Dog Attack on Torrance Mailman
Earlier this month, we talked about a postal worker in Northern California, who was mauled by a dog as she was doing her route. This week, in Torrance, there was a similar incident -- only much, much worse. In this case, a 100-pound pit-bull mauled a 60-year-old mailman sending him to the intensive care unit with horrendous facial wounds.
According to a news article in the Daily Breeze, the beloved mailman, Moon Choi, who had served the neighborhood for 25 years, simply walked past the house where the pit-bull was lounging in the front yard. Choi told the dog owner he had no mail for him that day when the pit-bull came completely unglued, jumped over a 4-foot-high fence and took a bite out of Choi’s head and face.
Appalled residents who watched this incident helplessly told the Breeze that the vicious dog attack looked like a scene from a horror movie. Postal officials told the newspaper that Choi was mauled very badly on the right side of his face, had already gone through reconstructive surgery and required a tube in his throat to breathe. If this is what the pit-bull did to a grown adult, I shudder to think what the dog may have done to a young child walking by.
Last year, 3,184 letter carriers were bitten by dogs across the United States, according to a USPS news release. And here’s some more worrisome news. The same release also states that in the Orange County-Long Beach, Calif. area, postal employees suffered the most dog bites last year with 96, followed by Houston with 94, Sacramento with 82 and Los Angeles with 77. It also costs the postal service hundreds of thousands in terms of insurance costs.
Also disturbing is the fact that the owners of this vicious pit-bull involved in Monday’s attack, own yet another pit-bull and another dog. The postal service has temporarily stopped delivering mail to their house. Can you blame them? What postal worker would be comfortable going to that street again knowing there’s another 100-pound pit-bull lounging on the grass with a history of a horrendous attack?
All the owners had to say is their dog was “in the wrong place at the wrong time” and that it was an unfortunate “freak” incident! The owners even call this pit-bull a “loving family dog.”
Here is the really scary part - let’s assume that the dog’s owner is right, that it was a “freak” incident and that the dog has always been a “loving family dog”. That makes this situation even worse. Does that mean that anyone who owns a “loving family pit-bull” may be facing a “freak” incident without any warning? Does that mean that a pit-bull owner at any time could have a family member, a neighbor or a postman seriously injured by their “loving family pit-bull” without any warning?
What are Mr. Choi’s rights? Moon Choi, the mailman, has his workers’ compensation benefits which will pay for his medical expenses (subject to the oversight of the insurance company as to treatment appropriateness) and he will receive a small portion of his weekly earnings while off work. There is no compensation for “pain & suffering” or disfigurement in the workers’ compensation system and a couple years ago Gov. Schwarzenegger signed legislation that greatly reduced the amount of compensation that workers receive that are severely injured on the job. If Choi is unable to return to work, he will be entitled to a very small percentage of the pay he would have otherwise received thanks to our governor’s legislation.
Choi also has his rights against the dog’s owners for compensation. He can sue them for all his medical expenses, all his past and future lost income, “pain & suffering” and any disfigurement or disabilities he may have suffer. Choi’s workers compensation benefits provider has a right to be reimbursed all expenses they have paid on behalf of Choi before Choi receives a cent, however.
If the dog’s owner is also the owner of the residence where this attack took place, the owner’s homeowners’ insurance may cover Choi’s claims, up to the general liability limit of the homeowners’ policy. It his highly possible that the homeowners’ insurance policy will not cover this attack. Many homeowners’ policies now exclude coverage for damages caused by many types and/or breeds of dogs, pit-bulls being one of those breeds. Excluding certain breeds from policies is something that we have only seen in the last few years. Ten years ago, it was completely unheard of.
If you are a dog owner and have some concern about losing your home in a lawsuit over an attack by your dog, get out your homeowners’ insurance policy and check out the provisions under general liability coverage. Call your broker and have them go over the policy with you so that you understand what is covered and what is not covered. Discuss with your broker if the general liability converges are adequate to protect you. Mr. Choi’s claim is going to exceed the policy limits of most homeowners’ general liability policies.
If you have large dogs in your home, keep them restrained or inside your home. Here are some tips for dog owners from the postal service’s Web site:
How to Be a Responsible Dog Owner
• Obedience training can teach dogs proper behavior and help owners control their dog in any situation.
• When a letter carrier comes to your home, keep your dog inside, away from the door, in another room.
• Don’t let your child take mail from the letter carrier in the presence of your dog. Your dog’s instinct is to protect the family.
• Spay or neuter your dog. Neutered dogs are less likely to bite. Humane Society of the United States statistics reflect that dogs that have not been spayed or neutered are up to three times more likely to be involved in a biting incident than neutered or spayed dogs.
• Dogs that haven’t been properly socialized, receive little attention or handling, or are left tied up for long periods of time frequently turn into biters.
If you have questions about a dog attack, call me for a discussion. I’ll get you pointed in the right direction.
