Accidents Involving Animals
One of the most terrifying types of accidents are those involving animals, particularly dog bites and attacks. Some animals such as dogs or horses can be unpredictable in their behaviour and the law is quite complex. We can offer that specialist advice whether you have been attacked by a dog in a public place or on the owner's premises. It is important that you identify the owner of the dog, report the attack immediately to the police, take photographs of your injury and try and establish whether the dog has attacked anyone else and obtain any witnesses' details.
Accidents involving horses can involve riding accidents but can also involve other types of claims such as road traffic accidents. You may not realise that if you ride or take a horse on a road, you have to comply with the Highway Code and you owe a duty to other road users in the same way that drivers have to take care when passing horses. It may be that you as a rider have been injured whilst out on the road due to the actions of another driver, or you as a driver could have been injured by a bolting or out of control horse who has run onto the road.
You may work with horses for example at riding schools or stables. This is no different to any other workplace and your employer has a duty to make sure that you are safe while working there. You may have attended a competition or show and the organisers of these have duties to not just the competitors but also the spectators and anyone else present.
As with all accidents and those involving animals, it is important that you keep a record of what happened and if there is an accident book on the premises, ensure that is completed. You should obtain names and addresses of any witnesses and details of any vehicles involved if the accident happened on the road. It is always prudent to report the matter to the police.
