As a Missouri dog bite lawyer based in St. Louis, I've seen many serious injuries which occurred from a dog attack.  The majority of the times, people call me expecting we'd have no problem obtaining payment to cover their medical bills and injuries as a result of being attacked by someone else's dog.  Over the year, I have seen many brutal attacks.  These have often resulted in surgery to repair the wounds.  These surgeries often cost in the tens of thousands of dollars.

                However, what many people were surprised to find out was that under Missouri law, dog bite owners traditionally were not automatically responsible.  Additionally, Missouri does not employ a "one bite rule" as many others mistakenly believe.  The so-called "one bite rule", is commonly understood to mean that the dog's owner is automatically responsible if their dog has previously bitten someone.  Rather, the traditional rule in Missouri has been that the dog owner was responsible if they have prior knowledge of their dog's dangerous propensities.  Now, often this was satisfied if we could show that there was a prior bite.  However, this was not a requirement.  Additionally, there were other ways to prove liability in dog attack injury cases.  This included utilizing municipal leash laws when the dog bite occurred off of the owner's property and the dog was not restrained on a leash.  However, under these laws, I had to pass on representing many victims of severe dog bite injuries because we could not find any evidence of a prior attack or anything that would prove prior knowledge of dangerous propensities.  Of course, in dog bite cases, the owner hardly ever admits to knowing about a prior bite.  In fact, I remember one dog bite case where we found out from a neighbor that the dog had previously jumped the fence and bit her in the throat.  She even had pictures of the dog's bite marks on her throat.  Yet when I deposed the dog's owners, they continued to deny the prior bite.  When I confronted them with the pictures that the neighbor had taken of her throat, which occurred before the dog attacked my client, they simply waved it off and said it looked more like a scratch from the dog's nails.  (Regardless, we ultimately settled the case for $75,000.00). 

                However, what few people are now aware of is that the Missouri Legislature quietly passed a law in 2009 which now holds dog owners automatically responsible for the dog bites.  Essentially, the law eliminates the old "dangerous propensities" standard.  In today's era of tort reform, it is very seldom that we see a law passed which actually protects injury victims.  In fact, I've been shocked at how little publicity there has been surrounding this law.  Even yesterday, I was speaking with a very experienced Missouri injury lawyer who was unaware of this new development.

                Simply put, Missouri's dog bite laws have now changed to hold the dog bite owner automatically responsible, however, regardless of any prior attacks.  If you have been attacked or bitten by a dog, make sure your St. Louis dog bite lawyer is familiar with these new laws.  They should often be familiar with the aggressive tendencies of breeds such as Pit Bulls, Rottweilers and German Shepherds.  While certainly these breeds are not always dangerous, they are the breeds that we see most often in dog bite injury cases. 

                If you've been attacked and injured by a dog and wish to speak to a top Missouri dog bite attorney, feel free to contact Josh Myers at 888.956.2487 or 314.720.2706.  Based in St. Louis, Missouri, he handles dog bite cases in all of Missouri and Illinois.  It's always free to discuss your case and there are never any retainer hourly fees.  Rather, his fee is a percentage of the amount he recovers on your behalf.  If there is no recovery, there is no attorney fee.

In a very tragic story, 14-year-old Zhamar Malik Young was hit and killed on December 29 while riding his bicycle.  The above video features his mother, Juanita.  I think she is incredibly brave to speak out like this during this tragedy so others would no how wonderful Zhamar is. 

In the video, Juanita discusses how Zhamar helped her, a single mother, watch the other children when she needed help.  To add to the tragedy, Zhamar's father was killed in 2008. 

As a Missouri Personal Injury Lawyer, I unfortunately am exposed to many sad accidents like this.  However, I have never seen so many people come forward on the internet to express how great an individual was like I have seen in this case. 

In fact, Zhamar was a local hero in Springfield.  He was actually on the news two years earlier for helping save the life of a toddler.  He had caught the youngster who fell from a second story window.  In addition to that, he was known for his music and had a wonderful gift in his voice as evidenced on the above video.

At this time, a trust fund has been set up to help cover funeral expenses.  You can contribute by sending donations to Liberty Bank in Springfield, MO.  I please urge everyone who comes across this to at least send a little something.  As a single mother raising three children, obviously Juanita was already scraping together everything she could for her family.

My hearts and prayers go out to Juanita and Zhamar's siblings.  And also to the rest of the community that was deeply affected by Zhamar's passing.  Our world is short on special people and it certainly seems we lost another with the passing of this young hero.