What Damages Can I Recover in Animal Bite Cases?

     As a victim of injuries and other losses due to the negligence of another in animal bite cases, the law provides that you must be made whole again and not bare the financial responsibility for doing so.

     The person(s) responsible (see Who is Liable in Animal Bite Cases?) are obligated to make you whole again, usually through their insurance carrier. Accordingly, you are entitled to be compensated for the following damages:

1. Personal Injuries - Reimbursement for your medical expenses and if there is a permanent medical condition, disability, disfigurement (including scarring), or the need for future surgeries, your future medical expenses are included as well;
2. Property Damage - Damage to your personal items which were damaged or lost through no fault of your own;
3. Lost Wages - Lost income, even if you used sick time or other leave time, and if there is a permanent medical condition, your loss of future earning capacity;
4. Pain and Suffering - Compensation for your pain, your suffering, mental anguish, stress, anxiety, inconvenience, and other such emotional injuries that resulted from the attack;
5. Other Losses - Reimbursement for your prescription medicine, medical supplies, medical equipment such as braces, a home care provider, loss of relationship with your spouse (called “Loss of Consortium”), other loss of services, mileage to and from your doctors, etc.

     In a fatal attack where a claim is made for wrongful death, the spouse and family are entitled to recover the following additional damages and losses:

1. Loss of Society;
2. Loss of Companionship;
3. Loss of Comfort;
4. Loss of Protection;
5. Loss of Care (marital care, parental care, filial (child) care);
6. Loss of Attention;
7.  Loss of Advice;
8. Loss of Counsel;
9. Loss of Training;
10. Loss of Guidance;
11. Loss of Education; and
12. Other non-economic damages authorized under Subtitle 9 of the Maryland Code, Courts and Judicial Proceedings, § 3-2A-01.

     In some cases, you may also be able to recover Punitive Damages. In order to receive punitive damages, the Defendant must have acted with malice for the Court to punish the wrongdoer by also awarding this damage. An example is the owner of a dog who knows that the dog is dangerous, yet still permits the dog to be near children at a play ground and the dog attacks a child on the play ground. The punitive damages awarded to the victim can be very high, exceeding the actual total damages sustained because they are based on punishing the malicious conduct of the owner of the animal.