This past Saturday night I was walking down Austin St. in Forest Hills New York on my way to see Jethro Tull at the Forest Hill Stadium. As is the case on most Saturday nights in Queens, the sidewalk was quite busy with all the people coming and going. As I looked down the street, I noticed a man walking two rather ferocious looking dogs. I made a mental note of that and continued on my way.

As the man started to walk by us, one of the dogs lunged at me and attempted to bite my leg at which point I instinctively hit him in the mouth with my knee and knocked into the ground. The man walking the dogs apologized and pulled his dog away. I composed myself and continue to walk.

I began to think about what might've happened had the dog latched onto my leg. I was thinking about the damage that the dog could've inflicted upon me in which it could've dragged me to the ground and bit me all about my body. I was very grateful and thought nothing more about it that evening.

The next day I went out to City Island in the Bronx and was walking down a number of residential streets where the houses are very close together and surrounded by fences. It appeared that on every fence was a " beware of dog sign.” Each time I walk by one of those houses, where a dog would run down the driveway, I immediately froze and thought I was going to be attacked. It changed the way I looked at dogs.

It is interesting to note that there are a number of things that you can do that might protect you from a dog attack. First, be aware of your surroundings and do not place yourself in a situation where you get close enough to an unfamiliar dog to expose yourself to being bitten. If an aggressive dog comes up to you do not run or make loud noises. Try and protect yourself with anything that you might have on you including a backpack, handbag or your jacket by placing that in between you and the dog.

If you are bitten, make sure you get all of the necessary contact information from the person who has custody or control of the dog, contact the police or animal control officer, and get immediate medical attention. If the dog's teeth pierce your skin then you need to seek medical attention because you would be at risk of getting some type of an infection.

If you have any significant bite wounds, especially in a prominent location such as your face, you should insist that a plastic surgeon be called to the hospital to tend to your wound so that you get the best result possible. You also need to make sure that the dog is quarantined and up-to-date on its rabies vaccination.

If you are attacked by a dog, it is important that you contact an experienced Connecticut dog bite lawyer at the earliest possible moment so that you can find out what you need to be doing and what you should not be doing. We would be happy to provide you with our free book on Connecticut dog bite injury cases and are available to advise you either over the phone, or in person, as to what you need to be doing.