In Dog Bitten Injury, What Compensation Am I Entitled To?

Posted by Alan Finkel on February 26th, 2024

Dogs get this name, “man’s best friend”, if you think about it carefully. Anyway, these creatures can be considered as an asset in the family that provides funny moments and they accompany all the time. Even the friendliest of the dogs can bite and can inflict injuries. However, most dog bites do not require a medical intervention, but some aggressive cases can lead to serious injuries. Contrary to this, a dog bite victim may have legal rights that he or she can use to claim compensation for the damages.
We dig in deeper if you or your loved one has been injured in a dog bite incident and wants to learn more about the legal rights and remedies that may be there for you. So, please call us to get a free consultation with our experienced dog bite attorneys.

Understanding Dog Bite Compensation

The kinds of compensation from dog bite injury that may be available to a dog bite victim fall into two general categories: economic and non-economic compensatory damages.
The economic damage is the quantifiable cost that a patient will incur after going through a dog bite attack. This may include the doctor appointments as well as the lost hours of work, for example. 

Specifically, The Types of Economic Damages in A Dog Bite Lawsuit Can Include:

• unexpected pharmacy bills
• rehabilitation costs
• lack of income and paycheck
• future lost income
• future medical expenses

Non-Economic Damages relate to the non-tangible things that the dog bite victim loses from an attack. Arbitration of non-pecuniary damages, e.g. Loss of joy from life, is problematic because these damages are hard to evaluate. Different from the victim’s economic damages, the jury is often using a non-economic standard to evaluate the number of damages in a lawsuit. Types of non-economic damages in a dog bite lawsuit may include:
• pain and suffering
• emotional distress
• disfigurement
• disability
• loss of consortium

What you do matters as you may be being watched. A mistake could affect your base salary
inconsiderate behavior of the victim prior to the bite can influence the amount of dog bite injury compensation to which the victim may be entitled. So, what the victim of the attack did or did not do, at the beginning, could affect the amount of damage awarded. 

Here are a few examples of conduct that may reduce a dog bite victim’s compensation:

Provoking The Dog

Needless to say, in many states, provocation of the animal is a defense to dog bite liability. This means, in other words, that even if the at-fault party (owner of the dog) is the party at fault for the dog bite attack, he or she may be able to avoid some or completely the liability & prove that the victim provoked the dog.

The Dog’s Vigilant Instincts

In some states, the at-fault party might be able to limit his/her liability for a dog bite attack if the victim can show that s/he either knew or should have been aware of the dangerous nature of the dog who attacked him/her before the attack. To illustrate this, if the victim ignored a “caution dog” sign or a “do not pet” sign, the court may find the victim partly liable for the accident and thus reduce the amount of the damages that the victim will be entitled to.

Trespassing

Another frequent defense is the trespass theory. Such a defense is justified because no duty of a property owner gives to secure his/her premises for those who come to it without permission. Hence, many of the states will not depute responsibility on a dog bite owner in case the dog strikes a trespasser rampantly.

Become A Victim of a Dog Bite? Let Our Cardinal Law Partners Group’s Dog Bite Lawyers Fight for You.

The dog bite cases have been greatly handled by the Personal Injury Attorney, Greensboro NCat Cardinal Law Partners. What we offer from the initial consultation to the disposition of a case is handled as if we own them. Our will is to defend your rights and you take on your recovery process. We also believe that a person who was injured never has to question whether or not he/she can afford legal representation of “top quality”. That is way we are offering free consultations. And, you will not be charged a dime unless we win your case too. Because, with us, there’s no win if there’s no fee. If you’d still like to talk with our experienced dog bite attorney, or you’re interested in how to file a claim, call us to receive your free case evaluation.