New Jersey Dog Bite Attorneys Advise Against Buying from Online Pet Stores
As a dog bite attorney primarily taking on cases in New Jersey, I also keep abreast of what’s happening on the dog safety front in the rest of the country. I came across this report from Massachusetts, where there apparently has been an increase in the number of dog bite attacks in 2009. In fact this year, the number of victims who had to be rushed to emergency rooms because of dog bites was the highest in years.
Across the state, there was a 19.7 percent increase in the number of dog bites that ended with victims having to be hospitalized. As recently as the 8th of November, a 77-year-old woman had to be rushed to the hospital after she was severely attacked by a bulldog. The dog had bitten another woman just two weeks before it attacked the elderly woman, and has since been euthanized. The woman had to be hospitalized for 8 days.
According to animal experts, it’s hard to understand why dog bite attacks have increased this year. Some experts speculate that the trend of buying dogs at online pet stores has contributed to this spike in attacks. While an offline pet store will try to match the breed of dog to your requirements, there is none of this filtering when you go online to pick up a pet dog. Very often, dogs that end up in online pet stores have behavioral problems. These issues could cause a drop in their price, and so, owners bundle them off online, where a potential buyer has no way of confirming the history of the dog. He might expect a loving family pet, but may end up with an animal with aggressive tendencies.
As a New Jersey dog bite lawyer, I would encourage people to avoid buying pets from online stores, where you have little way of confirming the dog’s behavioral history before it ends up in your home.
