Never, ever approach an animal in distress if you aren't the owner and even then extreme caution should be exercised.
L
Exactly! I own a terrier mix who would, if given a chance, lick a person to death. I have a cat who's slightly bigger than he is.
Several years ago he was hit by a car and I heard him screaming from inside the house. He'd managed to sneak outside while fiance was distracted. Hearing him screaming I ran outside, saw him and ran up to him. I started talking to him and he calmed down a bit but when I went to touch him he bit me three times...to the bone. I ran back inside to get a towel and yelled out to fiance that Rufus had been hit by a car. Fiance ran out the back while I hurried back through the front with a towel. By the time I arrived back on the street fiance already had picked Ruf up and was about to bring him inside.
I went into detail because even I as Rufus's owner was bitten. We talked about it later and decided Rufus hadn't recognized my smell because I'd been inside cleaning the house so my hands smelled like the different cleaning fluids I'd been using. Fiance was a safe smell and one he instantly recognized so he didn't bite him.
Even if you are the owner caution needs to be excercised when an animal is hurt.
(I'm happy to report that while Rufus did require surgery he's suffered no lasting affects from getting hit or from the surgery. I also didn't suffer any lasting affects other than having to get a tetanus shot.)