Florida Dog Bite Lawyer — Free Consultation

Strict Liability State

Florida is among the strongest strict liability states for dog bite victims — with one large statutory exception: a properly posted "Bad Dog" sign, unless the person bitten is under six.

Your Rights After a Dog Bite in Florida

Florida's dog bite statute, Fla. Stat. § 767.04, makes the owner liable for a bite regardless of the dog's history or what the owner knew about it. There's no one-bite defense. The statute also names mail carriers and other people performing legal duties directly in its text, which removes an argument that gets litigated in other states.

It comes with a defense that catches people off guard, though. An owner who displayed an easily readable "Bad Dog" sign in a prominent place on the premises is generally not liable — unless the person bitten was under six years old, or the injury was caused by the owner's own negligent act or omission. Almost no other state has anything comparable. What follows is what the statute says, how the sign defense actually works, how Florida's 2023 tort reform changed the filing deadline, and what to do next; a licensed Florida attorney can apply it to your facts.

Where a Florida attorney adds value is usually in three places. Establishing early whether a sign existed, where, and whether it was legible from where you were — evidence that vanishes fast and that an insurer will assert with or without proof. Handling the comparative negligence argument, which Florida wrote directly into the bite statute and then complicated further in 2023. And calculating what an unhealed injury will cost rather than settling against current bills.

Fees are contingency across the board: nothing upfront, commonly around a third of the recovery, paid only out of what's recovered, and typically nothing owed if there's no recovery. Florida also requires attorneys to provide a written contingency fee contract with a client's right to cancel within three business days, so there's a built-in window to reconsider after signing.

Timelines vary with how contested liability is and how far treatment has progressed. A clear-liability bite with finished treatment can resolve in a few months; a case with a sign defense, a comparative fault fight, or ongoing surgical care routinely runs past a year. Since March 2023 the filing window has been two years rather than four, which has meaningfully compressed how long a Florida claim can sit in negotiation before suit has to be filed.

Not every bite needs representation. A minor wound, prompt treatment, no lasting mark, and an insurer that isn't fighting can be handled directly. What tends to change it: surgery or stitches, visible scarring, a child victim, a denied claim, an owner asserting a posted sign, or any injury to a child where a parent is available to sue — because Florida's minor tolling rule is far narrower than most people assume, and a child's claim can expire on the ordinary two-year schedule.

The evidence that matters is consistent: photos of the wound immediately and through healing, photos of the property and any signage, the animal services report, the owner's name and insurance information, witness contacts, and the complete medical file. A free consultation is mostly an attorney reading that and telling you honestly what it supports.

For small claims, Florida county court handles claims up to $8,000 in the small claims division under the simplified small claims rules, and up to $50,000 in county court generally, with circuit court above that. Small claims suits pretrial conferences quickly and doesn't require a lawyer, but it's a poor fit for surgical injuries, disputed liability, or anything where an insurer has counsel involved.

Florida Dog Bite Laws

Fla. Stat. § 767.04 provides: "The owner of any dog that bites any person while such person is on or in a public place, or lawfully on or in a private place, including the property of the owner of the dog, is liable for damages suffered by persons bitten, regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owners' knowledge of such viciousness."

Full breakdown of the statute, comparative negligence rules, and exceptions: Florida Dog Bite Laws →

What Compensation Can You Recover?

Economic damages are the documented losses: emergency treatment, rabies post-exposure prophylaxis, reconstructive and revision surgery, physical and occupational therapy, and income lost during recovery, plus the projected cost of care an injury will still require.

Non-economic damages cover pain and suffering, emotional distress, and permanent scarring or disfigurement. Florida juries and adjusters weigh visible permanent scarring on the face, neck, and hands most heavily, since it's the clearest evidence that the harm outlasted the treatment. A persistent fear of dogs after an attack is compensable as part of emotional distress.

Most claims are paid from the owner's homeowners or renters policy, typically carrying $100,000 to $500,000 in limits. Where the dog had already been classified dangerous under Fla. Stat. § 767.12 after July 1, 2025, the Pam Rock Act's mandatory $100,000 policy may be an additional or alternative source — one that's easy to overlook because it isn't where anyone thinks to look first.

A child's claim differs in two ways that pull in opposite directions. Facial and hand scarring on a growing child typically values higher than the same scar on an adult, because it stretches with growth and often needs revision surgery years later. But Florida's narrow minority tolling under § 95.051 means a child's claim is usually running on the ordinary two-year clock as long as a parent is available to bring it — so the extra value doesn't come with extra time, which is the opposite of what families reasonably expect.

See typical dollar ranges: Florida Settlement Amounts →

Steps to Take After a Dog Bite

Florida's first steps carry one piece of urgency the other states on this site don't. Get medical care the same day — bite wounds carry a genuine infection risk from Pasteurella and Capnocytophaga, and Florida's warm, humid climate makes prompt wound care more than a formality. Then photograph the property before you leave, or return within a day or two and do it: every entrance, every fence line, and anywhere a sign might be, because whether the owner displayed an easily readable "Bad Dog" sign in a prominent place is a complete defense under § 767.04, and it's a fact that gets asserted long after any sign could have been installed. Get the owner's name, address, phone, and insurance information. Report the bite to your county animal services and, separately, to the county health department for the rabies assessment — in most Florida counties these are two different agencies with two different records. Photograph the wound immediately and through healing. Be careful with recorded statements; an adjuster asking whether you noticed any signs on the property is building a § 767.04 defense, not chatting. And don't let the file sit: since March 24, 2023 the window is two years, not four, and it does not automatically extend for a child if a parent can sue.

Statute of Limitations

For bites on or after March 24, 2023, Florida gives you two years to file, following HB 837's amendment to Fla. Stat. § 95.11 — cut down from the four years that applied before that date, and still applicable to older incidents. There's an unsettled argument that a claim pleaded strictly under § 767.04 is an action founded on statutory liability that retains a four-year period under § 95.11(3)(f); it has not been definitively resolved for dog bite claims, and relying on it is a risk with no upside, since filing within two years costs nothing. The rule that surprises families most concerns children: unlike California, which tolls to 18, or Missouri, which tolls to 21, Florida tolls a minor's claim under § 95.051 only where no parent or guardian is available to sue, where an available parent's interest conflicts with the child's, or where a parent has been adjudicated incapacitated — with most extensions capped at seven years from accrual under § 95.051(2). If a parent can bring the claim, the two-year clock runs from the bite. A wrongful death claim runs two years from the date of death under the Wrongful Death Act. And where a government entity is involved, Fla. Stat. § 768.28 requires written notice to the agency and to the Department of Financial Services, with a waiting period before suit — a separate track that has to be started early.

Full breakdown of the statute, its exceptions, and how shared fault is handled: Florida dog bite laws →

Find a Dog Bite Lawyer Near You in Florida

• Miami Dog Bite Lawyer
• Orlando (guide coming soon)
• Tampa (guide coming soon)
• Jacksonville (guide coming soon)