The amount of money the victim should receive

A dog bite victim is entitled to compensation if he can meet the requirements of the strict liability law in most states, or the one bite rule in a minority of states. (See Plain English Overview of Dog Bite Law.) The amount of compensation varies widely from case to case. There is no general rule that determines what a victim will receive. The categories of compensation, however, are well established. A dog bite victim can get money for all of the following things:

• Medical treatment such as first aid, emergency room, hospital, and ambulance
• Future medical treatment for scar reduction
• Psychological counseling to overcome the emotional trauma of the attack, fear of dogs, fear of being outdoors, and dealing with disfigurement
• Loss of earnings from work or the victim's business
• Torn clothing and broken glasses
• Medications
• Pain and suffering
• Future disability

Some dog bite victims are attacked with their dogs or other pets, which are injured or killed. Owners of injured animals may be entitled to compensation. If your pet was injured or killed, you can obtain the legal forms necessary for receiving compensation, as well as additional legal advice and guidelines, from the book entitled What To Do If Your Dog Is Injured Or Killed.

Many states recognize that the person who is bitten might not be the only victim. A member of the immediate family might suffer from emotional distress as a result of seeing the victim getting mauled. This would be the basis of what is called a "bystander claim." A spouse might suffer because the husband or wife is incapacitated in some way. This is called a "loss of consortium" claim. If the victim dies from his injuries, family members might have claims for "wrongful death." In situations like the ones described in this paragraph, a person must retain a lawyer. See see Does An Adult Need a Lawyer For a Dog Bite Claim?, and Should Parents Get a Lawyer For Their Injured Child? For further information about bystander claims, read Legal Rights of Bystanders and Family Members.

In specific cases, a victim might receive other types of compensation in addition to those mentioned above. For example, victims have recovered for prepaid vacations, job retraining, and loss of earning capacity in the future. For that reason, a injured person should consult an attorney to determine what might be involved in a particular case. 

Estimating the amount of compensation for a victim is a difficult task that requires the learning and experience of an attorney. This is one of the reasons why dog bite victims need to have legal representation. For more about this, see Does An Adult Need a Lawyer For a Dog Bite Claim?, and Should Parents Get a Lawyer For Their Injured Child?