Dog Bite While Protecting a Pet in Northeastern Maryland: How the Owner’s Competing Story Was Overcome

What happened?

Our client was walking her dog through her neighborhood with a friend. Two people in a nearby yard called them over to see her dog. The owner’s dog was behind a temporary gate.

Our client noticed the dog seemed agitated and started to back away. It got past the gate and went after her dog. She stepped in to protect her pet and was bitten in the face and ear. She was knocked to the ground and may have briefly blacked out.

A friend drove her to the ER that night. The hospital reported the bite, and sheriff’s deputies went to speak with the owner. Animal control never wrote a formal report.

The owner’s insurance company called her before she’d hired a lawyer. She came to us within a week.

What injuries did our client suffer?

She had a deep cut to her cheek and a complex cut to her ear that went through the cartilage. She also had soft-tissue injury and swelling around her eye and a bruised lower leg.

A CT scan of her head and face showed swelling around the eye but no fracture and no brain injury. An X-ray of her leg was normal.

She had no relevant prior injuries and had never made an injury claim before.

The lasting injury was scarring. Her cheek and ear healed with raised scars. Her plastic surgeon discussed steroid injections or scar revision if home treatment didn’t help. By about seven months, the scars had improved enough that she was satisfied, and more treatment wasn’t needed. She believed she might never wear an earring in that ear again.

No formal impairment rating was given. That’s common with scarring cases, where the injury is about appearance rather than lost function.

What treatment did our client need?

She went to the ER the same night. From there, her care looked like this:

ER care: CT scans, an X-ray, 21 stitches to her cheek and ear, and antibiotics

A plastic surgeon for stitch removal and scar follow-ups over about three months

An ear, nose, and throat doctor for the ear cartilage injury

Silicone scar treatment at home until about seven months after the bite

That was about five provider visits in three months, with no gaps in her care.

Her health insurance paid most of her medical bills. The owner’s homeowner’s policy also had a separate medical payments benefit, which paid out in full.

When she worried about her scars, Jason Plotkin joined a call to talk it through. We advised her to give the scars time to heal before deciding on more treatment.

The practical takeaway: Let your scars heal before you settle. How a scar looks months later is a big part of what the claim is worth.

How did the injuries affect our client’s life and work?

She missed about a week of work on her doctor’s orders. Her job had her dealing with people face to face, which made going back with a fresh facial wound harder. We got her lost-time records from her employer.

The bigger change was fear. Walking her own dog became stressful. She was afraid to let her dog near other dogs and got anxious hearing dogs bark. Her dog changed too, becoming less friendly with other dogs.

In the early months, she was self-conscious about the scars on her face. She also had a vet bill for her dog and paid for her own scar products.

In Maryland, an injured person can generally seek medical expenses, lost earnings, and non-economic damages such as pain, suffering, and disfigurement. A pet’s vet bills can generally be claimed as well. With low medical bills, the scarring and the fear she lived with became the heart of this claim.

What made this case difficult?

The biggest obstacle was a competing story. The owner told the insurance company that our client walked up uninvited and that her face was cut when she fell between the dogs, not from bites.

If the insurer believed that, the claim could shrink or disappear. In Maryland, a dog bite claim can be challenged if the owner argues the injured person provoked the dog or was at fault.

Other problems stacked on top:

Low medical bills. Her treatment was short and inexpensive compared with the scarring.

A good recovery. Her scars improved, which the insurer could use to argue the case was worth less.

No animal control report.

A two-month delay. The insurer wouldn’t make an offer until it got current scar photos.

A low first offer, half of what the case finally settled for.

We had to prove how the injury happened before we could argue what it was worth.

How did we handle it?

Took over insurer contact on day one. We called the insurer back for her and sent a letter of representation the same day.

Pushed back on the fall story right away. We told the adjuster her facial injuries didn’t match a fall.

Interviewed the eyewitness. Her friend confirmed the owner’s household had called them over, the dog got past the gate, our client fell on grass, and the wounds were bite marks.

Got the official records. The deputies’ call report showed the bite was reported from the ER that night. The ER records documented bites, not fall injuries.

Documented every loss: time off work, her dog’s vet bill, and scar product receipts.

Sent the demand once treatment ended, then supplied current scar photos when asked.

Confirmed the coverage. The owner’s policy limit was well above the claim’s value, which made it safer to push back on a low offer.

Countered firmly. We answered the first offer with a counter at more than double it, then negotiated through two more rounds.

Collected the medical payments benefit on top of the settlement.

The turning point was the witness. Her friend’s account plus the ER records took the fall story off the table. After that, the only question was what her scars were worth, and the insurer moved to double its first offer in about three weeks.

What was the result?

The case settled before any lawsuit for double the insurer’s first offer. She also received the policy’s separate medical payments benefit, and her dog’s vet bill and out-of-pocket costs were covered.

Every case is different. Our past results are no assurance that we will reach a favorable result in any future case.

What this means if you’re in a similar situation

You don’t have to talk to the dog owner’s insurance company. Let your lawyer handle those calls.

Get the names of anyone who saw the attack. An independent witness can shut down a story that you fell or provoked the dog.

See a doctor right away. Early records that describe bite wounds carry a lot of weight.

Watch the clock. Maryland generally gives you three years from the bite to file a personal injury lawsuit.

How much of the settlement will I actually take home?

It depends on the fee agreement, case costs, and whether any insurer has a right to be repaid. Before our client signed anything, we walked her through each offer and the settlement sheet line by line, so she knew exactly what she would receive.