Can I sue the owner of a police dog that I was bitten by?

Bitten by a police dog

I’m a 911 operator. During my lunch break I was attacked by an unrestrained k9. I received 12 stitches but also developed a bone infection, frozen elbow which later led to open elbow surgery and reposition of my ulner nerve. I’ve been out of work now for 15 months. The K9 handler was fresh out of the k9 academy. The handler told me to take my hands out of my pockets and then decided it would be okay to let go of the dog even after he have me the command which is given to MOST criminals. I feel this is negligent but my work comp attorney says that work comp is the sole remedy. I want to get your opinion and feel his actions show lack of sufficient training and negligence. Can I sue the owner of the police dog I was bitten by?

I received your inquiry about the dog bite incident, I am a local Murrieta Attorney who handles both workers compensation and personal injury cases including dog bites. The key to being able to pursue a personal injury case as opposed to a workers compensation case is who owns the dog? If it was your employer then you are limited to workers compensation. If it was a third party then you can pursue both workers compensation and the third party. If you would like to discuss in more detail please drop me an email. I would glad to meet with you in person to discuss but my office is closed through January 6th for the holidays but I am available by email.