About 4.7 million Americans receive a dog bite every year. The American Humane Association says that about 800,000 dog bites require medical care annually. In 92 percent of all fatal dog attacks, the attacker is a male dog and 94 percent of these male dogs are not spayed, which adds to their animalistic instinct for aggression. Most dogs bite extremity areas such as hands, arms, or legs, rather than the face or stomach regions. However, when it comes to children, 65 percent of attacks happen are aimed at the head and neck region. In 25 percent of all cases, the attacking dog was chained up somewhere when it attacked. While there are many dog attacks that affect people every year, there aren’t many cases where a human attacks the dog.

However, in Wilmington, North Carolina, a 22-year old with the initials K.G. breaks that trend. The young man bit a police dog named Maxx when fleeing from officers in his home state. According to TIME Magazine, Maxx was chasing K.G. as part of a police pursuit, and the suspect bit the pup’s ear. His attack tore the dog’s ear into two separate pieces, and it required more than 15 stitches to repair the wound. Maxx retaliated by biting K.G.’s thigh, afflicting wounds that cost K.G. a trip to the hospital before he was hauled off to jail.

A police officer who witnessed the attack told ABC News that he has never seen a suspect attack an animal in this manner before. K.G.’s tussle with the police dog will land him an extra felony charge of assault of a law enforcement animal. He also will be charged with resisting arrest and assault with a deadly weapon. Allegedly, K.G. opened fire on a couple in a car when he was riding by on a bicycle. He is now in jail on a $1,025 million bond. Chances are that K.G. will also need to pay for the dog’s vet bills as a part of his punishment.

While these situations are rare, when a person afflicts harm to another person’s animal, you may be able to press charges. As animal abuse charges show, the law takes damaging another person’s pet seriously. You may want to contact a personal injury lawyer to help with your case if you are in this situation. When a person intentionally hurts your animal, you can also press criminal charges for animal abuse. In cases where someone hits your animal with a vehicle because of inattentiveness, you also have might have the right to seek restitution. You shouldn’t have to pay the astronomical veterinarian bills involved with your pet’s injury.

On the other hand, maybe you or your child was attacked by a dog. 50 percent of all dog attacks involve a child that is under 12-years-old and 70 percent of all fatal dog attacks involve children under 10. When it comes to infants, an unsupervised baby is 370 times more likely to be attacked by a dog than a regular human is. The American Humane Society says that about two-thirds of all dog bite attacks occur near the victim’s property and with a dog that the victim was familiar with. Sometimes these dogs don’t attack other humans, but instead they attack another animal. If your pet was attacked by another dog, you might be able to press charges for this as well. Because there are many variations to dog bite cases, you will want an accomplished personal injury attorney beside you throughout your trial. Contact someone today if you need more information about how to press charges for a dog bite injury or an injury involving a dog that was bitten.