What Types of Interrogatories Get Presented In A Dog Bite Case?

Interrogatories are questions that the lawyers for both parties send to those offering testimony in a personal injury case. In a dog bite case, the interrogatories that are sent to the dog owner differ from the ones that are sent to the dog’s victim.

Information sought from both the dog owner and the victim

What is your name?
Where do you live? Is that also your mailing address?
Are you working? Have you held a job in the past? What was your job?
Were there any witnesses at the place where this incident took place? Do you have the contact information for any witnesses?

Information sought from the dog’s owner

Share details on your insurance policy. Does it cover injuries caused by a dog bite?
Have you ever made a claim on your policy before?
Please give the name, age, weight, breed and color of your pet canine.
In the past, how has your dog behaved, when it was around people?
What is the name of the veterinarian that you have chosen for your pet?

Information sought from the victim

Describe the nature and extent of your injuries.
Describe the nature and extent of your treatment. Have you finished your treatment?
What is the name of your treating physician?
Why were you at the spot where you could be attacked by the pet owner’s canine?
Have you been injured by a dog in the past?

What do the lawyers for both parties do with the facts they obtain by sending out the interrogatories?

Both injury lawyers in Hamilton look for facts that could hint at a weakness in the other side’s case.  For instance, if the victim of the dog bite were to say that he or she was self-employed, the attorney for the dog’s owner would seek to learn more about the amount of money taken in by that entrepreneur’s business.

If that business was not very profitable, then the victim would not have grounds for claiming the loss of a great deal of money, money that he or she might have earned, if healthy and uninjured. Hence, the dog owner’s attorney would want to be given proof of the amount of money earned previously by the self-employed man or woman.

Note that the owner of the pet canine could be asked about the dog’s weight. Why would the lawyer for the victim want to know about the dog’s weight? If a pet were underweight that could suggest a failure to provide it with the proper level of nutrition.

How would that fact relate to the dog-bite incident? Someone that does not put effort into feeding a pet would probably not do a good job of controlling the same animal.