The High Court in Dublin has awarded €55,000 compensation for a dog bite on the face to a postman from County Westmeath.
Sixty-three year old postman – Joseph Dunne from Kilbeggan in County Westmeath – was delivering letters to a house in Kilbeggan when, on 8th October 2008, he was attacked by a husky-type dog that had escaped through a hole in the fence.
The dog knocked Joseph over when he jumped up at him and, once he had Joseph on the pavement, continued to claw and bite him. The attack was only halted when a passer-by hit the dog on the back with a stick to get him off of the postman.
Joseph was rushed to hospital, where he received 22 stitches for the cuts to his face and was treated for nerve damage which affected the right side of his forehead. Joseph later underwent plastic surgery to disguise the worst of the scarring from the attack.
Joseph returned to work soon after the incident but, after seeking legal advice, he made a claim for injury compensation for a dog bite on the face against the couple who owned the dog – Olive Dalton and Martin Maher of Dublin Road in Kilbeggan.
In his claim for a dog bite on the face, Joseph alleged that the couple had been negligent by allowing the dog to escape through the fence, in failing to fence their property securely and for failing to inform An Post of the dangers to delivering post to the property.
The dog´s owners – Olive Dalton and Martin Maher – denied their responsibility for Joseph´s injuries but Mr Justice Michael Moriarty at the High Court in Dublin ruled in Joseph´s favour and awarded him €55,000 in compensation for a dog bite on the face.
Announcing his verdict, Mr Justice Michael Moriarty commended Joseph for returning to his postal duties so quickly after a particularly frightening event. The judge was also told the dog that attacked Joseph had been put down the day after the incident.