Houston Dog Bite Lawyer | Joe I. Zaid & Associates

A dog attack happens in a flash. One second, there is a walk through a neighborhood in Houston, kids playing in an apartment courtyard, or a delivery at the front door. The next second, a dog runs away, bites down, and everything goes wrong. Blood. Yelling. Fear. Questions. A good dog bite lawyer in Houston steps into that mess and demands that the owner of a dangerous dog or property be held responsible when they don’t keep it under control. We’ll be answering these questions for you:

Who is responsible for these medical bills?
What if the scars never go away?
Will the dog’s owner take any responsibility?
Does Texas law really help people who have been bitten by a dog?

Why Dog Bites Are So Bad

People too often say that dog bites are “just an accident.” The truth is different.

Every year, millions of people in the United States get bitten by dogs. Hundreds of thousands of people need medical care, and many of them need emergency care, surgery, or hospitalization. According to reliable national dog bite statistics, a lot of the worst cases involve kids and older people.

Houston and the areas around it are at greater risk:

Neighborhoods with a lot of homes
Many big dogs
A lot of mail carriers and delivery drivers
Apartment buildings with shared outdoor areas

As a result, there are constant attacks:

Kids attacked in front yards or apartment courtyards
Delivery drivers have been bitten on porches and at the front gate.
Visitors were attacked in homes where dogs are allowed to run free.
Workers were surprised to find dogs running free behind fences or in driveways.

Dog bites are not small. They tear skin and muscle, break bones, leave scars, cause infections, and cause emotional trauma that changes people’s lives. When someone else is careless and causes these injuries, Texas law takes them very seriously.

Texas Dog Bite Law in Simple Terms

Texas doesn’t have just one “dog bite statute.” Instead, a number of legal theories work together. It may seem confusing from the outside, but the main ideas are clear.

The “One Bite Rule”

People often call Texas a “one bite state,” which sounds like a free pass. No, it isn’t.

The Restatement (Second) of Torts gives a good summary of the idea, which comes from traditional common-law rules. Based on those ideas:

When a dog shows dangerous behaviors that are not normal for its breed
And the owner knows or should know about those habits.
The owner is strictly liable for any injuries that dog causes.

Dangerous tendencies can mean:

A bite before
Serious tries to bite
Lunging or snapping at people over and over again
Aggression that has been recorded in complaints or reports

The owner needs to see their dog as a serious threat once it crosses that line. Saying “the dog never acted like this with family before” isn’t enough. There should be extra safety measures, like strong fences, leashes, and muzzles when needed, keeping the dog away from guests, and clear warnings to workers and visitors.

If the owner doesn’t do those things and an attack happens, strict liability makes it easier to hold the owner responsible.

Carelessness and Premises Liability

Not every dog bite in Houston comes from a dog that has bitten someone before. A lot of attacks come from animals that are called “friendly” until they aren’t. People who are victims in those situations still have rights.

Texas law allows people to sue for negligence and premises liability. To prove negligence, the evidence must show:

There was a duty of care.
That duty was not followed.
The attack happened because of the breach.
The victim was hurt.

In real life, negligence often looks like this:

Letting a big dog run around in the front yard next to a public sidewalk
Not following leash rules in shared outdoor spaces or apartment buildings
Not fixing a fence or gate that the dog has already broken through
Letting delivery people, contractors, or guests onto the property without making sure that a dog is safe or anxious

Premises liability applies when property owners, landlords, or businesses don’t keep their property safe enough. When a landlord knows that a tenant’s dog is charging at neighbors in a shared courtyard and does nothing about it, that landlord can be held responsible when an attack happens in that same courtyard.

Who Is Responsible After a Dog Attack?

In a Texas dog bite case, the person whose name is on the dog’s vet records is not always the only one who is responsible.

People who might be responsible include:

The person who owns the dog legally
A person who was in charge of the dog at the time (a family member, a pet sitter, or a walker)
The person who owns the property where the attack happened
A landlord or property management company that knows the dog is dangerous
A business that lets dogs be around customers or workers without enough safety measures

There are usually two things that determine liability:

Control—Who was in charge of the dog or the property?
Knowledge—Who knew or should have known that the dog or the situation was unsafe?

Some examples from the real world:

A landlord gets a lot of complaints that a tenant’s dog has bitten kids in a shared breezeway. Nothing changes. If the dog later bites a child in the same area, both the tenant and the landlord could be sued.
The owner of a business tells regulars to bring their pets inside, but they never teach the staff how to deal with aggressive behavior. A dog bites a customer near the register. That is not just a “accident”; it is something that happens when rules are too lax.
A homeowner lets a nervous shepherd mix stand loose behind the front door. The homeowner lets a delivery person in without any restrictions or warnings. Of course, the dog attacks.

A Houston dog bite lawyer’s thorough investigation finds everyone and everything that contributed to the danger, not just the person with the leash.

When the Victim Is Blamed for Comparative Negligence

Texas has a system of modified comparative negligence. That rule affects settlement negotiations and trial outcomes.

This is how the rule works:

There is no compensation if the victim is more than 51% at fault.
If the victim is less than 50% at fault, the amount of compensation is cut by that amount.

This rule is important to insurance companies. Some common tactics are to say:

The dog was provoked by the victim.
The victim got too close to a dog that was clearly fenced in.
A victim didn’t pay attention to warning signs or verbal warnings.
The victim went into a yard or house without permission.

Those arguments are sometimes true, but most of the time they aren’t. For example, blaming a small child for trying to pet a dog doesn’t usually sit well with a jury. Still, adjusters push these stories to lower payouts.

Every little thing counts:

The exact place where the attack happened
What the owner said and did before
If there were any warning signs, and where
People who saw the dog act like this

Insurance adjusters often take early, unguarded statements and turn them into “admissions” to make the victim seem more at fault. Getting good legal advice from the start helps keep the blame where it belongs.

Dog Breeds That Are Dangerous and Criminal Exposure

Texas law has more than just civil liability rules for dangerous dogs; it also has rules for possible criminal penalties.

A dog could be called dangerous if it:

Attacks without reason outside of its safe area, and
That attack hurts someone badly or makes them reasonably afraid of getting hurt badly.

Once a dog has that label, there are usually strict rules that must be followed:

Signing up with the government
Secure enclosures that meet certain standards
Putting up warning signs
Having the right kind of liability insurance

If a dangerous dog attacks again and the owner doesn’t follow the rules, they could face both civil and criminal penalties. When someone dies or is seriously hurt because of criminal negligence, felony charges are possible.

A dangerous dog designation or related criminal case is often strong evidence for a civil personal injury claim that:

The owner knew the dog was a threat.
The owner had already been warned by the police.
They didn’t take reasonable safety steps.

History can turn a claim that is in dispute into a strong case for liability.

Negligent Handling: When Dog Owners Don’t Do What They’re Supposed to Do

Another important idea in Texas dog bite law is that people are careless with their pets. This idea is more about what the person in charge did—or didn’t do—right before the attack than about the dog’s past.

Negligent handling happens when:

Someone has a dog or is in charge of one
Has a responsibility to take reasonable care of that dog
Doesn’t fulfill that duty
That mistake leads directly to an injury.

This method works in situations like:

Letting a strong dog run free in a yard next to a busy sidewalk
Allowing kids walk a dog they can’t physically control
Letting a nervous dog be alone with guests or workers moving around the house
Taking an aggressive dog to a busy dog park and not paying attention to signs that things are getting tense

Dog owners don’t have to be perfect according to the law. It requires the owner to take reasonable care of the animal based on what they know or should know about it. When people stop taking common-sense safety measures, careless handling takes their place.

Typical Dog Bite Injuries in Houston Cases

Dog attacks can cause a lot of different kinds of injuries. Some get better over time. Some people never really leave.

Injuries to the Body

Some common physical injuries from dog bites are:

Tearing and deep puncture wounds
Cuts that need stitches or surgery
Powerful jaws crushed muscle and tissue.
Broken bones from falling or getting bitten directly
Damage to nerves that makes you feel weak or numb
Infections that need IV antibiotics or a stay in the hospital

Places that are often affected:

Hands and fingers
Legs and arms
Face, lips, nose, and ears
Neck and scalp

There are germs in dog mouths. Infection can make even “small” wounds very serious. If tendon or nerve damage isn’t found right away, it can cause long-term problems with grip strength, dexterity, or mobility.

Scarring and Disfigurement

Scars tell a story. People who have been bitten by a dog often have scars on their bodies that show what happened:

Scars on the face that change how it looks
Sharp lines on arms and legs
Scars on hands and fingers that are thick and raised

These injuries hurt both physically and emotionally. Scars can make skin tighter, make it hard to move, itch, or hurt. They also change how people feel about being seen, touched, or photographed.

Texas law sees disfigurement as a separate type of damage, which means that any settlement or verdict should take into account the fact that permanent changes to someone’s appearance are serious.

Harm to Mental and Emotional Health

A lot of people who have been bitten by a dog say that the injuries that aren’t visible hurt the most.

Common emotional and mental effects:

Bad dreams about the attack
Being afraid of dogs or going outside
Being very alert when dogs bark or growl
Panic attacks or anxiety in areas where dogs are free to roam
Isolation, withdrawal, and depression

After a violent dog attack, kids and teens can have a hard time. Confidence goes down. Schoolwork might get worse. Things that used to be fun, like going to the park, riding bikes, or visiting friends who have dogs, start to feel unsafe.

Professional counseling or trauma-focused therapy is often a big part of recovery and should be a part of any talk about compensation.

What to Do After a Dog Bites You in Houston

After a serious dog bite, there is chaos. A simple guide helps you focus on what really protects your health and legal rights.

Step 1: Get to a Safe Place

Keep the dog and the victim apart. Get in a car, a house, or a store. Shut a door or gate. Stopping the attack and stopping a second round come first.

Step 2: Call 911 if Someone Is Hurt Badly

Call for help if:

Heavy bleeding
Bites on the neck, face, or head
Wounds that go deep or bones that can be seen
Loss of consciousness, confusion, or clear shock

The victim is treated and stabilized by paramedics. Police often write down what people say and take pictures of the scene. Both make important records for any claim.

Step 3: Get Medical Help Right Away

Even if you don’t call 911, it’s important to get medical help right away. Doctors and nurses look at:

How deep and where the wounds are
Involvement of nerves, tendons, or joints
Chance of getting an infection
Need for stitches, staples, or surgery
Immunization against tetanus
Risk of exposure to rabies

Quick care keeps people healthy and makes a clear medical timeline that shows how the injuries are connected to the dog attack. Insurance companies use delays later to downplay how serious the situation is.

Step 4: Find Out Who the Dog and Owner Are

Get as much information as you can at the scene:

Name and contact information for the owner
The dog’s home address
A description of the dog, including its breed, size, color, and markings.
If it’s safe to do so, take pictures or videos of the dog.

If the owner won’t help or walks away, write down license plates, house numbers, names of nearby businesses, or other identifying information. Witnesses can often help figure out where the dog came from.

Step 5: Write Down What Happened and the Injuries

Pictures and videos tell the story in a way that words rarely do:

Close-ups of each wound before it was treated
Photos of the progress as the bruising and swelling get worse
The attack happened in the yard, on the porch, in the street, or in the courtyard.
Gates that are open, fences that are broken, or latches that are missing
Clothes that are ripped, glasses that are broken, and phones that are broken

Keep writing down scars as they happen. Insurance adjusters often say that scars are small or hard to see. Clear, dated pictures fix that spin.

Step 6: Tell Someone About the Bite

You should tell your local animal control or the right authorities if a dog bites you. Reporting:

Starts the steps for evaluating rabies and putting animals in quarantine
Makes an official record
Could find out about past problems with the same dog

It’s harder to fight the owner’s later denial if there isn’t a report.

Step 7: Keep All Records

Save:

Bills and records from the doctor
Receipts for drugs, bandages, and other supplies
Proof of missed work and lost wages
Emails or letters from insurance companies
Notes from talking to the dog’s owner or people who saw it happen

These records are the basis for any claim or lawsuit.

Step 8: Before Talking to Your Insurance Company, Talk to a Houston Dog Bite Lawyer

Insurance adjusters often call back right away. Victims are still in pain and don’t know what to do when recorded statements and early “lowball” settlement offers come in.

Before talking to an adjuster, it’s a good idea to talk to a Houston dog bite lawyer for a short time. This will help you avoid:

Statements turned into confessions of guilt
Signing releases that stop future claims
Settling before the full extent of injuries or scars is known

Once you give up your rights, they almost never come back.

Insurance for Dog Bite Cases

After a dog attack, it’s hard to talk about money, especially if the owner is a neighbor, friend, or family member. But the bills for medical care, lost wages, and long-term care don’t wait.

In many cases, insurance is the only way to get better. Some possible policies are:

Insurance for homeowners
Insurance for renters
Policies for landlords’ liability
Businesses need commercial general liability insurance.

There is a lot of difference in policy language. Some don’t allow certain breeds, while others don’t allow dogs that have bitten someone before. Some policies don’t cover attacks that happen off the property.

Victims often want to know if their injuries are covered by these policies, how to file a claim, and if things like therapy and future surgery are covered. The resource on whether insurance pays for dog bites goes into great detail about these and other issues. It looks at how different policies usually work in Texas.

Knowing exactly what your coverage includes can often mean the difference between a low offer and a settlement that really meets your long-term needs.

Different Types of Compensation You Can Get in a Texas Dog Bite Claim

People who are bitten by dogs in Houston usually ask for a number of different types of damages. Texas law recognizes losses that are both economic and non-economic.

Costs of Medical Care

Medical damages can include:

Ambulance and emergency room services
Stays in the hospital and surgeries
Surgery to fix and reshape plastic
Follow-up visits and taking care of wounds
Therapy for the body and the job
Counseling for mental health or trauma
Medicines that doctors give you
Future medical treatment is likely to happen

Injuries from dog bites often need to be treated in stages. For instance, fixing something at an emergency room first and then fixing the scar months or even years later. Settlement decisions should take into account the whole picture, not just the first bills.

Lost Wages and the Ability to Earn Money

An attack that keeps someone from working or limits the kinds of jobs they can do for good causes a different set of losses:

Paychecks missed while getting better
Lost overtime, bonuses, or tips
Changes in jobs because of physical or mental health issues
Less money to make if you have a long-term disability or disfigurement

This has the biggest effect on people who work for themselves, as contractors, or as gig workers. They might lose a lot of money quickly, and there is no safety net.

Pain, Suffering, and Mental Pain

People who are bitten by dogs go through more than just bills and lost wages. The law says:

Pain in the body before, during, and after the attack
Pain, stiffness, or nerve pain that doesn’t go away
Fear, worry, and emotional pain
Losing sleep, having nightmares, and having memories that won’t go away
Not enjoying life and things you do

Disfigurement from scarring is also a type of non-economic damage, and Texas law often treats it as its own category because it has a long-lasting effect on daily life.

Damage to Property

A lot of attacks break things that belong to people:

Clothes were ripped during the event.
Knocked off and broken glasses or sunglasses
Phones, watches, and other electronics were broken during the fight.
Tools or equipment used for work that were broken during the attack

These losses should not be left out of the final numbers.

Children and Working Adults Have Special Problems

Kids

Children in Houston get more than their fair share of bad dog bites. They are closer to a dog’s mouth, trust animals quickly, and might not see warning signs.

Things that happen a lot in cases of child dog bites:

Injuries to the face and scalp
A lot of scarring
A lot of psychological damage
Fear of dogs or playing outside for a long time

When looking at fault and provocation, Texas law takes into account how old and smart a child is. Kids are typically not held to the same standards as adults. Juries usually don’t want to blame very young victims for things like hugging or petting a dog.

Adults Who Work

A lot of people who get bitten by dogs work jobs where they have to be around people all the time, like:

People who deliver mail
Delivery drivers from Amazon, UPS, and other companies
People who deliver food
Technicians for utilities and meters
Nurses and caregivers who work in the home
People who work in real estate and home inspectors

These workers may be able to get workers’ compensation, and they may also be able to sue the dog owner or the property owner separately. To keep one system from accidentally getting rid of another, you need to pay close attention to how they all work together.

How a Dog Bite Lawyer in Houston Builds a Strong Case

A serious dog bite claim is more than just a letter and a demand. A thorough legal approach usually includes:

Investigating the scene—going to the place, taking pictures, finding cameras, and talking to neighbors or witnesses.
Gathering records—getting police reports, animal control reports, and any previous complaints about the dog or property.
Researching a dog’s history to find proof of past bites, aggressive behavior, dangerous dog designations, or past enforcement actions.
Liability analysis: Finding all the people who had control or knowledge, like owners, handlers, landlords, property managers, or businesses.
Insurance review: Finding and looking at all the relevant policies, such as homeowners and renters insurance, commercial general liability insurance, and umbrella policies.
Medical coordination: Working with doctors, surgeons, and therapists to keep track of injuries, plan future treatments, and note long-term effects.
Damages development: Figuring out the economic and non-economic losses, such as scarring, mental pain, and loss of ability to earn money.
Negotiation and litigation: Fighting back against low offers and blame-shifting, filing a lawsuit, and getting ready for trial when necessary.

When dealing with dog bite cases, you need to be both kind and tough. Victims need someone who will clearly tell their story and stand up to insurance companies that want to downplay these injuries.

Why Should You Hire Joe I. Zaid & Associates for a Dog Bite Case?

Having worked on both premises liability and serious injury cases helps with dog bite lawsuits. Technical know-how and real-life courtroom experience can turn a painful event into a strong civil claim.

Joe Zaid is a personal injury lawyer with a lot of experience that has helped many people who have been hurt in the Houston area. Joe has worked on thousands of personal injury and wrongful death claims since 2013. He has won millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts, including several seven-figure amounts for individual clients.

Areas of focus are:

Cases of dog bites and animal attacks
Collisions between cars, trucks, and commercial vehicles
Claims for premises liability
Cases of wrongful death and catastrophic injury

Some examples of professional recognition are:

H-Texas Magazine named him one of Houston’s Top Lawyers.
Nominated as one of the Top 40 Under 40 Trial Lawyers
Being an active member of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association and the Houston Trial Lawyers Association

Clients get direct, useful advice form team that is dedicated to making their case as strong as possible.

To get in touch directly:

Joe I. Zaid & Associates
Call the office at (346) 756-9243.
4701 Preston Ave., Pasadena, TX 77505
https://joezaid.com

When to Get in Touch with a Houston Dog Bite Lawyer

Not every nip is a reason to go to court. But there are some clear signs that you should call a Houston dog bite lawyer:

Bites that needed stitches, staples, or surgery
Scars that are easy to see, especially on the face, neck, or hands
Infections, going to the hospital, or long-term medical care
Attacks on kids or older people
Dogs that have bitten someone before or are known to be aggressive
Involvement of the landlord, property manager, or business
Owners who don’t take responsibility or blame the victim
Insurance companies acting in a confusing or hostile way

In Texas, people who are bitten by a dog usually have two years from the date of the attack to file a lawsuit. That time goes by quickly. Evidence goes missing, witnesses disappear, scars change, and insurance companies get a head start on building their case.

A simple talk with a qualified Houston dog bite lawyer can help you find answers to important questions:

What rights does Texas law give you?
Who is most likely to be legally responsible?
What proof needs to be kept now?
Considering the injuries and scars, what is a reasonable range of compensation?

People who own dogs and property have a basic responsibility: they should not let dangerous animals hurt other people. The law gives people in Houston a way to hold someone accountable when they ignore their duty and end up with scars, trauma, and bills.

No one should have to fight that battle by themselves.

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