Dog Bites 8 min read
Dog bites are more serious and more common than most people realize. Harris County animal control fields thousands of reports every year, and the medical, emotional, and cosmetic consequences can last a lifetime, especially for children. Insurance carriers, who pay most dog bite claims through the owner's homeowners or renters policy, routinely lowball victims who do not know their rights. This guide explains Texas dog bite law in plain English and walks you through the steps that protect your claim.
Texas does not have a strict liability dog bite statute the way some states do. Instead, the state follows two overlapping legal theories. The first, often called the one bite rule, comes from the Texas Supreme Court decision in Marshall v. Ranne. Under this rule, an owner is liable if they knew or should have known that their dog had dangerous tendencies, for example because it had previously bitten, lunged, or shown aggression.
The second theory is ordinary negligence. Even if a dog has never bitten before, an owner can be held liable for failing to use reasonable care, for instance by violating Houston's leash ordinance, ignoring a posted warning, or letting a dog run loose in a public park. Most successful Houston dog bite cases are built on a combination of both theories.
In plain English: you do not have to prove the dog was a known biter to recover. You only have to prove that a reasonable owner in the same situation would have done something differently to prevent the attack.
Dog bite injuries range from deep lacerations and puncture wounds to nerve damage, broken bones, and severe scarring. Puncture wounds are particularly dangerous because they appear small on the surface while driving bacteria deep into the tissue, frequently causing serious infections like cellulitis or, in worst cases, sepsis.
Children face the highest risk. Because of their height, most child bites occur on the face, neck, and scalp, and require pediatric plastic surgery and years of follow up care. The emotional trauma, including post traumatic stress, anxiety around animals, and sleep disruption, is just as real as the physical injury and is fully compensable under Texas law.
Get medical attention immediately. Even a bite that looks minor can become infected within hours, and a same day visit creates the medical record your claim depends on. Tell the provider exactly how the bite happened and ask them to document every wound.
Identify the dog and its owner. Get the owner's name, address, phone number, and homeowners or renters insurance information if they will provide it. Photograph the dog if you can do so safely. Then report the bite to BARC, the City of Houston's animal control agency, which is required by ordinance and starts the rabies observation process.
Document everything else: photographs of your injuries at each stage of healing, the clothing you were wearing, the location of the attack, and the names and contact information of any witnesses. Do not accept an early settlement offer from the owner or their insurer. Initial offers are almost always a fraction of what the case is worth, and once you sign a release, the case is over.
The dog's owner is the primary defendant in most cases, and recovery typically comes through their homeowners or renters insurance policy, which usually includes liability coverage for dog bites. In some cases, a property owner or landlord can also be liable if they knew a dangerous dog was living on the premises and failed to take reasonable action.
Commercial property owners, including apartment complexes, daycares, and dog walking services, can also be held responsible when their negligence creates the conditions for an attack. Identifying every responsible party is one of the most important parts of a Houston dog bite lawyer's job, because it directly affects the amount of insurance coverage available to pay your claim.
Texas law lets dog bite victims recover the full range of economic and non economic damages. That includes emergency care, surgery, plastic and reconstructive procedures, scar revision, infection treatment, and any future medical care related to the bite. Lost wages, lost earning capacity, and the cost of mental health treatment are also recoverable.
Non economic damages, which include pain and suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress, and disfigurement, often make up the largest part of a dog bite award, especially in cases involving children or visible scarring. When an owner's conduct was grossly negligent, for example knowingly keeping a dog with a history of attacks, punitive damages may also be available.
You have two years from the date of the bite to file a personal injury lawsuit in Texas. Claims involving a government entity, for example a bite by a police K9 or an attack on government property, can have notice deadlines as short as six months under the Texas Tort Claims Act.
Waiting hurts your case in ways that go beyond the deadline. Witnesses move, scars heal in ways that are harder to document later, animal control records age out, and the insurer gains every argument that your injuries were not really that serious. The sooner you talk to a Houston dog bite attorney, the stronger your case will be.
Mehdipour & Mehdipour is a Houston personal injury firm based in the Galleria. We take dog bite cases on contingency, which means there is no fee unless we recover for you, and the initial consultation is always free. Our team is bilingual in Farsi and Spanish so we can communicate clearly with every client and every family.
We treat dog bite cases with the seriousness they deserve. We investigate the dog's history, identify every potentially liable party, work with medical and mental health experts to document the full impact of the attack, and pursue maximum compensation in negotiation or at trial.
If you or your child was bitten by a dog in Houston, call Mehdipour & Mehdipour at (346) 649-9495 for a free, confidential case evaluation, or reach out through our contact page. You pay nothing unless we win.
We help dog bite victims across Houston and the surrounding communities, including the Galleria, Bellaire, West University, Sugar Land, Katy, Pearland, and The Woodlands. For more on the full range of injury matters we handle, visit our practice areas page.
Yes, Texas follows the one bite rule under Marshall v. Ranne, but victims can also recover under ordinary negligence, including violations of Houston's leash ordinance. You do not have to prove the dog had bitten before to win your case.
In most cases, the dog owner's homeowners or renters insurance policy covers dog bite injuries. A Houston dog bite attorney can identify every available source of coverage.
Filing a claim does not mean suing your friend personally. Compensation comes from their insurance policy, not their pocket. Most carriers handle these claims routinely.
Two years from the date of the bite. Government related claims can have notice deadlines as short as six months, so do not wait to call.