Dog Bites Dog Lawyer

A lawyer who specialises in animal rights has been bitten by a dog, but he has made a full recovery.

Vísir reports that Árni Stefán Árnason, a lawyer best known as an advocate for animal rights, has himself fallen prey to an animal-related injury: in this case, a dog bite.

Posting about the incident on Facebook, Árni said that he responded to the bite by having a talk with the dog in question, an Irish setter, reminding it that “[biting] is what you do with your food.”

Árni showed considerable understanding, telling reporters that the incident was his fault more than the dog’s, as Árni had gotten in the middle of a disagreement between the biter and another dog. He also said that this is not the first time this has happened.

“It was damned painful,” Árni said. “A dog’s jaw is very powerful, and it’s no joke if you get the fangs. But if you put your hand under cold water, the blood vessels contract and the bleeding stops. It hurts a lot at first. People often get tetanus shots [when bit by a dog] but this has happened to me so often that I don’t really need to.”

While dogs who bite people are often put down, Árni assured reporters the dog will be safe, adding, “This was clumsiness on my part. The dog didn’t mean to bite me. It was an accident.”