Any kind of injury or illness can come with expenses that hurt your finances. However, dog bite attacks often proved to be far more financially devastating than people expect.



What at first seemed like a minor issue may eventually result in thousands of dollars in medical expenses and lost wages. What makes dog bite attacks so expensive?

Dog bites can easily become infected

Dogs have notoriously disgusting dietary habits. They will eat garbage, including plainly rotten food. They will eat excrement, vomit or even afterbirth from other animals. You have no way of knowing what a dog may have had in its mouth before it bit you.



Additionally, puncture wounds from canine teeth often go deep enough to make them difficult to clean, increasing the risk of a serious infection that requires medical intervention.

Dog attacks often lead to trauma

For many people, especially children, the physical injuries from a dog attack will pale in comparison to the psychological trauma. Victims may require years of counseling before they can truly overcome the consequences of the animal attack.

They often result in disfiguring wounds

Between the risk of infection in the deep and often torn nature of the wound itself, dog bites frequently require reconstructive plastic surgery. In 2018, almost 27,000 people had to undergo reconstructive surgery as the result of a dog bite attack.

These procedures can cost tens of thousands of dollars. You may need to file an insurance claim against the animal’s owner or even explore a civil lawsuit to cover those costs. Being realistic about the potential expenses of a dog bite attack can help you decide what steps to take in the aftermath of one.