Reviewed by Adrianos Facchetti, Esq. California State Bar No. 243213. This page was reviewed for California personal injury accuracy, legal clarity, and usefulness for people injured in dog bite and animal attack cases in Van Nuys. You can verify Adrianos Facchetti’s license through the California State Bar attorney search.
Bitten by a Dog in Van Nuys?
A Van Nuys dog bite lawyer can help figure out who may actually be responsible for what happened, preserve evidence before it disappears, deal with insurance companies, and pursue compensation for your injuries. California law often holds a dog owner responsible when their dog bites someone in a public place or while that person was lawfully on private property, and this applies regardless of whether the dog had ever bitten anyone before.
The Law Offices of Adrianos Facchetti, Accident & Injury Lawyer, works with people injured throughout Van Nuys and the greater San Fernando Valley, including in apartment complexes, on sidewalks near Sepulveda Boulevard and Victory Boulevard, and in parks and residential areas throughout the neighborhood. As a Van Nuys personal injury lawyer, we’ve seen how quickly insurance companies get involved after a dog bite, sometimes before the injured person even understands what evidence they need to preserve.
Strict Liability for Dog Bites under California Law
Unlike typical negligence cases, California dog bite laws differ significantly from other types of negligence lawsuits, and this difference is extremely important for your case. Pursuant to California Civil Code Section 3342, a dog owner shall be considered strictly liable for a dog bite if the bite took place in a public place or while the victim was lawfully on private property, which may include the owner’s property.
In general, you won’t have to prove the dog’s propensity towards aggression and the owner’s knowledge about it. The main things you will need to prove are the fact of the dog bite, the ownership of the dog, and the place where the incident happened, as well as the legal right of the plaintiff to be at the place of the dog attack.
However, this does not mean that there can’t be any special considerations in your specific case. These include provocation and the presence of the victim on private property without permission, as well as non-bite injuries, for example, falling down or being scratched.
Who Could Be Responsible in Case of a Dog Bite?
The person responsible for a dog bite is not necessarily an individual. It is important to determine who is involved to support your case.
- The dog’s owner, as the first and primary liable party in case of dog bite, following the “strict liability” principle in California
- The handler or controller of the dog during the incident, which may vary from the dog’s owner (the dog walker, pet sitter, etc.)
- A landlord or property owner, only in limited cases, when the dangerous dog’s presence was known and no measures were taken
- Business owner/property manager, if the incident occurred on commercial premises, with similar notice concerns
- Homeowner/renter with relevant insurance coverage, as most dog bites are settled using homeowner/renter’s insurance
- Other potentially negligent parties, depending on the circumstances of the incident
Liability usually depends on the ownership or control of the dog, place of the bite, knowledge about the dangerous nature of the animal, if any, as well as specific facts of the incident. In case the attack happened because of negligence of the property owner, please refer to our Van Nuys premises liability lawyer information source.
Common Dog Bite Injuries
The severity of dog bites may vary from mild to life-threatening, and while some of the most severe outcomes are not always immediately apparent.
- Wounds caused by tearing
- Puncture wounds
- Infection
- Nerve damage
- Tendon damage
- Bone fractures
- Injuries to the face
- Scarring
- Mutilation
- Emotional scarring
- Ongoing fear around animals
- Injuries sustained by children, which may have additional considerations
- Medical issues necessitating follow-up treatment
Specifically, scars and nerve damage may sometimes only be fully apparent weeks or even months following healing of the initial wound, and that is precisely why documentation of your injuries becomes so crucial.
What to Do After a Dog Bite in Van Nuys
- Get medical care right away. Dog bites carry real infection risk, and prompt treatment matters for both your health and your claim.
- Identify the dog owner or person responsible for the dog. Get their name, address, and contact information if you’re able to safely do so.
- Report the bite to the proper animal control or public health agency. In Los Angeles County, this typically means contacting Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control.
- Photograph the wound, torn clothing, location, and the dog if safe to do so. Document what you can as soon as possible after the attack.
- Get witness names and contact information. People who saw what happened can be difficult to reach later.
- Save medical records, prescriptions, bills, and follow-up instructions. Keep everything related to your treatment from the start.
- Avoid giving recorded statements before understanding your rights. Insurance adjusters sometimes reach out quickly before you fully understand your situation.
Evidence That Can Help Support a Dog Bite Claim
- Photos of the wound taken over time, not just once
- Medical records
- Animal control report
- Witness statements
- Owner information
- Dog vaccination information, if available
- Prior complaints or bite history, if known
- Photos of the location where the bite occurred
- Surveillance footage
- Torn clothing from the incident
- Insurance correspondence
- Proof of missed work
- Receipts for out-of-pocket costs related to the injury
Photos of the wound as it heals over several weeks are especially important, since insurance companies sometimes try to minimize how serious a scar is by pointing only to how the wound looked shortly after the bite.
How Insurance Companies May Respond to Dog Bite Claims
Insurance companies handling dog bite claims tend to raise a similar set of arguments, and it helps to know what’s coming.
An insurer may argue that you provoked the dog in some way, even if that’s not accurate. They may question whether your scarring or emotional distress is as serious as you’re describing. They may claim you weren’t lawfully on the property at the time of the bite. Some insurers will offer a quick settlement early on, before the long-term extent of scarring or nerve damage is fully known, hoping you’ll accept a number that doesn’t account for what’s still developing.
Strong medical documentation and evidence gathered close to the time of the incident can help address these disputes directly, rather than leaving your claim vulnerable to whichever argument the insurer decides to raise.
What Compensation May Cover After a Dog Attack
Depending on the specific facts of your case, compensation may include the following:
- Emergency medical care
- Wound cleaning and infection treatment
- Stitches
- Surgery
- Scar revision treatment
- Future medical care
- Therapy or counseling, where medically supported
- Lost wages
- Reduced earning ability
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Out-of-pocket costs related to the injury
There’s no set formula that applies across every case. What’s actually recoverable depends on the severity of your injury, the strength of the evidence, and the insurance coverage that applies once liability is established.
California Deadlines for Dog Bite Claims
Many California personal injury claims generally must be filed within two years, under California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1. This applies to claims against a private dog owner, a property owner, or another private party.
If a public entity was involved in the incident, that deadline can be significantly shorter, so identifying early whether a government agency may be involved matters.
Evidence should be gathered as early as possible regardless of the filing deadline. Wounds heal and change appearance over time, surveillance footage often gets recorded over within days, and witnesses become harder to reach the longer time passes. Claims involving children or other special circumstances may also require specific legal review, since the applicable rules can differ from a standard adult injury claim.
How Attorney Adrianos Facchetti Reviews Dog Bite Cases
Every case starts with understanding exactly where the bite happened and whether you were in a public place or lawfully present on private property at the time, since that’s central to California’s strict liability standard.
From there, we identify who owned or controlled the dog and whether provocation is being alleged by the owner or their insurer. We review what your medical treatment shows, including whether there’s scarring, infection, nerve damage, or other long-term harm that needs to be properly documented and valued. We look into whether homeowner’s or renter’s insurance coverage is available and whether any prior complaints or a bite history exists that could support your claim.
Throughout the process, we make sure the correct deadlines are identified and protected, particularly if a child was bitten or if a public entity may be involved.
Talk to a Van Nuys Dog Bite Lawyer
If you were bitten by a dog in Van Nuys, it’s worth having someone review what happened while the evidence is still fresh and your wound is still healing. A conversation costs nothing.
The Law Offices of Adrianos Facchetti offers a free consultation, with no upfront cost and no fee unless we recover compensation for you. We won’t promise a specific outcome before understanding the facts, but we can give you a clear, honest sense of where things stand. Reach out through our website to talk about what happened.
