There are very few times when you’ll be held accountable for an animal attack. Did you tease the animal, push it to the point of aggression or hurt it? If you did, you could be held accountable for forcing the pet to attack. If you were simply walking past it or playing with it when it attacked, you’re not likely to be the one who’s blamed.
If you know that the animal had its vaccinations, you may not need quite as much in the way of vaccinations or emergency antibiotics as compared to if you are bitten by a stray or dog without a history of vaccines. This is because the risk for rabies is still preset in the United States, and once past a certain stage, the disease is nearly always fatal. If you can’t prove that an animal is free of the disease, you’ll need to go through many injections to prevent the illness.
After you’re bitten, you need to identify the animal, call the police, get medical help and get any kind of information on your injuries you can for insurance and lawsuit claim purposes. Our website has more on what to do if you’ve been bitten, no matter what animal has attacked you.