Maryland’s pit bull laws are mostly breed-neutral at the state level: the dog bite statute treats every owner the same, and liability turns on your dog’s behavior rather than its breed. The one major exception is Prince George’s County, which on February 2, 2026 replaced its decades-old ownership ban with a permit system under County Bill CB-97-2025. If your dog bites someone anywhere in the state, you face a rebuttable presumption that you knew the dog was dangerous, mandatory quarantine, and potential designation as a dangerous dog owner with strict confinement rules going forward.
Prince George’s County Permit Requirements
Prince George’s County banned pit bull ownership for nearly 30 years. That ban is gone. American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, and Staffordshire Bull Terriers are now legal to own and adopt in the county, but only if you comply with a specific permit program.1Prince George’s County Government. Prince George’s County Allows Legal Ownership and Adoption of Pit Bull-Type Terriers Under New Law
To keep a pit bull in the county legally, you need to:
- Get an annual pit bull permit for $25, on top of the regular county dog license fee.
- Microchip the dog and submit proof with the application.
- Spay or neuter the dog, unless it is used in approved exhibitions and you have documentation.
- Complete the PGC Pet Parenting Class online (up to an hour) and score at least 70% to earn the certificate of completion.
- Sign the Responsibility Agreement that comes with the permit application.
- Provide proof of current rabies vaccination.
Reporting deadlines are tight. If your dog escapes, goes missing, or bites someone, you have 8 hours to contact Animal Services. If the dog dies, changes ownership, or moves to a new address, you have 24 hours. Animal Services can also inspect your home at reasonable times with notice to check health, safety, and compliance.2Prince George’s County Government. Pit Bull Program and Permits
Owning a pit bull without a permit costs $300. Breaking the permit rules costs another $300 per violation.2Prince George’s County Government. Pit Bull Program and Permits
Statewide Liability If Your Dog Bites Someone
Maryland’s dog bite liability statute, Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 3-1901, applies to every breed. When a dog injures or kills a person, the law presumes the owner knew or should have known the dog had dangerous tendencies. That presumption is rebuttable: you can fight it, but the burden shifts to you to prove either that your dog had no history of vicious behavior or that you had no reasonable way to know about any dangerous tendencies.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Courts and Judicial Proceedings 3-1901
This breed-neutral rule was a legislative response to Tracey v. Solesky (2012), where the Maryland Court of Appeals had declared pit bulls “inherently dangerous” and imposed automatic liability on pit bull owners. Section 3-1901 replaced that separate standard with the rebuttable presumption that now applies to every dog.
One provision to watch: the strict liability language in § 3-1901(c) kicks in when a dog causes injury “while running at large.” If your dog is properly restrained on your property when a bite occurs, the case may fall under common law negligence instead, which gives you more room to argue you were not at fault. The rebuttable presumption in § 3-1901(a) still applies to any personal injury or death action, no matter where the bite happened.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Courts and Judicial Proceedings 3-1901
Maryland does not cap damages in dog bite cases. A court or jury can award medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering with no statutory ceiling.
Defenses That Can Block a Claim
Section 3-1901 carves out three situations where the owner is not liable even if the dog was running at large. You are not liable if the person injured was trespassing or committing another crime on your property, was committing a crime against anyone, or was provoking the dog by teasing, tormenting, or abusing it.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Courts and Judicial Proceedings 3-1901
Maryland’s contributory negligence rule adds another powerful defense. Maryland is one of a small number of states where a victim who bears even slight fault for their own injuries can be completely barred from recovering. Reaching into a fenced yard, ignoring warning signs, or interfering with a leashed dog can potentially defeat the entire claim under common law negligence. Under the strict liability framework, the provocation defense in § 3-1901 functions as a comparable bar. The statute also preserves other common law causes of action and defenses.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Courts and Judicial Proceedings 3-1901
Quarantine and Dangerous Dog Designation After a Bite
Any dog that bites someone in Maryland must be quarantined for at least 10 days from the date of the bite, in a place and manner approved by the local health officer. This applies to all dogs regardless of breed or vaccination history, and the owner pays for the veterinary examination and quarantine costs.4Maryland Register. COMAR 10.06.02.07 – Disposition of Animals Following Bite or Non-Bite Contact
Maryland uses a two-tier classification for problem dogs. A local animal control authority can designate a dog as “potentially dangerous” if it has bitten a person, killed or seriously injured a domestic animal while off the owner’s property, or attacked without provocation. The authority must notify the owner in writing with the reasons. A dog moves up to the “dangerous” category if it kills or severely injures a person without provocation, or if it was already designated potentially dangerous and then bites someone, seriously injures a domestic animal off the owner’s property, or attacks without provocation again.5Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Criminal Law Code 10-619 – Dangerous Dog
Once your dog is designated dangerous, the rules tighten. You cannot leave the dog unattended on your property unless it is confined indoors, kept in a securely enclosed and locked pen, or held in another structure designed to prevent escape. Off your property, the dog must be both leashed and muzzled. If you sell or give the dog away, you must notify the designating authority with the new owner’s name and address, and you must inform the new owner in writing about the dog’s dangerous history.5Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Criminal Law Code 10-619 – Dangerous Dog
Criminal Penalties and Fines
Violating the dangerous dog requirements under Criminal Law § 10-619 is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $2,500. The statute does not authorize jail time for this offense.5Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Criminal Law Code 10-619 – Dangerous Dog If a dog causes serious injury or death and the owner’s conduct rises to recklessness or criminal negligence, prosecutors can pursue charges under other criminal statutes.
Local fines vary. Baltimore County, for example, fines up to $1,000 for dangerous animal violations, up to $500 for menacing animal violations, and $30 for nuisance animals. Failure to license a dog by four months of age draws a $100 fine there.6Baltimore County Government. Report Violations of Animal Laws Courts can also order euthanasia of a dog deemed a continuing threat in severe cases.
Renting With a Pit Bull
Maryland law does not prohibit landlords from banning pit bulls in their rental properties. Many landlords impose breed restrictions because their own insurance policies exclude coverage for certain breeds or charge higher premiums. An unauthorized pit bull can lead to eviction under a lease violation.
Landlords who allow pit bulls carry their own liability risk. In Matthews v. Amberwood Associates (1998), the Maryland Court of Appeals held a landlord liable after a tenant’s Staffordshire bull terrier attacked a child in the tenant’s apartment, reasoning that the landlord had control over the premises through the lease’s no-pets clause and failed to enforce it. The standard from that case: a landlord has a duty of care when they have actual knowledge of a dangerous animal on the property and the ability to remove it by enforcing the lease.7Maryland Courts. Matthews v. Amberwood Associates Limited Partnership
Under § 3-1901(b), the pre-April 2012 common law standard governs claims against non-owners like landlords, without regard to breed. Landlords cannot be held to the heightened pit bull-specific standard from Tracey v. Solesky, but traditional negligence still applies if they knew about a dangerous dog and did nothing.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Courts and Judicial Proceedings 3-1901
Service and Assistance Animals
Breed bans in rental housing do not apply if your pit bull is a trained service animal or an assistance animal for a disability. Under the Fair Housing Act, housing providers must grant reasonable accommodations for assistance animals, and breed or weight restrictions cannot be used to refuse. A landlord can only deny the request if the specific animal poses a direct threat backed by evidence such as documented aggressive behavior.8U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Assistance Animals
To request the accommodation you generally need reliable documentation from a healthcare provider establishing your disability and your need for the animal, unless both are readily apparent. The landlord cannot demand medical records, a specific diagnosis, or notarized statements, and must engage in an interactive process before issuing a final denial.
Insurance Exposure
Because Maryland places no cap on damages in dog bite cases, insurance coverage matters. Many homeowners and renters policies either refuse to cover pit bull owners or exclude dog bite liability entirely. Without coverage, a court award comes out of your own assets.
Some major insurers use a breed-neutral approach. State Farm and USAA evaluate dogs based on individual behavior and bite history rather than breed. Others require breed-specific liability waivers or decline coverage. Maryland has not passed a law prohibiting insurers from using breed as an underwriting factor.
If your standard policy excludes pit bulls, standalone canine liability policies are available from specialty insurers and typically cover bite claims and related legal costs. Premiums vary based on coverage limits, the dog’s history, and location, but most pit bull owners should expect somewhere in the range of a few hundred dollars annually. Against a serious bite claim that can easily reach five or six figures, that math usually favors carrying the coverage.
Local Ordinances
Prince George’s County has the only breed-specific ownership rule in the state, but individual cities and counties across Maryland enforce their own animal control ordinances that apply to pit bull owners along with everyone else. These commonly include leash requirements, licensing mandates, fencing or signage rules, and specific requirements for dogs designated dangerous or menacing. Local rules change, so checking with your county or city animal control office is the reliable way to stay current. A dog that’s perfectly legal to own under state law can still trigger additional local requirements where you live.