If you or your child were injured by a dog in Ohio, an Ohio dog bite attorney at Anzellotti, Sperling, Pazol & Small can explain what must be proven, who is responsible and what your claim may be worth.
Ohio is one of the more protective states in the country for someone bitten by a dog, and the reason is a single statute. Under Ohio’s strict liability dog bite law, the owner, keeper or harborer of a dog is liable for injuries caused by their dog. You do not have to prove the dog owner was negligent, and you do not have to prove the dog had bitten before. Ohio dog bite laws have no one free bite rule.
The statute carries narrow defenses. If the person bitten was trespassing, was committing a criminal offense more serious than a minor misdemeanor on the property, or was teasing, tormenting or abusing the dog, the owner may avoid liability. Outside those situations, the question in a dog bite claim is rarely whether someone is responsible. It is who, and for how much.
Anzellotti, Sperling, Pazol & Small is a personal injury law firm that has practiced from Youngstown since 1971, which is over 55 years representing dog bite victims and other people with serious injuries across Ohio. A personal injury attorney at the firm takes the first call, and our injury attorneys handle every dog attack claim on a contingency basis. If the bite happened locally, our Youngstown personal injury lawyers handle the same claims from the same office, and there is no fee unless we recover compensation for you.
The statute reaches further than the dog owner. Three categories of people can be liable.
While the dog owner is the obvious one, who is anyone who had physical control of the dog when it bit, can be held responsible. This can be a friend walking it, a relative minding it, or a boarding kennel. A harborer is someone who allows the dog to live on their property even though they do not own it, and can sometimes be held responsible for the dog’s actions. Landlords or property occupants may fall into this category depending on the situation.
Identifying every responsible party early matters, because insurance companies pay these claims under a homeowner’s or renter’s policy, and the policy that pays is the one belonging to whichever of those people carried it.
Medical expenses are the starting point, and with dog bite injuries they run further than the first visit: wound care, antibiotics, surgery to repair tearing, and reconstructive work where the face or hands are involved. Lost wages are recoverable where the injury kept someone off work.
Non-economic damages cover pain and suffering, emotional distress and the change to someone’s quality of life. Scarring and disfigurement are often the largest single element in a dog bite claim, and that is especially true for a child, whose face is usually at the height of a dog’s mouth and who carries the scar for a lifetime.
Where an animal attack caused serious injuries, Ohio’s limit on non-economic damages can fall away, because the statute removes it for certain catastrophic injuries including permanent and substantial physical deformity.
Deadlines are less straightforward here than on other injury pages, and the difference matters. A claim framed as ordinary negligence against a careless owner follows the two-year personal injury deadline. A claim brought directly under the strict liability dog bite statute has been treated as a liability created by statute, which courts have applied with a six-year period. Which deadline governs depends on how the claim is brought. Nobody should assume the longer period applies without advice, and nobody should assume the shorter one has already closed the door.
Ohio’s comparative fault rule applies as well. If the person bitten shares some responsibility, the award is reduced by that share, and recovery is barred where their share is greater than everyone else’s combined. In practice the provocation defense and the comparative fault argument tend to travel together, and both are fought based on the evidence.
Most of the work in a dog bite case is documentation, and most of it has to happen quickly. Medical records establish the injury and the treatment. Photographs of the wounds and the scene preserve what changes within days. Animal control and health department reports create an official record and often reveal whether the dog had a history. Witnesses fix what happened before anyone’s account has had time to shift.
Where the owner denies responsibility, which is common, the claim rests on that record rather than on argument, because the statute has already settled the question of whether an owner is liable. Our attorneys handle the insurer directly, and our clients stop taking those calls.
Children are bitten more often, bitten more seriously, and bitten in the face more frequently than adults, and the claim reflects that. A parent or guardian brings the claim on the child’s behalf. Compensation is usually structured differently, often through a settlement the probate court must approve, and it has to account for reconstructive treatment that may not happen until the child has finished growing, along with the fear of animals and anxiety that commonly follow. Valuing a child’s claim on the cost of the emergency room visit is the most common mistake we see.
Yes, and Ohio makes it easier than most states. The owner, keeper or harborer of the dog is liable for the injury under the strict liability statute without any need to prove carelessness or a history of biting. The narrow exceptions are if the victim is trespassing, committing a serious offense on the property, or provoking the dog.
It does not matter. Ohio has no one free bite rule, so a first bite is treated the same as a fifth.
Yes. A parent or guardian brings the claim on the child’s behalf, and any settlement is usually reviewed by the probate court to protect the child’s interests.
Your award is reduced by your share of responsibility, and recovery is barred only if your share exceeds everyone else’s combined. Provocation is the argument insurers reach for first, and it has to be proved rather than asserted.
Usually. Most dog bite claims are paid under the owner’s homeowner’s or renter’s policy. Some policies exclude particular breeds, which is one of the first things we check.
A short call is usually enough. We can tell you whether there is a claim, who is responsible, and which deadline applies. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Call ASP&S ASAP at 330-778-ASAP (2727), or contact us online and we will call you back.