Most animal-attack personal injury claims involve victims who have been bitten by dogs, but any domesticated animal, including birds, cats and even ferrets, can be the cause of a harmful bite. In rare cases, animals that are not domesticated, such as chimpanzees or wild cats, such as bobcats or jaguars, but are owned by people - legally or illegally - as pets can be the source of a dangerous and deadly animal attack in which the pet owner is held legally responsible.

Dog bites resulting in injuries or deaths are still the most common form of animal attack and occur at a high rate in dense cities, such as Los Angeles. Studies have shown that most cases of animal attacks caused by animals under the care and supervision of a human being, the owner or guardian of the animal are the ones responsible for the attack.

A pet owner can be considered negligent for an attack caused by a domesticated pet such as a cat or dog if he or she had prior knowledge of the animal's aggressive tendencies, yet failed to take appropriate measures to restrain and prevent them from causing harm to people and other pets. Appropriate measures include: muzzles, leashes, fences and other restraints, as well as posted warnings alerting anyone nearby of the hazard the animal presents.

In cases of pet owners who keep animals considered to be wild, such as monkeys or bears, the owner will generally be held responsible in the eyes of the law, whether or not they took measures to prevent their pet from harming others. In other words, the law sees them as strictly liable for their pet because no amount of training or domestication can truly eradicate wild instincts from non-domesticated creatures.

Victims of animal attacks are not always considered entitled to recover damages. For example, if it can be shown that a pet owner adequately restrained the animal and warned the victim of any danger the animal presented, yet the victim behaved in a manner contrary to the warning and subsequently caused the attack, then the animal attack victim will not be able to sue the pet owner for compensation.

In fact, to succeed in winning financial compensation for any animal attack, the plaintiff must prove that: there was an injury; the injury was directly caused by the animal that the defendant kept and owned the animal that caused the injury and that they themselves did not bring about the animal attack.

Anyone who has been attacked and injured by an animal kept by another human being should contact a personal injury lawyer to determine whether their situation is eligible for a lawsuit. If so, then there is a good chance that the victim will recover financial compensation for the monetary expenses and the pain and suffering caused directly by the animal attacks.