If you have been hurt from a severe dog bite, you may wonder if you are entitled to compensation from the dog’s owner and, if so, the amount of any available compensation. To be entitled to damages from a dog bite, a person has to prove that a bite occurred and that they sustained harm from it. The harm can be physical, such as a bite wound, or emotional, such as developing a phobia of dogs in response to the attack. The greater the harm and the more expensive the treatment for that harm, the higher the damage award is likely to be.
Because determining potential damage ranges depends on the facts of a case and your particular medical outcome, it is a good idea to consult with a well-versed dog bite attorney about damages in Bakersfield dog bite cases. An understanding attorney from Colvin Accident Lawyers could help you by providing an award range for similar injuries, which could help you determine if a settlement offer is fair or if more legal action should be taken.
Before determining a potential damage range, a person should examine whether the dog bite leads to a claim. Many people assume that because California Civil Code § 3342 establishes strict liability for dog bites, injured people will always have a claim. However, that is an oversimplification of the strict liability approach. To hold the owner responsible for a dog bite, a person has to prove that the dog bit them while they were on public property or legally on privately owned property.
While an aggressive dog that does not make skin contact or break the skin can be frightening, these attacks, known as levels one and two in Dr. Ian Dunbar’s Dog Bite Scale, might not lead to any actual damage.
Levels three and four bites are attacks that result in a single bite that pierces the skin. The difference in level refers to the depth of the puncture wound and other factors. These bites may require extensive medical care, come with a risk of infection, and can lead to substantial injuries and even disfigurement, particularly with an injured child. Insurance companies may lower settlement offers for these cases because injured people may not understand the potential long-term consequences and treatment plans associated with these bites.
Level five and level six bites are the most severe. A level five bite involves multiple bites by the same dog, commonly called mauling. While multiple dog attacks do not fit onto the dog bite scale, these attacks also have potentially severe consequences. A person may sustain lifelong injuries, experience substantial pain, require multiple surgeries and rehabilitation, and sustain disfigurement. A level six bite results in the person’s death. Level five and six bites usually have the highest damage awards for Bakersfield dog bite cases.
Three types of damages are potentially available in a dog bite case: economic compensatory damages, noneconomic compensatory damages, and punitive damages. The exact nature of each will depend on the facts and circumstances of the attack.
Economic damages compensate injured people for direct and indirect financial losses, like medical bills, lost wages, and loss of earning capacity. These damages can be current or projected future expenses, which is an important consideration in cases of disfigurement, where a person may require extensive reconstructive surgery.
Noneconomic damages repay a person for intangible losses, such as pain and suffering, and emotional trauma. Many people who have been hurt from dog bites go on to develop a trauma response to dogs and sometimes other animals, which can become debilitating. Disfigurement can also lead to substantial trauma.
Because dog bites are a strict liability in Bakersfield, punitive damages are rarely available. After all, the injured person does not have to establish wrongdoing on the dog owner’s part. However, if a person can establish that the dog owner’s behavior was reckless or malicious, they may be entitled to punitive damages.
The average dog bite settlement is around $50,000. However, those numbers can be misleading. Not every bite leads to a claim, and minor injuries often only result in medical bills being covered, while more severe bites can support damage awards in the millions of dollars.
Instead of trying to guess the value of your dog bite injury, consult an experienced attorney. They could evaluate your case and provide a potential range of damages in Bakersfield dog bite cases. Contact our firm today to schedule a consultation meeting.
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