What actions should I take regarding this dog bite?

Check with your local city bylaw officer.
Sounds like you have a case for a law suit.

I’m angry at the owner, not the dog. This bite doesn’t just affect me. It now affects my family and my coworkers. There are only two of us in my department and Wednesdays are our busiest days. My boss is working harder because I won’t be available.

Well bylaw could tell you if any laws were broken,are the neighbors approachable you might be able to reason with them,keep the dog under control pay for your lost wages and you wont have to take up a law suit .

Here’s a pic of the bite on my leg.

https://imgur.com/gallery/vYg7F47

Oh my God. That bite is deep. Your neighbor is an irresponsible dog owner. My condolenses. How come you don’t have paid medical offs in the place you work? I mean, isn’t that the standard norm? A day or two of paid medical offs (which get accrued if not used in a month), is what the law grants as employee rights in my place. This is more or less followed even in the unorganized business sector (where employees are paid daily wages, as opposed to monthly salaries in the organized sector). The wage earners also have the right to take medical (or emergency offs, limited to a certain number). What are the employee benefit laws over there? I mean, taking the neighbor to task is important….but what about the employers? Don’t they have any compassion (law enforced compassion, at least)?

Their insurance should cover you. Cover medical expenses and hopefully lost wages and even more.

You can sue, or if you are loathe to sue you can call your insurance and see if you are covered, or their insurance and negotiate a settlement. Careful what you say to their insurance.

You will be awarded more with a law suit, but the lawyer will take 30–40%. In a law suit the award could be triple the cost of the medical expenses, plus missed work, and possible ongoing problems from the injury. If you settle you would be signing away the right to getting more money if you are injured in a way that you need more money for more care.

If you and your neighbors are not insured you can go to small claims court if they won’t pay for your injury out of the goodness of their heart. Have you talked to them about paying your medical bills and missing work?

You really should report it to the police. At least you do have photos and a hospital record.

Edit: if they don’t have insurance, and they rent, the owner might have insurance.

Talk to the landlord about this, if they don’t do anything they could be held liable for not responding to your previous complaint of the dog biting your husband.

Talk to animal control and ask them what steps you should take.

I know you don’t blame the dog, nobody blames the dog, but if the dog then bites and seriously injures a less robust person than you or your husband (for example, an older person or a child who may be approaching the residence for a legitimate reason) then you bear a moral responsibility for not having taken steps when you know that this has happened more than once.

That looks like a serious bite. Look into your state’s dog bite statutes. It looks like homeowners’ insurance (the dog owner) might cover claims. It may be that the landlord’s homeowner’s insurance applies here.

EDIT: @canidmajor is right. Go talk to animal control. Immediately. They should be able to advise you.

@AK – This is in the US, which is a capitalist shithole. You can lose everything if you have an accident or get sick. We don’t have healthcare here and there are no laws guaranteeing workers get anything like paid time off (medical or otherwise). “Employee benefit laws” = you have the right to get used and fired.

I should have started with asking if you have talked to your neighbor to see if they will just pay your expenses. Think of it like a car accident.

@AK Many employers do give paid sick time; just not all. Proposals for a national mandate for paid sick leave come up and are defeated.

I’m also calling my landlord today to let her know what happened.

Do you have renter’s insurance? It might not cover a dog bite but you can check. You can sue both the landlord and the dog owner. The landlord will have insurance to cover it but I am not sure about the the owner of the dog. Here in CA there a lot of personal injury lawyers who will take your case without a retainer, but that take so much of the settlement. Not sure how it works where you are.

This dog needs to be trained or rehomed. The attacks seem to be escalating. Who knows what can happen the next time.

A lawsuit could take years to settle, and in the meantime that won’t help you or your husband with bills. If you have a good case, it would benefit you to wait longer for a bigger offer. The other side might make you an offer of a small amount but if you wait, and push for a trial, you’d likely get more. Then there might be a settlement out of court. Also, if you had an attorney, he wouldn’t be talking dollars until your injuries were all healed, because maybe you’ll need further medical follow up or physical therapy.

I’d talk to the police about who you should report it to, or if it’s them you’d file a report with. Also the homeowner’s insurance might cover you. Police Department should have someone knowledgeable that can guide you.

@jca2 The OP mentioned urgent care reported it to animal control, so she has an official report if she needs it.