California does not give a dog one free bite, and the law here is far more favorable to the person bitten than most people assume.
Civil Code 3342 makes a dog’s owner liable for a bite “regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner’s knowledge of such viciousness.”
So “he has never done that before” is not a defense. It is usually true, it is usually said sincerely, and it does not matter. The owner does not have to have been careless and the dog does not have to have a history.
Culver Legal, LLP represents people bitten by dogs across San Diego County. We work on contingency and advance the costs of the case, so there is nothing to pay up front and no fee unless we win. If there is no recovery, you are not charged those costs either. Call (310) 600-7881 at any hour.
Where You Were Bitten Matters
The statute applies where the person bitten was “in a public place or lawfully in a private place, including the property of the owner of the dog.”
That last part is worth reading twice. Being on the owner’s own property does not defeat the claim, provided you were lawfully there. A guest, a visitor, a delivery driver or a contractor is lawfully there. Strict liability applies just the same.
Where it does not apply is where somebody was trespassing, and there is a separate carve-out for police and military dogs used in the course of specific duties. Even that exception has a limit: it does not protect the agency where the person bitten was not a party to, nor a participant in, nor suspected of the act that led to the dog being used.
Told the dog had never bitten anyone before?
California law says that does not matter. The owner is liable regardless of the dog’s history.
Who Takes the Report in San Diego?
This trips people up, because the answer is not a city department and not the county.
The City of San Diego contracts its animal control to the San Diego Humane Society, which the city describes as “its primary animal control agency”. The Humane Society’s law enforcement arm handles animal complaints for the City of San Diego and thirteen other cities in the county.
Animal-related concerns are taken 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, on 619-299-7012.
Report the bite even if you are unsure whether you will make a claim. The report does three things at once: it creates a contemporaneous record of what happened, it starts the rabies observation process for the dog, and it puts the animal on record, which matters for the next person if the dog bites again.
A bite that is not reported is much harder to prove months later, when the owner’s account has settled into something more convenient.
Who Actually Pays
Almost always the owner’s homeowner’s or renter’s insurance, not the owner personally. This is the single most useful thing for people who are hesitating because they know the owner.
People decline to pursue valid claims constantly because the dog belongs to a neighbor, a friend or a relative and they do not want to take money from them. In most cases the money does not come from them. It comes from a policy that exists precisely for this.
Where there is no policy, or where the injury exceeds it, other routes can exist: a landlord who knew about a dangerous dog on the property, or a business where the bite happened on commercial premises.
What to Do in the First Days
- Get medical attention the same day. Bite wounds carry a high infection risk even when they look minor, and the medical record made at the time is what the claim later rests on.
- Photograph the injury immediately and keep photographing it as it heals. This is the single most valuable thing you can do yourself. Wounds improve, and a jury or an adjuster who only sees the healed version is seeing the least of it.
- Report it to the Humane Society on the number above.
- Get the owner’s name, address and insurance details, and the dog’s vaccination status.
- Get witness names.
- Do not give a recorded statement to the owner’s insurer before taking advice.
A gap in treatment is the most effective thing an insurer has against you, and it happens easily with bites, because the wound closes long before the scarring settles. If you must pause, put the reason in writing to the provider.
Scarring, and Why Timing Matters
Scars change for a long time, often for a year or more, and their final appearance is a large part of what a bite claim is worth. Settling before that is known means settling on the least the claim will ever be worth.
This matters most for children, both because facial and hand bites are more common in children and because scar revision surgery may be a question years later rather than now. A child’s claim also runs on a different clock: Code of Civil Procedure 352 pauses the ordinary limitation period while a person is under 18.
Severity scales exist and clinicians use them, and where you sit on one is a medical judgment rather than a legal one. What matters legally is the documented treatment, the photographs over time, and any specialist opinion on what can be done later.
Where Would the Case Be Heard?
A bite claim seeking more than $35,000 is an unlimited civil case, filed at the Hall of Justice, 330 West Broadway, and heard in San Diego County before a San Diego County jury.
Two years is the ordinary deadline, from the date of injury, under Code of Civil Procedure 335.1.
Where a public entity owned or handled the dog, it is six months under Government Code 911.2, and a written claim must be presented before any lawsuit. A claim against the City of San Diego goes to its Risk Management Department at 1200 Third Ave., Suite 1000, and since 11 December 2023 the city no longer accepts first-notice claims by email.
Was your child bitten?
Scarring keeps changing for a year or more, and a child’s clock runs differently. Do not settle before it is known.
Why Do San Diego Clients Choose Culver Legal?
We start from strict liability rather than from arguing the owner was careless, because that is what the statute actually provides and it changes the conversation with an insurer.
Our team speaks Spanish, Farsi, Filipino, Hindi, Mandarin and Korean.
The economics are simple. Contingency, costs advanced, nothing up front and no fee unless we win. We advance the case costs, and if there is no recovery you are not charged those costs either. Culver Legal has recovered $200 Million and counting, and the phone is answered 24 hours a day.
San Diego Dog Bite FAQs
Is it worth suing for a dog bite?
That depends on the injury, but the two reasons people talk themselves out of it are usually both wrong. The first is thinking they must prove the owner was careless; California imposes liability regardless of the dog’s history or the owner’s knowledge of it. The second is not wanting to take money from someone they know; in most cases it is the owner’s homeowner’s or renter’s insurance that responds, not the owner personally. Where the injury was genuinely trivial and healed cleanly, it may not be worth pursuing, and we will say so.
Who do I report a dog bite to in San Diego?
The San Diego Humane Society, which the City of San Diego contracts as its primary animal control agency. Animal-related concerns are taken 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 619-299-7012. It is worth reporting even if you have not decided about a claim, because it creates a record while the facts are fresh, starts the observation process for the dog, and puts the animal on record for whoever it encounters next.
The owner says the dog has never bitten anyone. Does that matter?
No. Civil Code 3342 makes the owner liable regardless of the dog’s former viciousness or the owner’s knowledge of it, so there is no free first bite in California. It is usually a sincere statement and it does not affect liability.
I was bitten on the owner’s own property. Do I still have a claim?
Usually yes. The statute covers a person bitten in a public place or lawfully in a private place, “including the property of the owner of the dog”. If you were there lawfully, as a guest, a visitor, a delivery driver or a contractor, being on their property does not defeat the claim. Trespassing is different.
How long does it take to settle a dog bite claim?
Longer than the wound takes to close, and that is the point rather than a delay. Scarring continues to change for a year or more and its final appearance is a large part of what the claim is worth, so settling early means settling on the least it will ever be worth. Where a child is involved and scar revision may be a question later, that is even more true.
I am undocumented. Can I bring a claim without putting myself at risk?
Yes, and the protection is stronger than most people expect. Under Evidence Code 351.2, added by AB 2159, evidence of a person’s immigration status is not admissible in a civil action for personal injury or wrongful death, and discovery into it is not permitted either. It cannot be raised at trial and it cannot be asked about beforehand. It is not a question we ask you, and it is not a question the other side gets to ask.
Contact a Culver Legal San Diego Dog Bite Lawyer
California is a strict liability state for dog bites, the money usually comes from an insurance policy rather than from someone you know, and scarring takes longer to settle than the claim feels like it should. If you or your child was bitten anywhere in San Diego County, reach us at (310) 600-7881 at any hour. The review costs nothing.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Culver Legal, LLP is a California law firm. The information on this page is for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice.
