New York City Dog Bite Lawyer: Protecting Your Rights After an Attack

Approximately 4,000 dog bites are reported each year in New York City. To put this figure in context, there are around 50,000 NYC motor vehicle injury crashes each year, 12,000 pedestrian injuries and 4,000 bicyclist injuries.

Because New Yorkers own dogs at a lower rate than the national average, nationwide dog bite statistics are a better gauge of the problem. Across the United States, an estimated 4.5 million dog bites occur annually. In terms of annual emergency room (ER) visits, dog bite accidents (330,000 annual ER visits) send more people to the ER each year than accidents involving playground equipment, ATVs, horseback riding and skateboards.

The “one bite” rule has its roots in English common law. In earlier times, the law allowed a domestic animal to bite its first victim without consequences. Today, this is not necessarily the case. A dog owner is no longer allowed one “free dog bite” if it can be shown that the owner knew or should have known that the dog had dangerous propensities.

Proving the dog was dangerous or vicious can be tricky because there are no standard criteria. The court has discretion and will weigh available evidence. A prior bite would be strong evidence, but even showing that the dog previously acted aggressively – growling, snarling, baring its teeth at people or lunging at people – may suffice.

A “dangerous” dog in New York is one that has been declared as such by a judge following a formal complaint with the municipality. Complaints may be made to an animal control or police officer by anyone who “witnesses an attack or threatened attack upon a person, companion animal, farm animal, or domestic animal.”

A dog deemed “dangerous” by a judge may be subject to several corrective measures, including muzzling in public and neutering or spaying at the owner’s expense.

Under New York law, the owner of a “dangerous” dog may be held strictly liable for a bite victim’s medical costs. This means that the victim does not have to demonstrate the owner did anything wrong in order to be compensated for his or her bite-related medical bills and other losses.

A dog owner may not be held liable for a bite injury in cases in which:

• A dog was protecting itself, its owner, its offspring, a member of its household or another domestic animal.
• The bite victim was committing a crime upon the owner of the dog or upon the owner’s property.
• The victim tormented, abused, or threatened the dog or its offspring.
• The dog was sick or injured.

In New York, in order to collect dog-bite damages beyond medical bills, you need to prove that the owner was negligent. In other words, you need to show that the owner did something wrong or failed to do something he or she should have done.

Violation of an NYC municipal dog ordinance – such as the leash law – may be used as evidence of negligence, but does not constitute negligence per se.

Based on previous New York court rulings, a landlord may be held liable for a tenant’s biting dog if the landlord knew about the dog and the landlord knew the dog had vicious propensities.

Note that the landlord must have “actual” knowledge of these conditions. It’s not enough to claim that a landlord “should have known” about the presence of the dog and its vicious tendencies.

The dog’s owner may be responsible, but your own actions also may affect liability. For example, if you did not properly restrain your dog on a leash, and this allowed the dog fight to occur, you may bear some liability as well.

Also keep in mind that in cases of dog self-defense, the owner isn’t always liable. So if your dog was the aggressor and the other person’s dog bit you, self-defense might be claimed.

No. In fact, New York statutes prohibit laws that ban ownership of certain dog breeds, such as pit bulls. Despite this, some New York municipalities, including Hempstead and Yonkers, have breed-specific laws on their books.

You have 3 years from the date the attack occurred to file a lawsuit against the dog’s owner. It’s best not to wait until the last minute to file suit, however. The sooner you consult with a lawyer and get legal proceedings moving, the better.

Report all dog bites to the Department of Health or call 311 as soon as possible after the bite occurs. New York City follows a practice whereby dogs that bite are observed at home for 10 days for signs of rabies.

Every case is different and recovery depends on the value of a claimant’s losses. The greater the extent of injury, the greater the potential for a large settlement or verdict.

Research by healthcare and insurance industry experts provides some frame of reference for dog bite claim value. According to a study of hospital inpatient stays and emergency room visits, the average cost of a dog bite-related hospital stay (adjusted for inflation) is $20,000. The Insurance Information Institute, on the other hand, says that the average value of a dog bite-related homeowner’s insurance claim is just under $30,000.