Dog Attack Victim Impact Statement Example

This is a fictional example of a victim impact statement written after a serious dog attack. We wrote it to show what a finished statement can look like when it follows the ten sections used in the Justice Draft guided form.

In this example, Fiona was attacked by an unrestrained dog while walking her own dog near her home. She was badly injured and her dog needed surgery. Depending on your state, a statement like this may be used in criminal proceedings or in matters brought by a local council under dog control laws.

If reading about a dog attack feels too close to home right now, it is okay to stop and come back later.

Victim Impact Statement of Fiona Bennett

This is a fictional example created by Justice Draft. All names, people and events are invented.

How I felt at the time

I was walking my dog Ollie along our street on a Saturday morning. It was the same walk we had done for ten years. A large dog came through an open gate ahead of us and ran straight at him. I picked Ollie up without thinking. The dog jumped at me and latched onto my right forearm. It pulled me to the ground and would not let go. I was screaming for help and trying to keep Ollie against my chest. I honestly believed it would not stop until one of us was dead. A neighbour ran over and managed to drag the dog away. I sat on the road holding Ollie, covered in blood, shaking so hard I could not stand. The attack lasted less than a minute. It did not feel like that. It felt like the longest moments of my life.

Emotional wellbeing

I have not felt like myself since that morning. I have nightmares most weeks. In them I can hear the growling and I cannot get up off the ground. During the day, sudden barking makes my heart pound and my whole body go cold. I have started seeing a psychologist. She tells me these are normal trauma responses and that they should ease with treatment. Some days I believe her. I cry more than I used to. I snap over small things, then feel terrible about it. I keep replaying those few seconds and asking what I could have done differently. I know the answer is nothing. It does not stop the question.

Relationships

My husband Mark has carried so much this year. He walks Ollie now because I cannot. He wakes with me when the nightmares come. He has watched me change and I know it hurts him. I have pulled away from friends too. Two of my closest friends have big, gentle dogs I have known for years. I have not been inside their homes since the attack. I keep making excuses. My sister says I have gone quiet. She is right.

Physical health

The dog's teeth tore through the muscle in my right forearm. I needed surgery to repair the damage and spent four nights in hospital, two of them on a drip for infection. I have a scar running from my wrist to my elbow. There is nerve damage. Two of my fingers are partly numb and my grip is weak. I am right handed. I do physiotherapy every week and exercises at home every day. My surgeon says my grip may keep improving over the next year. The numbness is likely permanent.

Financial impact

I work as a hairdresser. For almost three months I could not hold a pair of scissors, so I could not work at all. I am back part time now, but my hand tires quickly and I see fewer clients than before. My income has dropped by about a third. On top of the lost wages there were gap fees for surgery, weekly physiotherapy and psychologist sessions. Ollie needed surgery too. His vet bills came to more than four thousand dollars. We have gone through most of our savings.

Daily life and routine

I walked every morning for ten years. It was my exercise, my time to think, and the way I started every day. I have not walked our street since the attack. I drive to places I used to walk to. If I see a dog ahead of me, even on a lead, I cross the road or turn back. I check that gates are closed before I pass them. Everyday tasks are harder as well. Opening jars, blow drying hair, carrying shopping bags in my right hand. Things that used to be automatic now take planning.

Sense of safety

I do not feel safe in my own neighbourhood any more. I have lived on this street for sixteen years and it always felt friendly. Now my body treats it as the place where I was hurt. The sound of a dog hitting a fence makes me freeze. Getting the mail takes courage if I can hear barking nearby. I know most dogs are safe. Knowing it does not help. My sense of safety was not just shaken that morning. It was taken.

Spiritual and cultural wellbeing

I am not religious, but my morning walks were the closest thing I had to quiet reflection. That was where I sorted through my worries and noticed the good in my life. Losing the walks has meant losing that stillness. I am trying to find it in other ways. I have not found it yet.

Who I was before this happened

Before the attack I was confident and busy. I walked five kilometres most mornings. I organised the Christmas drinks on our street every year. I was the person who said hello to every dog we passed and knew most of their names. I loved my work and my hands never let me down. When I look at photos from last year, I feel like I am looking at a different woman.

What I want the court or assessor to know

I do not write this out of hatred for the dog. Dogs behave the way they are kept and managed. The gate it escaped through had been broken for months. I want the owner to understand what that morning cost me. My health, part of my income, my sleep and my sense of safety on the street where I live. Ollie survived, but he flinches at things that never worried him before. So do I. I ask the court to make orders that protect other people. Next time it could be a child who cannot lift their dog out of the way, or an older person who cannot get back up. I want to walk my own street again one day and feel like it belongs to me.