Pet owners are being advised to check their insurance cover encase their dog carries out an attack.
New figures from the Personal Injuries Assessment Board show dog bites have resulted in payouts of nearly €200,000 in some cases.
Over the last five years, more than 1,700 attacks were reported to Gardaí.
According to the board, 169 injury claims were made in the last two years alone.
Senior Solicitor Liam Crowley explains the extent to which a dog owner could be liable.
"Typically speaking with a dog attack, you're looking at either a psychological injury or more commonly scarring.
"It can be anywhere between €1,000 at the very lowest for very minor scarring all the way up to €200,000 for the most severe facial scarring.
"That's only for your general damages and that excludes any special damages."
Liam also says it's worth checking if an attack's covered through home insurance.
"I myself wanted to insure my own dog so I contacted my own home insurance to find out if we were covered.
"I was surprised when they said yes, we were covered but you're not covered if you have a tradesman on your property and the dog attacks that tradesman.
"That was surprising so I got additional cover as a result of that."
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