In the 15-year period of 2005 through 2019, canines killed 521 Americans. Pit bulls contributed to 66% (346) of these deaths. Combined, pit bulls and rottweilers contributed to 76% of the total recorded deaths. | More »
Nationwide, the rate of dog bite injuries is on the decline, according to pre-Covid data.1 The cost of treating these injuries, however, is rising. In 2020, the average dog bite claim was $50,245. In 2024, the cost rose to $69,272, states the Insurance Information Institute. In 2024, homeowners insurers paid out $1.56 billion in liability claims related to dog bites and other dog-related injuries, up from $853.7 million in 2020. The average cost per claim nationally has risen by 174.7% from 2015 to 2024.2
1 of every 5 dog bite injuries requires medical attention; 1 of every 13 requires emergency care.3 The question of "Who pays?" is determined by state law. Some states are governed by a "one bite rule," which requires victims to prove the dog owner knew or should have known of the vicious propensities of the dog (such as by a previous bite) in order to receive compensation. Nearly 30 states impose statutory strict liability making a dog owner legally liable to a victim who was bitten or attacked.
Tennessee is a strict liability state, but contains a "residential exclusion" that omits liability when the attack occurs on the dog owner's property unless the victim can prove the same burden of proof required by the one bite rule. This exclusion prohibits the majority of dog bite victims from receiving compensation because over 50% of all dog bites occur on the dog owner's property.4 Therefore, Tennessee is a mixed dog bite statute state, as is New York, Georgia, North Carolina and Oregon.
In 2025, the highest court in New York5 moved the state one step closer to a modern dog bite statue. As dogbitelaw.com states: "With this new ruling, dog bite victims in New York can now seek compensation under two legal theories: the ancient one bite rule and negligence. But most Americans have a third option too: state dog bite statutes."
The usual method of getting medical reimbursement is through the dog owner's homeowners insurance policy. Many policies cover dog bite liability expenses from $100,000 to $300,000.6 If the dog owner is a renter and uninsured, the victim is usually left without any recourse unless the landlord or property owner can be held liable. This is also true for victims attacked by pit bulls, rottweilers and other high-risk dog breeds because many insurance carriers do not insure high-risk breeds at all.
Given the rise of dogs with aggression being adopted out by public and private shelters, and the difficulty for victims to obtain adequate compensation, such entities are now being held liable as well. In 2024, the city of Los Angeles paid out $7.5 million to a woman who sustained catastrophic injury from a dog adopted by the city shelter.7 In 2022, a "full settlement" was reached after a private no-kill shelter adopted out a dog with with a history of aggression that bit a young child in the face.8
If the dog owner is insured, the victim can expect several years before payment. Dog bite injuries take time to heal. Settlement negotiations with an insurance company usually start after healing completes. In the meanwhile, the victim incurs many costs. If the injuries required hospitalization, the victim can expect to stay 3 days on average.9 If emergency surgery was required, which is often true for attacks involving facial and bone injuries, a victim's first night in care can surpass $20 thousand dollars.
Injuries inflicted by dogs can be devastating, especially to young children. The small height of a child almost always results in facial injuries, even more critically, neck injuries. Repairing these injuries may require immediate reconstructive surgery with additional surgical procedures over time. Techniques such as skin grafting and microsurgical repair also may require multiple procedures, as do scar diminishment treatments, such as: dermabrasion, laser resurfacing and medication injections.
Common dog bite injuries involve one anatomical area. But recent medical studies are examining dog bite injuries inflicted in multiple anatomic locations, requiring multiple surgical procedures. A 2020 dog bite injury study at a West Virginia trauma center identified "mauling injuries," which result from a dog bite "mauling event," as three or more "complex wounds" inflicted in two or more distinct regional anatomic areas, typically the head and neck regions, and required multiple operative interventions.10
In 2020, when 15-year old Joslyn Stinchcomb was attacked by two pit bulls belonging to a neighbor in Georgia, she suffered multiple complex injuries to her head and neck. The dogs crushed her trachea, damaged her vocal chords, ripped off her scalp and an ear.11 She also suffered severe nerve damage to her face. Joslyn's injuries would have been classified as "mauling" wounds in the West Virginia trauma center study, where 71% of mauling injuries recorded were perpetrated by pit bulls.
According to a study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a federal government agency, the most common principal diagnoses for dog bite-related hospitalizations included skin and subcutaneous tissue infections (43.2%), open wounds of extremities (22.1%), and open wounds of the head, neck, and trunk (10.5%). Other chief diagnoses included fracture of upper limbs, infective arthritis and osteomyelitis, septicemia, crushing injury or internal injury, and fracture of lower limbs. 12
Nearly all dog bite victims suffer psychological injury, including Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, which can be severe. Even with treatment, fear of another attack may never fade. Each time a victim walks down a sidewalk, strolls through a park or visits a dog owner's home, the trauma returns. Man's best friend -- to the irony and horror of a dog bite victim -- is fully integrated into society. Stories abound, particularity about senior citizens, who are terrified to leave their home after a serious dog attack.
In an article published by The Mercury News, Angela Silva talks about her life after a horrific dog attack. On a mild September day in Fremont, California, as Angela was cleaning out her car in her garage, a neighbor's pit bull suddenly bolted inside. The dog lunged at her 7-month old child. In an act of quick thinking, Angela placed her son into a nearby garbage can to protect him from the canine and used her left arm as a shield. The pit bull tore through both of Silva's arms before help arrived.
Nearly four months after the attack, Angela told The Mercury News that she has yet to take a walk outside and that she gets "fresh air" by sitting on her porch swing surrounded by a new wooden fence that her boyfriend built. To further distance herself from the dog's owner, who lived next door, Angela moved several neighborhoods away. But even in her new home, her medical bills are piling up that she doesn't know how she will pay, and she continues to have dreams filled with mad, vicious dogs.13
The emotional trauma of a dog attack is also captured in The Scar Dance, a novel about a life-altering dog mauling. The author is the victim's husband, who states vividly, "the dog attack was a cancerous tumor on the body of our lives, growing uncontrollably." He struggled with the changes his wife underwent after the attack. She became very thin and angular, her body gestures abrupt and jerky, and she suddenly flew into panic attacks. She was later diagnosed with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.14
Nearly all dog bites involve a complex mixture of human relationship bonds. A dog bite victim frequently knows the owner of the dog, who may be a family member, friend, roommate or neighbor. Many dog owners minimize the seriousness of injury inflicted by their dog or blame the victim for the attack. While blaming the victim is a universal phenomenon, it is nearly always the case in dog bites and attacks. This may be true because dogs are a metaphorical "extension" of their owner.
Many jurisdictions do not automatically euthanize a dog after it inflicts a vicious attack. This sets up an adversarial relationship when the dog owner is a neighbor. Too often, once the dog is returned after the bite quarantine period, the owner defies leash and constraint laws. Victims in these cases become imprisoned in their own home. Both Angela Silva and the dog attack victim portrayed in The Scar Dance were forced to move to a new home, as living next to the dog owners became intolerable.
When the attack stems from a dog owned by a family member, even more disturbing results can occur. After years of sharing a strong bond, relationships are often left in shambles, and for the primary reason that the dog cannot be blamed, yet neither can its owner. The human relationship damage is always two-part. The first part occurs just after the attack when trust is shattered. The second part occurs over a period of years as the victim tries to gain recourse through lawsuits or other means.
DogsBite.org is a national dog bite victims' group dedicated to reducing serious dog attacks. Through our work, we hope to protect both people and pets from future attacks. | Make a donation today »
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