Massachusetts Personal Injury Library
Bodily and Emotional Injuries from Dog Bite Attacks
A dog attack can cause a wide range of injuries to a victim's body, as well as cause significant emotional distress. If the victim is a child, the injuries are all the more devastating.
Types of Bodily Injuries from a Dog Attack
A dog attack can cause injuries, such as:
- lacerations,
- punctures,
- fractures and crush injuries,
- nerve damage,
- muscle sprains and strains,
- infections such as rabies, cellulitis, and C canimorsus infections.
Victims of dog bites to the face, especially children, should be examined for nerve damage and facial fractures. In extreme cases, a dog can kill a person, either through the severity of the physical attack, or through infection resulting from the bite.
Emotional Injuries After a Dog Attack
Some of the emotional reactions of children who are the victims of a dog attack include:
- fear,
- depression,
- withdrawal, and
- anger.
These problems can occur immediately after the dog bite incident, or sometime in the future. Many children may also develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other long-term emotional problems.
These can be considered a normal response to an extreme event, since an emotional injury is closely linked to the creation of emotional memories from being exposed to a traumatic event. The more direct the exposure to the traumatic event, the higher the risk for emotional harm.
This is especially true for children attacked by dogs. Young children read the environment based on their experience, so a traumatic dog attack can be misunderstood as a statement about life in general, or the event can be internalized as a statement about the child himself – that the child is “bad” and even responsible for the pain and suffering not only to himself, but to his parents as well. These emotional wounds may influence the personality of the child, even as he grows into an adult. In this way, the dog attack truly affects the child victim for life.
Legal Advice for Dog Bite Victims
If your child has been attacked by a dog, the consequences of such an attack can last for years, both in bodily injuries, scars and emotional problems.
If the dog bite happened because of someone's negligence, you may be able to sue the negligent party for your child's injuries and pain. Talk to a Boston dog bite attorney at the Kiley Law Group for a FREE legal evaluation of your accident case.
Call 1-888-208-1695 for a Free Consultation today.
