Ronald Coleman, you have our attention.
“I only had surgery when the swelling wouldn’t go down and I couldn’t open doors or tie my shoes,” said Coleman, tracing the arc of scars on his left arm and hand. “I knew it was going to be expensive.”
Ligaments were torn from the bone. Two rods were put into his hand. Having reconstructive surgery isn’t cheap.
Worse than the injury, though, is what he found out afterward. The dog’s owner — or more specifically, his homeowner’s insurance policy — won’t be held legally responsible for helping pay the bills.
Like every other dog that’s not a pit bull or a Rottweiler in this state, the mutt that took a chunk out of Ronald Coleman basically gets one free bite and Coleman’s left with a mountain of debt.
‘Never forget it’
Coleman moved south to Winston-Salem from Maryland late last summer looking for a fresh start.
He’d been a firefighter in Prince Georges County, and figured he could apply for the same job here.
That plan derailed, though, on Sept. 6 on a sidewalk just a few yards from his place near downtown.
“Twelve-eighteen in the afternoon. I’ll never forget it.”
He heard the familiar sound of a dog sniffing around the bushes in front of a house at 655 N. Spring St. but he didn’t think too much of it.
“I’ve been around dogs all my life,” Coleman said. “I’ve been afraid of them. That’s why I didn’t run.”
What happened next is the stuff that causes nightmares. The dog, later identified by Forsyth County Animal Control officers as a 7-year-old brown Labrador Retriever / Mastiff mix named Colt, started barking and came after Coleman.
“Something in my head said turn around – you know those strange feelings you get – and the dog jumped on top of me and knocked me to the ground,” he said.
The dog also had a grip on Coleman’s left hand, shaking it violently back and forth as if it had a hold on a chew toy. Coleman said he struck it two or three times with his right hand before the animal left “as if somebody had called him. He went straight to the back door.”
Dazed and bleeding, Coleman dialed 911. An ambulance and a sheriff’s deputy assigned to Animal Control responded. The officer, Kevin Breen, showed Coleman what amounts to a canine photo lineup book in his computer.
Breen knocked on the door in front of the house where the attack took place and noticed a large chocolate lab. A woman who answered the door, Constance Hill, told the officer that the dog belonged to her son, who was at work.
“I asked (her) if the dog had been (roaming around loose) and she said yes and that she believed the backyard gate may have been left open,” Breen wrote in his report.
Bad options
At that point, Stanford Hill Jr. returned home. He told Breen that Colt indeed belonged to his son, who was away.
Because the dog’s vaccinations were up to date and it had no history of aggression, Breen approved a period of home quarantine as long as the dog remained indoors. The Hills’ house has a Beware of Dog sign displayed on the front door.
None of that helps Coleman, though, as he has now learned a hard lesson in North Carolina law.
After he realized he couldn’t avoid a costly surgery, he hired an attorney, James Roane, to see what his options were.
And what he learned stinks on ice.
Because Colt has no history and isn’t considered a dangerous breed, he gets what amounts to a get-out-of-the-pound free card and his owners likely have no legal responsibility to pay for any of the damage caused by their pet.
“In North Carolina and almost all states, in order to prove negligence you have to show foreseeability,” Roane said. “Was the incident reasonably foreseeable? … If a dog is a non-dangerous breed like a retriever or no history of aggressiveness, there probably won’t be negligence.”
The insurance company – it’s not clear from court papers which one – has offered $10,000, a far cry from the total owed. A letter Roane sent to Coleman last week makes it clear that the offer won’t get any better.
“Unfortunately this means that a portion of your medical bills will remain outstanding,” the letter reads.
Coleman could file suit anyway but he’ll lose. So what does he do? What would you do?
“I’ve exhausted all my savings and I’m behind on my rent now,” he said. “I’m going to have to take it. They have me over a barrel. … The doctor says I should go to therapy but I’m not going to. I can’t afford those bills, too.
“I just don’t understand. If I have a dog and it bites you, how am I not responsible?”
(Winston-Salem Journal - March 29, 2014)
Labrador retriever - mastiff mix my ass. We all know what 'Labrador mix' is code for.
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