Our Pittsburgh dog bite lawyers have handled dog bite cases in Pennsylvania for 25+ years. One of the questions we often get is, what damages can be claimed for a dog bite injury? Let’s get right to it. The following items can be claimed for dog bite or attack in PA:
Emotional distress
Dog bites are scary. Almost every dog bite case will involve a claim for emotional distress from two things: one, the trauma of the attack (post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD), plus also, the fear of dogs, generally, going forward. This can be especially tragic for someone who had previously loved dogs, but is now terrified of all of dogs, from having been attacked.
You may also have a claim for emotional distress if you witnessed (seen or heard) a family member get attacked, even if you were not attacked yourself. We handled several cases for cases for young child who only heard their parent getting attacked, and we were able to get compensation for both parent and children, who had not been physically injured.
Pain and suffering
Dog bites are also painful. We have litigated cases involving all kinds of dog bite injuries, from life threatening head and neck wounds and amputations, to relatively minor cases where the dogs’s teeth barely break the skin. How an insignificant an injury looks does not necessarily reflect how the injury feels.
For example, we handled one case where a police dog attacked a man who was not engaging in a crime. The injury was mainly a single puncture wound. No sutures or stitches were required. However, the impact of the jaws caused an extremely painful bone bruise and a hematoma beneath the surface of the skin. This required several months to heal, resulting in a significant claim.
The duration of an attack will also amplify the claim for pain and suffering. We have litigated attacks lasting several minutes, where the victim was fighting for his life. Still, you don’t need such serious facts to have a significant claim for pain and suffering.
Disfigurement
Dog Bites leave scars, especially since few doctors will use sutures or stitches on dog bite lacerations because of the risk of sealing in infection. Children heal better than adults, but we take all claims seriously. The insurance company for the dog owner will often want to see if the scar is “permanent” before offering a settlement. Few doctors will issue an opinion on “permanency” until at least six months after the attack. Fortunately, this gives us time to get the case ready for court or settlement. The value of the case will depend on the visibility and permanency of the scar.
We had one case where a package delivery carrier sustained a minor bite on the back of his leg when delivering a package. I told him, we can get you a recovery, but the scar will not be visible, unless you are working out or doing some leg modeling. Turns out, he was a leg model, part time, for an international sporting goods store. The settlement was significant relative to the small size of the scar. (That particular client posted online about the settlement, and left us a great review, but the names of parties are being omitted in this article.)
Even if the disfigurement is not “serious,” we treat it as such. We are poised to say to juries one key point. It is not so much whether a person on the street would see evidence of the attack, when passing you on the street to make you embarrassed. Instead, what really matters is whether you, the victim sees the scar. The victim may see it each day, when dressing, serving a a daily reminder of the attack.
Medical Bills and Future Medical Expenses
You can get a recovery for your current and future medical bills related to a dog bite in Pennsylvania, even if the bills were covered by insurance. This is because Pennsylvania has the “collateral source” rule, or “collateral source doctrine.” In other words, the defendant is not entitled to benefit from the injured party’s insurance. This means, the injured party can get a recovery for amounts already paid by insurance, even if the injured party did not go out of pocket for the medical bills.
Note a couple things, here. First, your insurance company — that paid for your medical treatment for a dog bite — might have the right to be paid back out of your settlement, through “subrogation.” Also note that motor vehicles accidents are handled differently, because there, the laws are different, and the collateral source rule does not apply.
Lost Wages or Lost Earning Capacity
Healing takes time. Many lose time from work for their injuries. A wage loss claim from injuries from an attack can be significant, depending on how much work you miss. That said, some work loss cannot be compensated, such as work loss to get medical treatment, or attend depositions, or go to court, or talk to a lawyer is generally not recoverable. Still, our lawyers look for creative ways to maximize your rights and recovery.
Plus, if the injury occurred in the scope of your employment, you might have a claim for workers’ compensation coverage, which had pros and cons. Click here for more.
Injuries to Your Own Dog
Dogs bite both humans and other dogs. The victim’s claims often entails both his own injuries plus injuries to his pet. For valuation purposes, canines are treated as “property” in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, even though we love our dogs differently than our other property, such as clothing or a car. To assess damages, under property law, you are entitled to cost of fixing the “property” (the veterinarian or “vet” bills), or the cost to replace the property, whichever is lower.
So, if your dog is attacked by another dog, and your dog has vet bills of $4,000 but your dog is only “worth” a few hundred dollars, at most (being a mixed breed dog with little commercial value) then you may not be compensated for the full amount of your loss, unfortunately. Here again, our lawyers look for creative ways to maximize the amount of money you get.
Punitive Damages
These are appropriate if the dog owner was not only negligent, but also reckless, which is a high standard. To get punitive damages, you must show that the dog owner’s conduct was not merely careless, but also rose to the level of a “conscious disregard” of a “high probably of harm,” which is rare. However, iit does happen at times. We have litigated in court (and are currently handling at the time of this writing) cases involving claims for punitive damages from dog bites. If attacked by a police dog, federal law permits a claim for punitive damages, also. Click here for more information about claims for punitive damage for a dog bite.
All Kind of Medical Injuries
Dogs cause more than just puncture or tear wounds. Other injuries occur, such as fall related injuries from you fleeing a potential attack. One case we handled involved a person who was injured when fleeing potential attack. Another case involved a brain bleed and permanent hearing loss, when a man’s head hit the street, when two dogs pulled him to the ground.
Property Damages
An attack by a dog can also cause damage to your clothing or other property. Our lawyers litigated a case where a dog had destroyed someone’s fence to attack the victim on his own property. The claim, in that case, included one for not only injuries from the dog bite, but also for trespass and damages to the fence.
Other Injuries and Damages
In Pennsylvania, all damages that are “natural and probable” from the negligent conduct of the dog owner will be compensable, unless the case law or a statute provides otherwise.
Conclusion
Recovering or collecting money for these can be tricky if the dog owner lacks home owner or renter’s insurance or the claim is against a landlord out of possession, for the conduct of his or her tenant, requiring proof that the landlord had notice of the dog and its dangerous propensities. That said, we take every case seriously, regardless of the obstacles to recovery. Contact a Pittsburgh lawyer any time for more information about what your dog bite claim might be worth, and how we can assist you.
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- Call any time for assistance. Our PA bar members do not provide specific details about previous cases we have handled. The cases referenced in this article are a matter of pubic record in court filings. We have also changed key details to further preserve anonymity of the parties involved.