The danger of infection from a dog bite is one of the reasons surgeons will sometimes loosely stitch a dog attack wound site.  Bacteria in dog saliva can cause complications and infection.

The death of a Washington man from a dog bite has prompted a lawsuit by the man’s family against the dog’s owner.  The dog attack victim developed an infection from a bacteria contracted through the dog’s saliva and died of a blood clot 10 days after being bitten, according to the lawsuit.

The victim’s family claims the incident was not the first time the dog had bitten someone and that its owner failed to have the dog on a leash.  The claim goes on to allege that the Defendant dog owner knew the dog was “potentially dangerous.”   The Seattle Times reported that the family of the man who died after the dog bite sued the dog’s owner for wrongful death.  The plaintiffs allege that the dog owner was aware that his Redbone Coonhound had a history of biting people, but still let him roam without a leash.

Defense counsel has denied that the dog, was off-leash the day the victim was bitten.  The dog bit the decedent on the finger, drawing blood, said the family’s attorney.  The next day, the dog bite victim had severe pain in his leg. He went to the hospital, where doctors found a blood clot that had formed.  He developed an infection doctors diagnosed as Capnocytophaga canimorsus sepsis, a bacterium commonly found in the saliva of cats and dogs, the lawsuit said.  The dog attack victim died 10 days after the bite.