victims

Families can lose loved ones and parents can lose children very easily when dogs become confused or feel threatened and go on the attack. The close relatives of a deceased victim can suffer a loss of companionship and an extreme blow to their finances after a deadly bite incident.

Who Is Responsible After a Deadly Dog Bite?

California makes it easier for families to hold dog owners liable for a deadly dog bite under the legal concept of “strict liability.”  It means that a dog owner is usually fully liable for bite wounds, even if the dog has no history of aggressive behavior.

Strict liability simplifies the legal standard to prove someone is legally responsible. The dog owner is held accountable in most situations. If someone dies as a result of a dog bite, the victim’s close relatives are empowered to file a wrongful death claim and seek financial help for the years ahead.

There are only a few situations that might leave the victim to blame for what happened:

• The victim was trespassing.
• The victims provoked the dog.

Sometimes insurance companies bend the truth and attempt to blame victims for the deadly accident. But The Law Offices of Matthew J. Quinlan would fully investigate your case and present the evidence that proves your loved one was not responsible.

What Kind of Benefits Can My Family Receive After Losing a Loved One to a San Francisco Dog Bite?

The families of victims will require many different forms of support to be able to move forward and avoid financial problems in the future.

These are just a few of the things that an insurance company should be providing for victimized families:

• Money to pay for leftover ambulance fees and hospital bills from before the deceased passed on.
• Money to pay for a proper funeral and burial.
• Support to replace the financial contributions the victim can no longer support the family with in the years ahead.
• Support for the mental anguish family members are put through.
• Support for the loss of the love and guidance a dog bite victim would have contributed to loved ones in the future.

Can I Seek Justice and Support If My Child Is Killed After a Dog Bite Attack?

Far too often, the victims with the most life-threatening injuries are children. Children are naturally smaller and have less body fat to defend against a bite. Teeth go deeper and do more damage. Their necks and vital organs are much closer to a dog’s mouth if an attack occurs.

The curiosity and unpredictability of children can also put them in harm’s way. But the dog owner would still be responsible in most cases.

Just because a child snuck onto private property or approached the dog, these factors wouldn’t reduce the owner’s accountability. In the case of a child’s death, a judge wouldn’t usually hold a young person responsible for trespassing or for waking up to an unknown dog.

Children aren’t considered to have the mental capacity to make good and safe decisions. It would still be up to the dog owner to secure fences and doors to make sure a wandering child couldn’t get access to a dog.

Parents who tragically lose a child to a dog bite could seek support for these and other factors:

• Support for medical bills accumulated before the child passed on.
• Support to pay for funeral expenses.
• Support for the grief parents will have to cope with.
• Support for the loss of companionship and support the child would have provided in the years ahead.

Contact a San Francisco Dog Bite Lawyer

Families going through the tragedy of losing a loved one should be allowed to grieve their loss in peace. Unfortunately, insurance companies can immediately begin using tactics to reduce the support they’ll have to provide on behalf of a guilty dog owner.

At The Law Offices of Matthew J. Quinlan in San Francisco, we want to be a safeguard for families. We’d like to handle the frustrating wrongful death claims process while creating as little disruption for families in mourning as possible. We fight to hold dog owners responsible and to earn the maximum in support from insurance companies for our clients.

We offer a free case consultation for all family members. To schedule a visit, please contact us.

There’s no obligation, but if you feel our San Francisco Wrongful Death Lawyers can help you get more for your injury claim, you don’t need to worry about how you’ll pay us. We actually don’t see a dime unless we win your case for your family. Then our fee comes entirely out of the settlement your family is awarded.