Compensation for Dog Bites and Other Injuries

With all the pet dogs in U.S. households, it's no surprise that more than 800,000 Americans get medical treatment for dog bites every year. And that number doesn't include other kinds of injuries, like when a dog knocks someone over or causes an accident by chasing a motorcycle.

Depending on the circumstances and the relevant laws, dog owners are generally liable if their pets hurt someone. That means the owners (or their insurance companies) may have to pay the victims for the harm they suffered (or "damages"). Those damages could include:

• medical bills
• pain and suffering
• lost income
• any property damage related to the incident, such as broken eyeglasses or a damaged motorcycle; and
• multiple or punitive damages, if the owner's conduct was particularly outrageous.

Victims may see their total compensation reduced if they share some of the blame for their injuries, depending on the state, the legal theory supporting the lawsuit, and the individual circumstances. (See more on when dog-bite victims are partly at fault.)

Medical Bills In Dog-Bite Claims

The most obvious expenses resulting from dog-inflicted injuries are medical costs, including bills for doctors and hospital services, medication, physical therapy, and any necessary psychological treatment.

If the injury aggravates a victim's pre-existing medical condition, the final tab may be much more than you might expect. The common legal rule is that if you hurt someone, you are responsible for all injuries that flow from your action, even if those injuries are made worse by some condition the victim already had. For example, say a dog knocks over an elderly person with a bad back. The fall might not be serious for someone who's younger and healthier, but it could lead to surgery in this situation because it exacerbated the victim's back condition. The dog's owner will be responsible for the actual medical bills, rather than what it would cost if the victim were healthy.

Pain and Suffering In Dog-Bite Injury Cases

There's often pain associated with injuries from a dog bite or mauling—physical pain as well as mental or emotional suffering.

Emotional distress can result from the physical pain and extensive medical procedures. It can also come from the trauma of the attack itself.

Victims may experience debilitating fear of dogs (which in turn can makes it hard to go outside), anxiety, shock, sleeplessness, depression, and other psychological symptoms. In extreme cases, they may even develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). When the pain and emotional problems are expected to continue, a victim may also get an award (or an amount in a settlement) for future pain and suffering.

How Is Pain and Suffering Valued In a Dog-Bite Claim?

How do you put a fair dollar amount on pain and suffering? It can be hard, but jurors do it all the time. So do lawyers and insurance companies when they're negotiating a settlement. Still, the amounts that victims receive for pain and suffering vary tremendously. Sometimes, judges will set aside a jury's award as excessive if it's not reasonable under the circumstances.

Some insurance companies and lawyers use what's called a "multiplier," meaning that they multiply the total medical bills and lost earnings (usually by a factor from about 1.5 to 4) to arrive at an amount for pain and suffering. But this is only a rough estimate, and it doesn't apply in all cases. So you shouldn't expect that you'll receive that amount (or pay it, if you're the dog owner).

What Influences a Pain and Suffering Award In a Dog-Bite Case?

A whole host of factors might affect how much a dog-bite victim receives, either from a settlement with an insurance company or at trial.

Permanent Disability and Disfigurement

If a victim has permanent disability or "disfigurement" (such as scarring, a lost eye, or permanent nerve damage) from the dog bite, that will factor into the calculation of pain and suffering. Disfigurement can lead to long-term psychological effects like loss of self-esteem, avoidance of social interactions, and depression. But the award for future pain and suffering should bear a reasonable relationship to the extent of the permanent physical damages.

In a case that where a violent pit bull mauling left the victim with permanent nerve damage and scarring on his penis, a court refused to set aside the jury's award of $300,000 for past pain and suffering, plus $700,000 for future pain and suffering. The man continued to experience a wide range of problems, including sexual dysfunction, feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, flashbacks, and nightmares. (Medina v. Chile Communications, Inc., 15 Misc.3d 525 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2006).) In contrast, another court set aside an award of $200,000 for future pain and suffering to a dog-bite victim whose permanent injuries were limited to numbness in her cheek and a dry eye (Aversa v. Bartlett, 11 A.D.3d 941 (N.Y. App. Div, 2004)).

Adult or Child Dog-Bite Victim?

Children may experience more fear and trauma from dog bites more than adults. Juries also tend to be more sympathetic toward child victims. In a case where a two-year-old child had permanent facial scars and continued to be afraid, clingy, and sleepless after a dog mauling, a court found that it wasn't excessive for the jury to award $50,000 for past and future pain and suffering (May v. Holzknecht, 320 S.W.3d 123 (Ky. App. Ct. 2010)).

As a rule, parents aren't entitled to damages for their own pain and suffering because their child has been injured in a dog attack (Voelker v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 190 So.2d 136 (La. Ct. App. 1966)).

Need for Future Medical Treatment

If there's evidence that the victim will need more medical treatment in the future, the jury will probably consider an award for future pain and suffering. But as the court explained in May (discussed above), there's no rule against future pain and suffering awards just because there aren't anticipated future medical costs.

One last note: A few states have set limits on personal injury awards for non-economic damages like pain and suffering, but those limits are too high to affect most dog-bite cases.

Lost Income and Dog-Bite Injuries

When victims have to take time off from work for medical diagnosis, treatment, or recuperation, they're entitled to reimbursement for any lost income. If the injury will impair their ability to work in the future, they should also be compensated for that future income (referred to as a "loss in earning capacity").

Loss of Consortium or Services

If the injuries had an impact on the relationship between dog-bite victims and their spouses, they may receive compensation for "loss of consortium," which includes lost companionship or intimacy. Some states also allow compensation for the impact on the relationship between a parent and child when one of them is injured.

Multiple Damages

Under the "dangerous dog laws" in some states, cities, and counties, the owner of a dog that's been declared dangerous or vicious may have to pay double or triple damages if the dog goes on to injure someone. More general dog-bite statutes may also make the owner liable for multiple damages when a dog that has previously bitten someone does it again (see Wis. Stat. Ann. § 174.02(1)(b)).

Are Punitive Damages Possible In a Dog-Bite Case?

An owner whose conduct was particularly reckless or outrageous—for example, repeatedly letting an vicious dog run loose—may be punished by having to pay an extra amount, over and above the amount needed to compensate the victim. These "punitive" or "exemplary" damages are meant to hurt financially and to send a strong message in order to prevent similar behavior in the future.

Punitive damages may not be allowed if the victim is suing the owner under a state's "strict liability" dog-bite statute, because those laws make dog owners liable for bites regardless of the animals' history or the owners' carelessness. (See Beckett v. Warren, 921 N.E.2d 624 (Ohio 2010).)

Is There an Average Dog-Bite Settlement Amount?

Because confidentiality clauses are usually a key part of out-of-court settlement agreements, the terms of most dog-bite injury settlements are kept under wraps. That includes the amount the injured person received. So, any "average" data isn't available.

It's probably more useful to focus on the factors that are most likely to influence the value of a dog-bite injury claim. Above, we've provided an in-depth discussion of perhaps the most influential factors: the injured person's "pain and suffering," and the amount of medical treatment (and medical bills) resulting from the claimant's injuries.

On top of these factors, a higher settlement is more likely if:

• the dog owner's liability for the claimant's injuries is clear
• there are no defenses that the dog owner could raise in response to the claim, and
• the dog-bite victim bears no amount of blame for causing or contributing to their own injuries. (Learn more about what might happen if the dog-bite victim is partially at fault.)

Remember also that in a dog-bite injury case (as with any kind of personal injury claim), settlement can occur at any time. That means your claim might settle a few weeks into the insurance claim process (if you're filing a claim with the dog owner's homeowner's insurance company, for example), or soon after you've filed a personal injury lawsuit in court in order to get the other side to take your case seriously, or even months later, on the eve of trial.

Learn more about how long your personal injury case might take and how much you might receive.

Do You Need a Lawyer For a Dog-Bite Claim or Lawsuit?

It's always possible to handle a dog-bite injury claim on your own, especially if you're comfortable with the settlement negotiation process, and you're confident you can stick it out until you come away with a fair result. Learn more about handling a personal injury claim on your own.

But self-representation isn't for everyone, and you might simply want the peace of mind that comes with knowing your case is in expert hands. Especially if your injuries are serious, or the dog owner (or their insurer) is putting up a fight on the liability side—or they're just not coming to the table with a fair settlement offer—it might be time to think about getting a lawyer's help.

Getting Help With a Dog-Bite Injury Case

There's no substitute for a lawyer's experience and expertise when it's time to put your best case together, when settlement talks start to heat up, and when it's time to advocate for a fair result to your dog-bite injury claim. And since most personal injury attorneys handle cases on a "contingency fee" basis, there's usually very little financial risk.

You can use the features right on this page to connect with a lawyer near you who might be able to help with your dog-bite claim. Learn more about when you need a personal injury lawyer, and how to find the right lawyer for you and your case.