Nashville Dog Bite Lawyer

Mixed Statute

Nashville handles animal control matters in a way few American cities do: Davidson County runs a dedicated Metro Court Animal Control Docket through the Circuit Court Clerk, sitting regularly on its own calendar rather than folding animal cases into general sessions. That produces a public record of prior proceedings involving a particular dog or owner — which in Tennessee is worth considerably more than it would be elsewhere.

The reason is the residential exclusion. Tenn. Code Ann. § 44-8-413 strips strict liability away where the bite happened on the owner's own residential or farm property, and the claim reverts to proving the owner knew the dog was dangerous. Prior animal control proceedings are exactly that evidence, and in Nashville they leave a docket entry rather than only an internal file.

Metro Animal Care and Control takes bite reports for Davidson County and can be reached at 615-862-7928. Report promptly — Tennessee allows just one year from the date of the bite under Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104, half what most states give, and inside the residential exclusion you also need time to gather the history evidence the exclusion makes necessary.

Report a Nashville bite to Metro Animal Care and Control at 615-862-7928. Two Nashville-specific points worth acting on: Davidson County runs a dedicated Metro Court Animal Control Docket through the Circuit Court Clerk, so prior proceedings involving a dog or owner are part of a public record you can ask about — and in Tennessee that history is what a claim needs if the bite happened on the owner's own residential property, where the statute's residential exclusion removes strict liability. Tennessee also allows only one year to file.

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