If you were injured in a dog attack in Los Angeles, California law puts the owner on the hook for your damages whether or not that dog had ever bitten anyone before, and you have two years from the date of the bite to file a lawsuit.1California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 335.1 Most claims are paid by the owner’s homeowners or renters insurance, and the national average payout reached $69,272 in 2024.2Insurance Information Institute. Spotlight on Dog Bite Liability What you do in the days after the bite shapes how much of that you actually recover.
What to Do in the First Hours
Medical care comes before everything else. Dog bites carry serious infection risk, including from bacteria like Pasteurella and Capnocytophaga, and puncture wounds can look small on the surface while causing deep tissue damage underneath. Go to an emergency room or urgent care even if the wound seems minor. ER visits for dog bites run roughly $1,500 to $5,000 for treatment alone, and hospitalizations climb significantly higher.
Once you’re treated, work through the rest in order:
- Identify the dog and the owner. Get the owner’s full name, address, and phone number. Ask for their homeowners or renters insurance carrier. Photograph the dog and any visible tags or license.
- Call 911 for an active emergency. Otherwise, report the bite to LA Animal Services at 888-452-7381 or through the city’s MyLA311 system.3Los Angeles Animal Services. Contact Us4City of Los Angeles. Animal Services
- Document the scene. Photograph your injuries, the location, torn clothing, and anything else nearby that explains what happened. Get names and numbers from witnesses while they’re still around. Write down the exact time and address.
- Preserve the clothing you were wearing. Don’t wash it or throw it out. Torn fabric, blood, and even trace DNA on material that looks undamaged can later identify the specific animal and show the force of the attack.
Reporting the Bite to LA Animal Services
A report to Animal Services creates the official record insurance companies and courts rely on. An animal control officer investigates, verifies the dog’s vaccination status, and checks whether the animal has prior complaints or designations on file. You’ll get a case number. Use it in every later communication about the injury, whether with the insurer, your attorney, or the city.
The Rabies Quarantine
California requires any dog that bites a person to be isolated and observed for at least 10 days. The quarantine can take place at a pound, a veterinary hospital, or another facility approved by the local health officer. If a licensed veterinarian certifies after at least five days that the animal shows no symptoms of disease, the health officer can release the dog early. In areas with officially declared rabies activity, the full quarantine is mandatory.5Legal Information Institute. Cal Code Regs Tit 17, 2606 – Rabies, Animal The veterinary records this generates become part of the paper trail supporting your claim.
Who Pays, and How Much
Most dog bite claims are paid through the owner’s homeowners or renters insurance policy. Standard policies typically include liability coverage from $100,000 to $300,000, with some going higher.2Insurance Information Institute. Spotlight on Dog Bite Liability Insurers prefer to settle rather than face a jury, where awards are harder to predict.
In California you can recover:
- Emergency treatment, surgery, physical therapy, and anticipated future medical care.
- Wages lost during recovery, plus future earning capacity if the injury causes lasting limitations.
- Pain and suffering for the physical injury and the disruption to your daily life.
- Emotional distress, including anxiety, PTSD, or lasting fear of dogs. Adjusters undervalue this in nearly every initial offer.
- Scarring and disfigurement, particularly for bites to the face and hands.
Evidence That Moves an Adjuster
The strongest claims are built from documentation gathered close to the attack. Emergency room intake forms, treatment notes, surgical records, prescriptions, and follow-up visits set the dollar value. Photos of your injuries at different stages of healing show what the written record can’t. Witness statements, the Animal Services case number, medical bills, pharmacy receipts, missed-work records, and the preserved clothing round it out. Insurance companies process organized claims faster, and gaps in the record give adjusters reasons to lower an offer.
When the Owner Has No Insurance
If the owner carries no policy or the limits don’t cover your losses, you can pursue their personal assets or any umbrella coverage they hold. Severe cases involving disfigurement or long-term disability regularly reach policy limits. An uninsured owner makes recovery slower, and you may end up with a judgment you have to enforce.
Breed Exclusions
Some insurers refuse to cover certain breeds they consider high-risk, including pit bulls, rottweilers, German shepherds, and chow chows, among others. The excluded list varies by carrier. If the dog that bit you belongs to an excluded breed, the owner’s policy may deny the claim entirely, leaving you in the same spot as with an uninsured owner. More than two dozen states have passed laws restricting breed-based insurance discrimination, but California has not, so these exclusions remain common in Los Angeles.
The Strict Liability Rule
California Civil Code Section 3342 makes a dog’s owner liable for damages any time the dog bites someone who is either in a public place or lawfully on private property. The owner’s knowledge of the dog’s temperament is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter that the dog never growled at anyone before, that it was leashed, or that the owner took every reasonable precaution. A bite happened, and the owner pays.6California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 3342 – Liability of Owner of Biting Dog
“Lawfully on private property” covers invited guests, delivery workers, mail carriers, utility employees, and anyone else there with permission or performing legally required duties. Trespassers fall outside the statute and must prove the owner was negligent, which is a harder case. The only other statutory carve-out shields government agencies using police or military dogs during official duties, and even that exception disappears if the bite victim wasn’t involved in whatever prompted the deployment.6California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 3342 – Liability of Owner of Biting Dog
Defenses the Insurer Will Raise
Strict liability sounds absolute, but courts recognize defenses that can shrink or eliminate recovery. Adjusters know them well.
Provocation. If you teased, kicked, or cornered the dog, the owner can argue you caused your own injury. Courts treat provocation like comparative negligence, asking whether the dog’s reaction was a justifiable response to what you were doing to it. A child pulling a dog’s tail is the classic example.
Comparative fault. California uses pure comparative negligence, so your recovery shrinks by whatever percentage of fault a jury assigns to you. Thirty percent at fault means thirty percent off the top. This applies even in strict liability cases.
Assumption of risk. If you knowingly put yourself in a situation where a bite was foreseeable, such as reaching into a kennel to pet a snarling dog, the owner may argue you accepted the risk. The question is what a reasonable person would have done in your position.
When a Landlord May Also Be Liable
Section 3342 applies only to the dog’s owner. But if a tenant’s dog attacks you on a rental property, the landlord may be liable under a negligence theory. The question is whether the landlord knew, or should have known, that the dog was dangerous and failed to act.
Prior bite incidents on the property, complaints from other tenants about aggressive behavior, or a landlord allowing a dog that violates breed or size restrictions in the lease can all establish that knowledge. A landlord who ignored those warnings can be held responsible alongside the owner. A landlord who had no reason to know and enforced reasonable pet policies typically is not. This matters when the dog’s owner is uninsured, because landlords often carry larger policies.
The Two-Year Deadline to File Suit
You have two years from the date of the bite to file a personal injury lawsuit in California. Miss that deadline and the court will almost certainly dismiss the case regardless of its strength.1California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 335.1
For children, the clock is generally tolled until the minor turns 18, giving them until their 20th birthday to file. Two years feels like plenty of time until it isn’t. Insurance negotiations can run for months, and if they fall apart you need enough runway to file suit before the deadline. Starting the process within weeks of the bite, not months, gives you the most leverage.
Criminal Charges the Owner May Face
Civil recovery is one track; criminal prosecution is another. Under Penal Code Section 399, an owner who knows a dog is dangerous and fails to use ordinary care to control it faces felony charges if the dog kills someone, and misdemeanor or felony charges if the dog causes serious bodily injury. In both situations the victim must have taken reasonable precautions given the circumstances.7California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 399 A separate statute, Penal Code Section 399.5, targets owners of dogs trained to fight, attack, or kill, with penalties of up to four years in state prison and fines up to $10,000.8California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 399.5
A criminal conviction doesn’t replace your civil claim. It can strengthen it, because the conviction establishes facts the owner can no longer dispute.