Miami Dog Bite Lawyer

Strict Liability

Miami-Dade splits bite reporting between two agencies, and people routinely report to one and assume they've covered both. Miami-Dade Animal Services takes the bite report through the county's 311 line and handles the animal side, including quarantine and any dangerous-dog investigation. The rabies exposure question goes to the Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade, through its Epidemiology, Disease Control and Immunization Services office at 305-470-5660. Two agencies, two files — and a claim is stronger with both.

The county's breed rules ended recently enough that stale guidance is still circulating. Miami-Dade banned pit bulls from 1989 until October 1, 2023, when Florida's statewide preemption of breed-specific ordinances took effect and wiped out a 34-year-old county ban. Breed was never part of the analysis under Fla. Stat. § 767.04 anyway. What matters now is the county's dangerous-dog process under Chapter 5, § 5-22 of the Code of Ordinances: a dog designated dangerous is confiscated and impounded, and the owner has ten business days from written notice to request an administrative hearing. That file — bite severity findings, prior complaints, the owner's own statements — is often the most useful evidence available in a civil claim, and it's generated on a fast clock.

Report a Miami-Dade bite to Miami-Dade Animal Services via 311, and separately to the Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade's Epidemiology office at 305-470-5660 for the rabies assessment — two different agencies keeping two different records. Under county ordinance § 5-22, an owner has only ten business days from written notice to appeal a dangerous-dog designation, so the administrative record forms quickly after a serious bite.

Read the full statute breakdown: Florida Dog Bite Laws → · Typical payouts: Florida Settlement Amounts →