If you love animals, you might not feel right about seeking compensation for a dog bite. Still, a loving pet owner takes the time to discipline and control that four-legged friend. An adult should not have dog, unless he or she feels ready to control that same canine.
In other words, the victim of a dog bite should not hesitate to seek a fair compensation. The victim’s quest for that compensation ought to begin just as soon as the dog’s teeth have released the bitten section of the attacked child or adult. Here are the actions that the victim or the victim’s parents must take.
Keep a record of the injuries
As mentioned, the victim should see a doctor just as soon as possible. If necessary, the victim should not hesitate to walk into a hospital emergency room. The medical records will help to substantiate the victim’s claims, regarding the serious nature of the dog bite.
Still, it always helps to have more than just the medical records. A personal injury lawyer in Sherwood Park can advocate better for you, if you have made a point of keeping a journal. The journal should indicate the extent to which the bitten area has become a problem, as you seek to carry out your daily tasks.
Establish the cost to you of time away from work
Collect papers that show what you normally get paid. If you work for yourself, you must show proof of the amount of money that you can expect to make on an average day. Then calculate the amount of time that you spent recovering, time when you could have been working.
Determine the expenses that have resulted from your pain and suffering
This would include both your actual pain and your mental anguish. If someone has criticized you for seeking compensation for a dog bite, then that would certainly add to your mental anguish. You do not harm an animal just because you want to be compensated for the way that some animal has harmed you.
You deserve compensation for all the emotional stress caused by the dog bite.
You might not admit to feeling stressed, but you may exhibits signs of stress. Are you having nightmares? Are you finding it hard to go to sleep each night? Are you experiencing flashbacks?
Perhaps you have developed a fear of animals. A phobia is a mental sickness. It can be treated, but you must sacrifice some of your time, in order to benefit from such treatment. Your time is valuable; that is one reason why you ought to go after your compensation.
Will you see daily reminders of the unfortunate incident?
Has a scar formed in the area where the dog attacked you? If that is the case, you will have to look at a daily reminder of that traumatic event. Furthermore, the scar may have made that one area of your body much less attractive.