New York Dog Bite Lawyer — Free Consultation
Mixed Statute State
New York dog bite law changed in April 2025 — Flanders v. Goodfellow restored ordinary negligence claims after 19 years in which New York was the only state that barred them.
Your Rights After a Dog Bite in New York
If a dog bit you in New York, the most important thing to know is that the law changed recently and substantially. On April 17, 2025 the Court of Appeals decided Flanders v. Goodfellow, overruling a 2006 case that had made New York the only state in the country where a dog bite victim could not bring an ordinary negligence claim. That door is now open.
What New York's statute provides is narrower than people expect. Agriculture & Markets Law § 123 imposes strict liability for medical costs only. Pain and suffering, lost wages and everything else that usually makes up the bulk of a claim's value fall outside it, and require either proof the owner knew the dog was dangerous or — since Flanders — proof the owner was simply careless.
The practical consequence deserves stating directly. If you were bitten in New York before April 2025 and were told you had no case because the dog had never bitten anyone before, that advice reflected a rule that no longer exists. New York's three-year deadline means a meaningful number of those claims are still within time and worth a second look.
Where a New York attorney adds value is in deciding which theories to plead and assembling evidence for each. Vicious propensity under Collier v. Zambito does not require proving the owner did anything wrong, only that they knew what the dog was capable of — and the owner's own precautions, a muzzle, a chain, a warning sign, are often the best proof of that. Negligence is now available alongside it, reaching cases where the dog had no history but the owner lost control of it.
Fees are contingency across the board, and New York regulates the structure: court rules set a sliding scale in some case types and require a written retainer. Nothing is owed upfront, and typically nothing is owed at all if there is no recovery.
Timelines vary with how contested liability is. A claim with a documented dangerous dog determination and clear medical costs can resolve in months. A case where propensity is disputed, or where a municipal defendant is involved, routinely runs past a year. Settling before treatment reaches maximum medical improvement remains the most common regret.
Not every bite needs representation. What tends to change it here: any injury beyond medical costs alone, since that is where New York's layered structure starts to matter; a child victim; a denied claim; any involvement of a city agency or housing authority, because of the 90-day notice deadline; and any case where you were told before April 2025 that no claim existed.
The evidence that decides a New York claim is consistent: photographs of the wound over time, the animal bite report to the Health Department, any § 121 dangerous dog proceeding record, the owner's name and insurance details, witness contacts, and the full medical file. Evidence of how the dog was normally kept — muzzled, chained, behind a sign — is worth pursuing specifically, because it goes to propensity.
5 questions a New York attorney will ask you
Answer these to see which factors strengthen or complicate a claim under New York law.
Question 1 of 5
Is there evidence the owner knew the dog was dangerous?
This determines whether you can recover more than medical costs.
New York Dog Bite Laws
Between 2006 and April 2025, New York occupied a genuinely singular position. Under Bard v. Jahnke, 6 N.Y.3d 592 (2006), an owner of a domestic animal could be held liable only on a strict liability theory, and only where the plaintiff proved the owner knew or should have known of the animal's vicious propensities. There was no negligence cause of action at all. A victim bitten by a dog with a clean history, whose owner had been careless in some obvious way, simply had no route to damages beyond medical costs.
Full breakdown of the statute, comparative negligence rules, and exceptions: New York Dog Bite Laws →
What Compensation Can You Recover?
Medical and veterinary costs sit in their own category in New York, because Agriculture & Markets Law § 123 makes the owner of a dangerous dog strictly liable for them without any proof of knowledge or fault. That is the one part of a New York claim that does not require establishing anything about the owner.
Everything else — pain and suffering, emotional distress, permanent scarring and disfigurement, lost wages, loss of consortium — requires a separate theory. Either the owner knew of the dog's vicious propensities, or, since Flanders v. Goodfellow, the owner was negligent. New York places no cap on non-economic damages, so severe-injury claims are not statutorily limited.
Most claims are paid from a homeowners or renters policy, typically carrying $100,000 to $500,000 in limits. In New York City, where most residents rent, renters policies and building liability policies are frequently where coverage is actually found — and a bite in a lobby, hallway or elevator may implicate the building's policy as well as the owner's.
A child's claim carries the usual premium for facial or hand scarring that may require revision surgery, and C.P.L.R. § 208 tolls the three-year period during infancy. The exception to watch is municipal: the 90-day notice of claim requirement under General Municipal Law § 50-e should not be assumed to be tolled, and a bite in public housing or a city park puts it in play immediately.
See typical dollar ranges: New York Settlement Amounts →
Steps to Take After a Dog Bite
New York's first steps include one legal obligation most states do not impose. Get medical care the same day — bite wounds carry a real infection risk from Pasteurella and Capnocytophaga, and a same-day record establishes the medical costs that § 123 makes recoverable regardless of anything else. Report the bite: section 11.03 of the New York City Health Code requires all animal bites be reported within 24 hours, through 311 or the Health Department's Animal Bite Unit, and the report triggers the ten-day observation period that determines whether you need rabies treatment. Get the owner's name, address, phone and insurance details. Then gather the propensity evidence specifically, because it is what opens up damages beyond medical costs: was the dog muzzled, chained, kept behind a warning sign, known to lunge at people in the building? Ask neighbours while they are willing to talk. Photograph the wound immediately and through healing, and photograph the location, particularly if it was a common area in a building. If a city agency, housing authority or public park is involved, treat the 90-day notice of claim deadline as the operative one rather than the three-year window. And be careful with recorded statements before you have had advice.
What happens after a dog bite in New York
Most claims move through the same six stages. Timings vary — these are typical, not guaranteed.
The bite
Day 0Get the owner's name, address, phone and insurance details before leaving if you safely can, and photograph the scene — in New York that includes any posted signage, not just the wound.
Medical treatment
Same dayDog bites carry a real infection risk from bacteria like Pasteurella and Capnocytophaga. A same-day record also becomes the document every later stage of the claim rests on.
Report & evidence
Days 1–7Report to animal control, which starts the rabies observation period and creates a timestamped official record independent of the owner. Photograph the wound again as it heals, and collect witness contacts.
Insurance claim
Weeks 1–8Most claims are paid by the owner's homeowners or renters policy. Adjusters typically call early to request a recorded statement — their job is to limit the payout, so it's worth getting advice before you're on record.
Attorney consultation
Any time — freeConsultations are free and contingency-based, so cost is rarely the deciding factor. Most attorneys will tell you plainly if a claim is simple enough to handle alone.
Settlement or lawsuit
Before the 3- years from the date of the bite deadlineMost claims settle without a lawsuit. If yours doesn't, New York requires suit within 3 years from the date of the bite (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214(5)) — and an attorney generally won't settle before your treatment reaches maximum medical improvement.
Statute of Limitations
New York allows three years from the date of the bite under C.P.L.R. § 214(5) — longer than most states covered here, and longer than neighbouring Pennsylvania's two. A wrongful death claim is shorter, generally two years from the date of death under EPTL § 5-4.1, while a survival action for the decedent's own damages follows the three-year period. For a minor, C.P.L.R. § 208 tolls the period during infancy, so the three years generally begins at eighteen. The deadline that actually ends New York claims is municipal. Where a city agency, housing authority, transit authority or other public entity is involved, General Municipal Law § 50-e requires a notice of claim within 90 days of the incident, and § 50-i requires suit within one year and 90 days. Late notice requires court permission that is not guaranteed. The difficulty is that the 90-day clock runs whether or not you have identified the correct defendant, so where there is any possibility a public entity is involved — a NYCHA building, a city park, a police dog — that needs resolving within days. One further note specific to the current moment: Flanders v. Goodfellow was decided on April 17, 2025, and because New York's ordinary period is three years, claims arising before that date may still be within time and may now support theories that were unavailable when they arose.
Full breakdown of the statute, its exceptions, and how shared fault is handled: New York dog bite laws →
Find a Dog Bite Lawyer Near You in New York
- New York City Dog Bite Lawyer
- Buffalo (guide coming soon)
- Rochester (guide coming soon)
New York dog bite questions, answered
The questions New York readers ask most often. General information, not legal advice.
What changed in New York dog bite law in 2025?
On April 17, 2025 the Court of Appeals decided Flanders v. Goodfellow, 2025 NY Slip Op 02261, overruling Bard v. Jahnke to the extent it barred negligence claims for injuries caused by domestic animals. For 19 years New York was the only state in the country where a dog bite victim could not sue in ordinary negligence. Victims can now pursue strict liability for vicious propensity, ordinary negligence, or both.
Does New York's dog bite statute cover pain and suffering?
No. Agriculture & Markets Law § 123 imposes strict liability for medical and veterinary costs only. Pain and suffering, lost wages and loss of consortium fall outside it and must be pursued either by proving the owner knew of the dog's vicious propensities or, since Flanders, through ordinary negligence.
What counts as a "vicious propensity" in New York?
Under Collier v. Zambito, 6 N.Y.3d 444 (2006), it is a tendency to act in a way that might endanger someone — and it need not be a prior bite. Courts have accepted evidence that a dog was routinely muzzled, chained, kept behind warning signs, or known to lunge and growl at passers-by.
How long do I have to file a dog bite claim in New York?
Three years from the date of the bite under C.P.L.R. § 214(5), which is longer than most states. But if a city agency, housing authority or other municipality is involved, General Municipal Law § 50-e requires a notice of claim within 90 days and suit within one year and 90 days — a far shorter track that is easy to miss.
I was bitten before 2025 and told I had no case. Is that still true?
It may not be. Advice given under Bard v. Jahnke reflected a rule the Court of Appeals has since overruled, and New York's three-year deadline means a number of pre-Flanders claims remain within time. If you were turned away because you could not prove the dog had bitten before, that is worth a second look.
Can I recover if I was partly at fault in New York?
Yes. New York applies pure comparative negligence under C.P.L.R. § 1411, so your damages are reduced by your share of fault but never eliminated. A plaintiff found 80% responsible still recovers 20% — considerably more forgiving than Pennsylvania or Ohio next door, where a majority-at-fault plaintiff recovers nothing.
Can New York City ban a dog by breed?
No. Agriculture & Markets Law § 107(5) prohibits municipalities from enacting breed-specific legislation anywhere in the state. Breed is not part of the § 123 analysis either.
What should I do right now?
Tick these off as you go. Nothing is saved — this is a checklist to work through, not a form.