Dog attacks come out of nowhere. You’re just walking up to drop off a package, or your kid is petting the friendly neighborhood dog that’s always out front, and then everything changes in an instant. A deep puncture wound, nerve damage, scarring, followed by a slew of medical appointments. And worst of all—the psychological scars that can stay well into adulthood. With that said, a Phoenix dog bite lawyer can help families face what comes next.
It’s for that reason that the Phoenix personal injury lawyers here at Lerner and Rowe have prepared this helpful guide.
Phoenix Dog Bite Lawyer: What You Must Show Under ARS 11-1025
If you’re wondering how to file a dog bite claim in Arizona after suffering a dog bite in one of Phoenix’s many dog parks, you should first know that strict liability dog bite laws in Arizona work out better for the person who was bitten than a standard negligence claim, but it’s not automatic. You have to prove two things.
1. You Were in a Place You Had a Right to Be
The first question is whether you had permission to be where you were at the time. Delivery drivers have an implied permission to walk up to a front door. So do meter readers. And so does anyone who was invited. A child who spends summers playing in a neighbor’s yard doesn’t need to have a letter from the owner to qualify as having permission.
The tough cases are ones where you entered after being told to leave, went past a clearly marked boundary, or ended up somewhere on the property you didn’t have a reason to be. A good dog attack attorney in Phoenix, AZ, will look at the specifics and will tell you straight away whether the lawful presence argument stacks up. It’s often more defensible than it first appears.
2. The Dog’s Bite Actually Caused Your Injuries
You’d think this one’s a no-brainer, but the defense will argue that a pre-existing condition is to blame for your injuries, that the fall you took after being startled caused the damage, or that some complication was caused by the treatment rather than the attack itself. Having thorough medical documentation from the day of the attack right through to the present makes this second point much harder to argue against, which is another good reason to get to the hospital as quickly as possible, even if the wound doesn’t look too bad at first.
Beyond those two things, the rest is all sorted out by the law. No need to prove the dog was a menace beforehand. No need to prove the owner was careless. The bite, your presence, and your injuries—that’s the case, and it can lead to a favorable Phoenix dog bite settlement. Dog owner liability in Arizona is very clear under the law.
Common Defenses Dog Owners Raise in Arizona
Even with strict liability in place, the defense will still do everything they can to fight your claim. Two arguments in particular come up quite often:
Provocation
It’s written right into the law—Arizona dog bite law ARS 11-1025 says that provocation is a defense. If the person who got bit went out of their way to provoke the dog, the owner has at least some grounds for saying that the victim was partly to blame—and that the owner should get some reduction in the amount of damages they have to pay because of this. This happens more often than you’d think in cases where kids are involved because they don’t always know how to behave around dogs. And in cases where the person gets bitten after accidentally stepping on the dog or it startles them and they flinch and make contact doesn’t qualify as provocation.
Something worth knowing: even if the court decides that the victim was partially to blame, the owner still has to actually prove that allegation. And here’s the thing: Arizona’s comparative fault system for deciding who’s to blame in cases where both sides did something wrong means that even if the court does decide the victim was partially to blame, the owner may be liable to pay a share of the damages.
Trespassing
If you’re trespassing on private property, you don’t have any rights to be there, and the statute doesn’t protect you. With that said, for delivery drivers who are doing their job and have a right to be there—or people who are otherwise authorized to be on the property—trespassing is just not a defense that works.
What neither of these defenses can do: argue that the owner didn’t know the dog was a menace. That used to be an argument you could make under the old “one-bite” rule. But it’s no longer the case in Arizona. Owners are strictly liable for their dog’s actions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Arizona have a one-bite rule for dog attacks?
No. Under ARS 11-1025, the dog owner is automatically liable for any bites—even if the dog has never acted out before and never given any warning signs. No amnesty period after the first bite. No requirement that you prove the owner had any reason to know their dog was a problem. If you got bitten in a place where you had a right to be—that’s it.
What does “strict liability” mean in a dog bite case?
It means you don’t have to prove that the owner was careless. That’s a bigger deal than it sounds. Standard personal injury cases usually require that you show the owner did something wrong—like that they ignored a warning sign or weren’t paying attention. In a strict liability case like this, you just have to show that you were bitten and that you were lawfully present in the area. The owner doesn’t have to have done anything wrong for you to get damages. You don’t have to prove they were reckless, or that they trained their dog poorly, or that they’d ever seen the dog act out before—none of that matters in Arizona. All you have to do is show they owned the dog that bit you.
How do I file a dog bite claim in Maricopa County?
Before filing your claim, you should get medical attention. Even if the wound doesn’t seem that bad, injuries aren’t always apparent in the heat of the moment. You also need to report the attack to Maricopa County Animal Control within 24 hours—that gets the quarantine process rolling and creates an official record of what happened.
While you’re at it, try to get your hands on the owner’s name and their insurance info (if possible). Take some photos of the wound on the day it happened and keep taking them as it starts to heal. One thing you don’t want to do is talk to the owner’s insurance company before you’ve spoken with a lawyer. Adjusters like to work fast, and what you say could end up hurting your case further down the line.
Can I file a claim against a landlord if their tenant’s dog attacked me?
Yes, you can file a claim against a landlord. This happens when the landlord knew the dog was a problem and didn’t do anything about it – or if they didn’t properly secure a shared area on the property. In those cases, they can share the blame with the dog’s owner.
Keep in mind, though, this is a lot harder to prove than the state’s strict liability law – you need to show the landlord knew about the problem and when they knew it. Still, it’s a route worth exploring if the facts are on your side, and it can be especially important when the dog owner’s insurance just isn’t enough to cover the full cost of your injuries.
What if the dog bit me after I reached toward it or startled it?
Provocation—that’s the defense you might hear from the owner’s lawyer. And it’s true, if you really did deliberately go out of your way to provoke the dog, that can hurt your case under Arizona law. But here’s the thing—being near a dog or accidentally stepping on it is a far cry from actively provoking it.
Arizona’s got a pretty flexible system for dealing with this kind of thing—even if you were partially responsible, you still have rights and can get some damages. But figuring out whether your actions really did provoke the dog is usually very complicated, and having a good lawyer can make all the difference.
Call a Phoenix Dog Bite Lawyer 24/7
The insurance adjusters aren’t calling you out of the kindness of their hearts. They’re fishing for information so they can lowball you before you even know what’s going on.
Our Phoenix personal injury team deals with dog bite claims all over Maricopa County—from the initial report to getting to the bottom of a tough case that ends up in court. If you or your child got bit, getting in touch with a Phoenix dog bite lawyer early really is the smartest move you can make. We don’t charge a thing upfront, and you only pay if we win your case.
Give us a call at (602) 977-1900, use our online contact form, or get in touch via LiveChat, and we’ll get back to you right away.
The information on this blog is for general information purposes only. Nothing herein should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.