A biting dog attack with serious consequences can turn a pleasant Mississippi afternoon into an expensive trip to the emergency room. One moment you’re riding a bicycle, retrieving a thrown ball, or making a delivery. Next, you’re fighting off a snarling canine. If it wasn’t your dog that bit you, then it’s probably not your fault. So, it’s natural to wonder: What compensation can a dog bite victim recover in Mississippi?
If you’ve been injured by a dog attack, our no-nonsense Jackson dog bite attorney at Pittman, Roberts & Welsh, PLLC can help.
Taking a Bite Out of Your Finances
Injurious dog maulings aren’t common, but they’re not as rare as you might think. Every day in the U.S., at least 1000 people require emergency room care after serious dog bites. If you’ve recently become part of that statistic, keep reading, because if someone else’s aggressive dog attacked, those bite wounds came with extra bills, including for:
- Your emergency room care
- Your long-term medical expenses
- Damage to your personal property.
All of these fall under the umbrella of economic damages. This is hardship that can be measured in dollars through bills and receipts.
The medical expenses from a vicious dog attack can be quite high. Serious dog bites can cause muscular and skeletal damage, leading to multiple surgeries and possibly even permanent scarring or disfigurement.
Fortunately, you can bring a suit against the dog’s owner for personal injury damages in Mississippi to recover these costs and more. Save all your bills and receipts and talk to an attorney.
What if You Can’t Work?
It’s bad enough to find oneself facing a new pile of unexpected medical expenses. That’s money going out. What happens if the injury or trauma from a vicious dog attack prevents you from working? That’s money no longer coming in, all because somebody couldn’t or wouldn’t control their animal.
A serious dog mauling can be as terrifying as it is harmful. Injuries to hands, arms, face, neck, ankles, calves, feet, and knees can prevent the victim from performing certain jobs. The distress can trigger post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) and aggravate pre-existing heart and respiratory conditions.
Lasting trauma can prevent even an outwardly healed victim from returning to the job that exposed them to such an attack. In 2024 alone, more than 6000 U.S. postal workers were seriously injured by dog bites. A high number of them lost wages because of an animal attack.
The good news is that a Mississippi dog bite lawyer can help recover some of these lost wages.
Proving Lost Income
Lost wages and income fall under the category of economic damages. This means they are tangible and can be shown through pay stubs, income statements, and days or weeks of missed work.
Showing proof of your monthly income—pay stubs, tax returns, and past bank deposits—from before the dog attack can help the court determine the value of current and future lost wages. A lost wages letter, a doctor’s note, or showing evidence of doctor’s visits or a hospital stay during work time can suffice as proof of missed work.
Calculating Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are more difficult to put a dollar amount on, but courts take “pain and suffering” seriously. Post-traumatic stress, lingering physical pain, and the psychological despair of coping with permanent scarring or disfigurement are all too real for victims.
When Mississippi courts weigh non-economic damages, they take two factors into consideration:
The total sum of economic damages from the dog attack, and the amount of negligence assigned to the dog’s owner.
The first factor, the amount of economic damages, gives the court a base value to start from. The second factor, the degree of negligence, influences how much the total sum of economic damages should be multiplied.
If the owner’s negligence was minor, the total value of economic damages can be multiplied by .5 or by 1, adding 50 percent or doubling the value of the victim’s award. For example, if economic damages totaled $20,000, “pain and suffering” could add another $10,000 or $20,000 to the total amount awarded.
The most serious kinds of negligence can result in as much as a five-times multiplication, which would turn $20,000 of economic hardship into an additional $100,000 for pain and suffering.
Comparative Negligence
Mississippi is a comparative negligence state when it comes to personal injury matters, and this applies to dog bite lawsuits. The total amount of damages awarded can be reduced by a percentage of blame assigned to the victim.
However, comparative fault alone should not prevent victims from seeking compensation. Even if you only recover 60 percent of your total costs, it’s better than being on the hook for every dollar.
Property Damage and Out-Of-Pocket Costs
A sudden dog attack can be a violent and chaotic experience. Therefore, it often happens that items worn or carried by the victim get damaged or destroyed in the mauling. These can include:
- Smartphones
- Watches
- Shoes
- Jewelry
- Pacemakers
- Hearing/visual aids
- Clothing
The cost of repairing or replacing such items can be added to a victim’s total dog bite lawsuit value. Make sure to document the damage to such items and save all receipts.
Have You Been Bitten? Our Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help
You didn’t choose to get attacked and bitten by another person’s dog. You didn’t choose the injuries, the pain, or the amount of work you might miss because of such an attack. However, you can choose what happens next. To learn more about your legal rights after an animal attack, contact Pittman Roberts & Welsh, PLLC, for a free consultation.
