How to Report a Dog Attack in San Francisco

You may be wondering how to report a dog attack in San Francisco. This dog bite victim guide will inform you of what to do if you’re bitten by a dog in San Francisco.

If you have been bitten or attacked by a dog, you should contact your local animal control center during their business hours, meaning San Francisco Animal Care and Control. If animal control isn’t in office, you should contact your local authorities via 911.

Who to Call When a Dog Bites You

There are several options for you to report a dog bite if you are a dog bite victim.

One option is for you to file a dog bite report using the online form at San Francisco Animal Care and Control. It may help to identify the dog and its owner before filling out this form, if you are able to.

Another option if a dog has bitten you is you can contact San Francisco Animal Care and Control via their phone number or email. Their contact information can be found here.

If the dog bite is urgent, you should contact your local authorities, such as a police department. Use their non-emergency line in other situations.

How to Report a Dog Attacking My Dog

You may be wondering how to report a dog attack on another dog.

You should take the same steps you would take if a dog bit you instead. Either you will contact animal control or your local authorities depending on the urgency of the situation.

Identifying the Dog Owner

Identifying the owner of a dog is vital for determining liability for dog bites and pursuing injury claims. It may be straightforward at times, like when attacks occur involving known dogs in neighborhoods. Unfortunately, it may be difficult at times, especially when incidents happen in public or when dogs escape from their homes.

Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers employ numerous strategies to help clients identify dog owners:

• Interviews of witnesses: Info from witnesses to attacks or those familiar with dogs can help to identify owners.
• Surveillance footage: We check for security cameras which were nearby which could have recorded the attack. This can lead to us obtaining visual evidence of attacks as well as help to identify dogs and their owners.
• Vet records: When dogs are taken to vets, we can sometimes use their records to trace owners.
• Scanning microchips: When dogs are captured, owner details can be directly obtained by scanning their microchips.
• Local authorities: One thing you can do to try to identify the owner is to report the attack to law enforcement or local animal control.

When owners remain unidentified, we explore alternative legal options to assist victims in securing compensation for their injuries. Possible claims may include claims against landlords or property owners if attacks were partially or completely caused by negligence to secure a premises.

Do Dog Bites Need to Be Reported in San Francisco?

It is mandated by Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 17, § 2606 that any bite from an animal which is susceptible to rabies must be reported to the local health officer.

The regulation states that whenever someone is bitten by an animal which is susceptible to rabies, if it occurs in an area which the Director of the State Department of Health Services has declared a rabies area, the local health officer must be notified regardless if there is a suspicion that the animal has rabies.

Every county in California has been declared a rabies area as of 1987. This means that all dog bites must be reported in the State of California.

Doctors are also obligated under law to promptly report any dog bites they treat. The reason for this is to prevent rabies from spreading. Rabies is a disease which is potentially fatal and is transmitted via the bites of animals, including dog bites.

Obviously, there are situations where dog attacks aren’t serious enough to be reported – so what exactly is a dog bite?

What Is Considered a Dog Bite by California Law?

California dog bite laws consider any bite involving punctured skin to be a dog bite.

There are six levels to dog bites:

• Level 1: Level 1 is the pre-bite level. This involves snapping, meaning an air bite with no contact. Obtain help prior to this progressing to a real bite. Don’t fail to punish warning signs like this, or a dog might end up biting someone without warning. Learn signs that a dog may show indicating they have fear or anxiety, as well as common actions by humans which might contribute to this. This does not need to be reported.
• Level 2: Level 2 is the near-bite level. This involves tooth-to-skin contact without puncture. These near bites are concerning despite the skin not being broken. You should question what signs of anxiety or fear on behalf of the dog you missed when this occurs. This does not need to be reported.
• Level 3: Level three involves one bite or multiple bites with skin punctures which are shallower than the canine tooth’s length. Once dogs have bitten to this level, they will always be considered liabilities, even if improved by 99.9 percent by behavior modification. If multiple bites occur, this means dogs are in higher arousal states and reacting without thinking between bites. Even though level 3 bites might not be severe, they need to be reported.
• Level 4: Level four involves a single bite with punctures which are deeper than the canine tooth’s length, meaning the dog bit then clamped down, or slashes in each direction from the puncture, meaning the dog bit then shook its head. These are harder bites than level 3 bites and represents higher liability. These bites can kill children. These bites need to be reported.
• Level 5: Level five involves multiple-bite attacks with deep puncture wounds, or multiple attack incidents. Dogs which inflict level 5 bites have usually inflicted level 3 and 4 bites already. Dome dogs may be so fearful that scary events trigger high arousal states which they get stuck in, leading to them continually biting. These bites need to be reported.
• Level 6: Level six involves the victim being killed or flesh being consumed. It’s vital to realize that infants and small children can be killed by even small dogs or puppies. Death can result from overly aroused play, not necessarily just fear or viciousness. It’s best for one to seek help which is qualified before dogs even reach level 2 bites. These bites need to be reported.

What Happens When a Dog Bite is Reported?

When dog bites are reported, they trigger a quarantine procedure.

First, an investigation will be done. Animal control officers will attempt to verify that dog bites occurred how they were reported. The officers will also assess victims’ risks of contracting rabies. Officers must investigate bites within 24 hours of reports. Officers interview victims and investigate dogs.

Interviews with victims aim to assess dog bites’ severity. Officers can assist victims in getting immediate medical attention. Officers also record victims’ personal information and their versions of events.

When officers investigate dogs, they collect evidence such as:

• The breed of the dog
• Past indications of violence or past bites
• Dog owners’ contact information
• Info regarding those holding dogs in quarantine
• History of rabies vaccination/rabies shots
• Dog license info
• The version of events presented by the dog owner
• The state of the home of the dog owner, especially steps the owner took to control the dog

This information will help to inform the rabies assessment of an officer. This information may be subpoenaed during legal proceedings in the future.

When dogs bite people, they are quarantined until it’s obvious they don’t have rabies. This may take as long as 10 days. Where dogs are quarantined depends on if they are at a high risk for rabies.

When determining if dogs are at a high risk for rabies, animal control officers consider these factors:

• Excessively violent or abnormal behavior
• If bites were provoked by victims
• The dog’s age – younger dogs are more likely to carry rabies
• The severity, location and number of dog bites which the victim suffered
• How wounds were treated medically
• If the dog was up to date on rabies vaccination
• If rabies was detected in the local vicinity in recent weeks

If dogs show signs they have rabies and vets diagnose rabies during quarantine, they are euthanized.

If dogs are found not to have rabies, they get released to their owners after 10-day quarantines. They are vaccinated prior to release if they weren’t already vaccinated. The victims are also notified when dogs are found not to be rabid.

Who is Liable for Dog Bites?

California Civil Code § 3342 states that, in most cases, dog owners are strictly liable for dog bites in the State of California.

Strict liability means it does not need to be proven that an owner was negligent for the owner to be liable. It also means that the owner is liable in most cases even if the dog has never bitten anyone before or shown any tendency for aggression before.

There are cases, however, where other parties than dog owners can be held liable for dog bites, such as when:

• Those other than owners have control or care over dogs
• Dog owners are under 18
• Dog owners’ landlords know dogs are dangerous but fail to do something about it

There are also a few situations where dog owners are not liable for dog bites in California.

Dog owners aren’t liable for dog bites in California when dog owners are government agencies using dogs in police or military work when bites occur when dogs are defending themselves from provoking, harassing or annoying acts, or assisting agency employees in:

• Holding or apprehending suspects when employees have reasonable suspicion the suspect was involved in criminal activity
• Investigating crimes or possible crimes
• Executing warrants
• Defending peace officers or other people

Dog owners are also not strictly liable in California when dog bites occur when the victims are trespassing.

Do You Have to Put a Dog Down if it Bites a Human?

Dogs who bite people in California are euthanized if:

• They have rabies
• They have already bitten two or more people
• They have seriously bitten one person and were trained as attack dogs or raised to fight

No hearings are required prior to dogs being put down when they have rabies.

Dogs which bite at least two people may be euthanized after court hearings. The bites need to have occurred in separate attacks.

Bites don’t count towards the two bite limit when victims are trespassers or dogs are police or military dogs working when the bites occurred.

Hearings are required before dogs which are trained as attack dogs or raised to fights are euthanized following a single bite.

Hearing decisions can be appealed, but they need to be appealed quickly.

What if a Stray Dog Bites You in San Francisco?

Unfortunately, if you are unable to identify the dog’s owner, there is not much you can do other than report the incident – sometimes there just isn’t an individual you can hold responsible.

All you can do is seek medical attention and report the incident.

Steps to Take Following After a Dog Attack

If you have been bitten by a dog, you should:

• Seek immediate medical attention: This is the most important thing you can do after being bitten by a dog. Do this even if you don’t think the dog bite is that bad. Puncture wounds like dog bites are extremely susceptible to infection, and infections can be very serious – even fatal.
• Report the bite: Remember, in California you are legally obligated to report any dog bites.
• Consult with a lawyer: Typically, when dog bites occur, financial compensation for injuries will come from an insurance company. Unfortunately, if you don’t have a lawyer, the insurance company is not going to offer you a fair settlement offer. Insurance companies know they don’t have to pay dog bite victims fairly if dog bite victims can’t sue them over low ball offers and win. Hiring a lawyer lets the insurance company know you mean business, can sue them and can win that lawsuit. Studies show that injury victims such as dog bite victims recover far more money for their injuries when they hire lawyers than when they don’t, even after taking attorney fees into account.

Call a San Francisco Dog Bite Lawyer Today

Call us today for a free consultation, fill out this page’s free case evaluation form or text us from this page if you or a loved one has been bitten by a dog in San Francisco.

We have been representing dog bite victims since 1990 and have recovered over $750,000,000 for our clients. Our tremendous experience in handling cases like yours means we can recover the most compensation possible for you.

If you can’t afford treatment of your dog bite injuries, we can get you to doctors who will treat you on a lien, which means that no fee will be charged to you for treatment until your case is over. Our reputation for success is the reason doctors do this for our dog bite clients.

We’ll handle your dog bite case on a contingency fee basis, meaning we won’t charge you any fee until and unless we recover compensation for your dog bite injuries. You won’t owe any upfront or out-of-pocket fees for us to handle your dog bite case – just a percentage of any money we recover for you.

Call us today for a free dog bite case evaluation.