What Is California’s Dog Bite Law?

The dog bite statute: Civil Code § 3342

Section 3342(a) makes the owner of any dog liable for the damages suffered by a person who is bitten “while in a public place or lawfully in a private place, including the property of the owner of the dog, regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner’s knowledge of such viciousness.” The injured person does not have to prove that the owner was careless. Three details shape most claims:

• Lawfully on private property means there by invitation, express or implied, or there to perform a duty under state or federal law or postal regulations, as a mail carrier is.
• The bite does not have to break the skin, as the authorities listed with the jury instruction on the statute (CACI No. 463) note.
• Police and military dogs are a narrow exception. It covers a government agency’s dog that bites while defending itself from provocation or while assisting an officer in the ways the statute lists, applies only if the agency has a written policy on the dog’s use, and never applies to a bystander who was not involved in, or suspected of, the conduct that led to the dog’s use (§ 3342(b)–(d)).

Dogs that have bitten before

A prior bite is not needed for a § 3342 claim, but it triggers other rules. Under Civil Code § 3342.5, the owner of a dog that has bitten someone must take reasonable steps to remove the danger to others. After bites on at least two separate occasions, any person, the district attorney, or the city attorney can sue, and the court may order the dog removed or, if necessary, destroyed.

The Food and Agricultural Code adds a hearing process. A dog can be found “potentially dangerous” after an unprovoked bite that causes a less severe injury (§ 31602), or “vicious” if, unprovoked, it inflicts a severe injury, meaning muscle tears, disfiguring lacerations, or wounds that need multiple sutures or corrective or cosmetic surgery (§§ 31603, 31604), and a vicious dog may be destroyed after a hearing (§ 31645). An owner who knows an animal is dangerous and lets it run loose or keeps it without ordinary care can also face criminal charges if it kills or seriously injures someone who took reasonable precautions (Penal Code § 399). Those proceedings are separate from the injured person’s civil claim, but their records can show what the owner knew.

Injuries without a bite: knockdowns and negligence

Section 3342 covers bites only. When a dog knocks someone down, causes a fall, or scratches without biting, the claim generally rests on negligence, such as letting a dog run loose, or on the owner’s knowledge of the dog’s dangerous tendencies (CACI No. 462).

Leash laws matter here. Under Evidence Code § 669, a person who breaks a statute or ordinance is presumed to have failed to use due care when the violation caused the injury, the law was meant to prevent that kind of injury, and the injured person was someone it was meant to protect. The presumption can be rebutted, so witnesses and video are often the strongest proof.

Landlords and property managers

A landlord is generally not responsible for a tenant’s dog. The exception, set out in CACI No. 1013 and the cases it cites, applies when the landlord knew the dog was dangerous, had the ability to prevent the harm, for example by having the dog removed, and did not take reasonable measures to do so. Complaints to the manager, earlier animal-control reports, and lease terms about pets can show what the landlord knew. The claim against the dog’s owner remains.

Provocation, trespass, veterinarians, and shared fault

The statute does not protect a person who was not lawfully on the property. The injured person’s own conduct, such as teasing or provoking the dog, can also reduce or bar a recovery: the authorities listed with CACI No. 463 note that assumption of risk and the injured person’s own negligence may still be raised under § 3342. When fault is shared, California reduces the injured person’s damages by their percentage of responsibility rather than barring the claim (CACI No. 405).

People who take a dog into their professional care generally accept the risk of being bitten. The same authorities apply this to veterinarians and veterinary assistants, often called the veterinarian’s rule, and in Priebe v. Nelson (2006) the California Supreme Court held that a kennel worker could not use § 3342’s strict liability. A claim can still be possible when the owner knew the dog was vicious and did not warn the worker.

Reporting a bite and the rabies rules

OC Animal Care states that residents are required by law to report any bite or scratch from a domestic or wild animal, and that a biting dog or cat must be quarantined for 10 days, at the owner’s premises or at the OC Animal Care Center depending on the circumstances. It describes a bite report as a public health step to prevent rabies, not a statement about the animal’s behavior or anyone’s negligence or liability.

Orange County cities use different animal services agencies, so report the bite to the agency that serves the place where it happened. The report number and quarantine records are often the first evidence of who owned the dog. The firm’s guide to the first steps after a dog bite in Orange County, linked below, covers the practical list.

Insurance and bites at work

Dog bite claims are usually paid, if at all, through the owner’s homeowner’s, renter’s, or other liability insurance, subject to the policy’s limits, terms, and exclusions, and an umbrella, landlord, or business policy may also apply. The actual policy language matters, so request the owner’s and the property owner’s insurance information early.

A worker bitten on the job, such as a delivery driver, can claim workers’ compensation and, separately, pursue the dog’s owner: a workers’ compensation claim does not affect the right to sue someone other than the employer (Labor Code § 3852).

What a claim can include

Get medical care first, even for a bite from a small dog. The California Department of Public Health advises washing a bite right away with soap and running water and getting medical care if pain, redness, swelling, or discharge develops, and the medical record becomes the first record of the injury. Scars should be evaluated after healing, not only from the first photograph, and a child’s scars may need evaluation as the child grows. Depending on the injuries and the coverage available, a claim can include:

• Emergency care, wound care, and treatment of infection
• Future treatment, such as scar revision or reconstructive surgery
• Counseling for anxiety, nightmares, or fear of dogs
• Lost earnings
• Pain, scarring and disfigurement, and emotional distress

Deadlines

Talks with an insurer do not, by themselves, extend a filing deadline. The main deadlines:

• Lawsuits: generally two years from the bite (Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1).
• Public entities: if a police dog or a public agency’s property or employee was involved, a written government claim is generally due within six months (Government Code § 911.2).
• Children: the two years generally do not run while the injured person is a minor (Code of Civil Procedure § 352(a)), but that rule does not extend the six-month government claim deadline (§ 352(b)), and a settlement of a child’s claim generally needs superior court approval (Probate Code § 3500).