If a dog bit you or your child, a Westchester County dog bite attorney at Silver Law Group can start work on your claim today, before the owner’s insurance company settles on its version of what happened. Call 212-470-4544 at any hour. The consultation is free.
Our dog bite attorneys represent victims of dog bites and other animal attacks across the county. That includes apartment hallways in Yonkers, New Rochelle and Mount Vernon, and sidewalks and front yards in White Plains, Peekskill and Port Chester. A 2025 court ruling opened up claims that the old rule used to block. You don’t need to travel to Manhattan to get started, because an attorney can come to your home or your hospital room.
Do You Have a Dog Bite Case in Westchester?
You probably have a stronger claim than you’ve been told. For years, New York followed Bard v. Jahnke. Under that rule, a dog bite victim lost unless they could prove the owner already knew the dog was vicious. An owner who left a gate open or let go of the leash on a crowded sidewalk owed nothing if the dog had a clean record.
That changed on April 17, 2025. In Flanders v. Goodfellow, the New York Court of Appeals overruled Bard v. Jahnke. Your claim can now rest on either of two legal theories, or on both together:
- Ordinary negligence, meaning the owner didn’t use reasonable care to control the dog. Examples are an unlatched gate, an off-leash walk, or a dog left alone with a visiting child. You don’t have to show that the dog ever bit anyone before.
- Strict liability for known vicious propensities, meaning the owner knew the dog had dangerous tendencies. In that case the owner is liable for the harm those tendencies cause, even if the owner was careful on the day of your bite.
Making both claims gives you two ways to win. If we find proof of earlier aggression, strict liability applies. If the dog’s history is thin, the negligence claim still stands on what the owner did or failed to do that day.
If an adjuster tells you there is no claim because the dog never bit anyone before, that adjuster is describing a rule New York’s highest court threw out.
Evidence the Owner Knew the Dog Was Dangerous
The strict liability claim depends on what the owner knew before you were hurt. This kind of proof shows it:
- an earlier bite or attack on a person or another animal, even one nobody reported
- growling or lunging at people walking past
- baring its teeth when people came near the yard or door
- keeping the dog chained or penned because of how it behaved
- using it as a guard dog
- complaints from neighbors, mail carriers or delivery drivers
Some of this proof is in public records. The Westchester County Department of Health keeps a Dangerous Dog Registry of dogs a judge has declared dangerous. A listing on that registry is strong evidence that the owner knew. It also brings in the separate medical-cost rule explained below.
Most of the proof comes from people, though: the neighbor who started crossing the street to avoid the house, or the carrier who stopped walking up to the porch. We find these witnesses and interview them early, while they still remember clearly and before the owner can move or give the dog away.
Medical Bills When a Dog Has Been Declared Dangerous
Once a judge has declared a dog dangerous, Agriculture and Markets Law 123(10) makes the owner or custodian strictly liable for the medical costs the dog causes. “Strictly liable” means you don’t have to prove carelessness or that the owner knew anything. That covers the emergency room, surgery, wound care and rabies shots. Other losses, such as pain and lost wages, still go through the negligence or known-propensity claims.
A dog gets declared dangerous through a formal process. Under AML 123(1), anyone who sees an attack or threatened attack can complain to the dog control officer or police of the city, town or village where it happened. Under AML 123(2), a witness can instead make a sworn complaint directly to a municipal judge. Either way, the case ends up before the judge.
The person asking for the declaration has to prove the dog is dangerous by clear and convincing evidence. That is a higher standard than in an ordinary civil lawsuit. Witness statements, medical records and photos taken soon after the attack are what meet it.
Who Pays: Owners, Landlords, Insurers and Employers
More than one party can owe you money for a single bite. The person who owns the dog may not be the one who pays.
- The owner or custodian. Liability reaches whoever was keeping or controlling the dog, such as a dog walker or a relative watching it for the weekend.
- A landlord. A landlord who knew a tenant kept the dog and had the power to remove it, for example through the lease, can share liability. This matters in rental buildings in Yonkers, Mount Vernon and New Rochelle, where a bite in a shared lobby or stairwell raises the question of what the landlord knew.
- Homeowners or renters insurance. These policies often cover dog bite liability, so the money usually comes from the insurer rather than the owner’s savings. The insurer also employs the adjuster who will call you.
If the dog bit you on the job, as a mail carrier, home health aide or delivery driver, you may have two claims. Workers’ compensation pays your medical treatment and part of your lost wages no matter who was at fault. Under Workers’ Compensation Law 29, you can also sue the dog’s owner as a third party. That lawsuit can recover losses workers’ comp doesn’t pay, such as pain and suffering.
The workers’ comp insurance carrier then has a lien on your third-party recovery, meaning it gets repaid for what it already paid you. How that lien is handled at settlement decides how much of the recovery you actually keep.
Defenses Owners Raise: Provocation, Trespass and Leash Rules
Expect the owner’s insurer to argue that you caused the bite. New York’s pure comparative fault rule, CPLR 1411, limits how far that argument can go. If a jury finds you partly at fault, your damages are reduced by your share of the fault but not wiped out. A victim found 30 percent responsible still recovers the other 70 percent.
AML 123(4) lists conduct that stops a court from declaring a dog dangerous, and insurers borrow these points as defenses:
- The victim was tormenting the dog. Reaching out to pet a dog is very different from abusing it, and the record of what happened should show that.
- The victim was committing a crime. Owners raise trespass here, but a mail carrier, delivery driver or invited guest on the front walk had a lawful reason to be there.
- The dog was defending itself.
Leash rules can work against the owner. In Westchester County parks, a dog must be on a leash no longer than six feet, and one person may walk no more than three dogs. If the owner broke either rule when the dog reached you, that is evidence of negligence.
Dog Bite Injuries and What Your Claim Is Worth
A dog’s teeth puncture the skin and its jaws crush what is underneath. That is why the damage often goes deeper than the wound looks on the first day.
- Puncture wounds that close on the surface while bacteria stay trapped underneath
- Crush injuries to muscle and bone, often in the hands and forearms
- Infection, the complication that turns a small bite into a hospital stay
- Nerve and tendon damage that weakens your grip or takes away feeling
- Facial scarring, which may need more procedures as a child grows
- Rabies post-exposure treatment, a series of shots needed when the dog’s vaccination can’t be confirmed
- PTSD, including nightmares and a fear of dogs that keeps people off their own block
Your damages can include:
- medical costs, both past and future, including plastic surgery and counseling
- lost wages and reduced ability to earn
- disfigurement from permanent scarring
- pain and suffering
There is no reliable average dog bite settlement. Numbers you see online lump minor nips together with disabling attacks. They also leave out what actually moves a case: which insurance policy applies, its limits, proof of what the owner knew, and how a scar has healed. Your dog bite case is worth what your evidence and medical records can support, and a free consultation is where you get an honest assessment of both.
When a Child Is Bitten in Westchester
Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Valhalla is an ACS-verified Level I pediatric trauma center, the highest trauma level for children. It treated 2,527 injured children in 2024. If your child’s bite needed surgery, a plastic surgery consult or an admission, the records from that stay often become the core of the claim. They show how deep the wounds went and what follow-up care the doctors expect.
Children get extra time to bring a claim. Under CPLR 208, the statute of limitations is paused while the injured person is a minor, so the three-year deadline doesn’t start running until your child turns 18. That doesn’t make waiting a good idea. Witnesses move away, owners give dogs away, and photos of a fresh wound can’t be taken years later. The evidence is easiest to secure in the first weeks.
What to Do After a Dog Bite in Westchester County
Take care of your health first, then protect your claim.
- Get medical care the same day, even for a small puncture.
- Report the bite to the Westchester County Department of Health at 914-813-5000. The line is answered 24 hours a day, and the report creates an official record of the attack.
- Get a rabies evaluation. Your doctor will decide whether you need post-exposure shots based on what is known about the dog.
- Write down the owner’s name and address, and ask for proof of the dog’s rabies vaccination.
- Get names and phone numbers from anyone who saw the attack.
- Photograph the wounds now and again as they heal, including stitches and scars.
- Keep any torn clothing in a bag without washing it. Tooth marks in the fabric show how hard the dog bit.
Don’t give the owner’s insurer a recorded statement until you have spoken with a lawyer.
What a Westchester Dog Bite Lawyer Costs
Silver Law Group handles dog bite claims on a contingency fee. You pay nothing up front and nothing by the hour. The fee is a percentage of the money we recover for you, paid out of the settlement or verdict when the case ends. If we recover nothing, you owe no fee.
- a free consultation by phone, at your home or in the hospital
- consultations in English, Spanish or Russian
- the fee terms in writing before you sign anything
Because the lawyer is paid only if you recover, a dog bite lawyer working on contingency has every reason to build your case to win.
Deadlines for Dog Bite Claims in Westchester County
The deadline for a dog bite claim depends on who owned the dog and whether the victim survived. Missing a deadline can end the case before it starts.
- Three years from the bite to file a personal injury lawsuit under CPLR 214.
- Two years from the date of death to file a wrongful death claim under EPTL 5-4.1.
- If a government owns the dog, such as a police K-9 or a dog held at a municipal shelter, you have 90 days to serve a Notice of Claim under General Municipal Law 50-e.
- One year and 90 days to file the lawsuit against that government body under GML 50-i.
The 90-day notice is the deadline most likely to catch families off guard. It applies when the dog belongs to a city, town, village or county, and three months go fast when you are still dealing with wound care and rabies shots.
A lawsuit over a bite in Westchester is typically filed in Westchester County Supreme Court in White Plains. Filing well before the three-year deadline leaves time to subpoena animal control records and question the owner under oath while memories are fresh.
Why Westchester Families Call Silver Law Group
Silver Law Group answers calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Bites happen on evening walks and weekend visits, and the insurer’s adjuster often calls within days.
- An attorney will come to your home in Peekskill or Port Chester, or to your bedside in Valhalla.
- Every case is prepared for trial from the start, so the insurer has to weigh its offer against what a White Plains jury might decide.
Call 212-470-4544 to speak with a dog bite injury attorney today, or visit our office at 49 West 37th Street, 7th Floor, in Midtown Manhattan.