Bitten By A Dog In Las Vegas?
A bite that looks small can leave a scar, a nerve that never feels right, and an infection that lands you back in the ER. We hold the owner responsible for what their dog did.
Talk To Erik, Not A Call Center
Tell us what happened, in as much detail as you can. The more we know, the faster Erik can tell you straight whether you have a case. Free, confidential, and no fee unless we win.
We've Got Your Details
Erik's office will review what you sent and reach out shortly. For immediate help, call (702) 360-5000.
How A Dog Bite Case Actually Works
The first moves are yours, and they are simpler than they sound. Once you call us, the heavy lifting becomes ours. Here is the whole path, start to finish.
In The First Day Or Two
Get Somewhere Safe
Put distance between you and the dog. If it is still loose and a threat, call 911. Note where it went.
Get Care The Same Day
Bites get infected fast, and a same day record dates your injury. A deep, hand, or face bite belongs at an ER. See the list below.
Report The Bite
This opens an official file. You can call it in, or once you hire us, we report it for you and pull the file.
Photograph And Get Names
The wounds, the dog, the open gate, your torn clothing. Get the owner's details and any witness names.
Call Erik, Then Stop Talking
Say nothing to the insurance adjuster, sign nothing, cash no quick check. Hand the talking to us.
Once You Hire Us
We Investigate And Prove Fault
We pull the animal control file and the dog's history, then build the negligence case under Nevada law, the prior bites, the broken leash rule, the warnings the owner ignored.
We Line Up The Right Doctors
We point you to doctors who treat injury cases and document them for court. When money is tight, that care is often available with no upfront cost, paid from the recovery instead of your pocket.
We Find The Source Of Recovery
A win only helps if there is money behind it. We track the owner's homeowner's or renter's insurance, any umbrella, and other responsible parties, so we know what is there to collect.
We Build And Press The Demand
We wait for the real picture of your injury, then put a full, documented demand in front of the insurer and push back on every lowball.
We File And Try It If We Must
If they will not pay fair, we file in the Eighth Judicial District Court and prepare your case as if it is going to a jury.
We tell you straight. If your case has a clear path to recovery, we say so and get to work. If it does not, we tell you that too, instead of running up your hopes. And for nearly every client, there is no fee unless we win.
Where To Report The Bite
Call the animal control agency for the city where the bite happened. If a dog is attacking right now, call 911 first. Not sure which city? The Strip and unincorporated areas like Paradise, Spring Valley, Enterprise, and Summerlin run through Clark County.
- Clark County Animal Protection
- City of Las Vegas Animal Protection
- Henderson Animal Care and Control
- North Las Vegas Animal Protection
- Boulder City Animal Control
- Mesquite Animal Control
Where To Get Treated
Call 911 for an active attack or heavy bleeding. For any bite that breaks the skin, get seen the same day. A deep, hand, or facial bite belongs at a trauma center, not an urgent care.
- University Medical Center (UMC)
- Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center
- St. Rose Dominican, Siena Campus
- Henderson Hospital
- Southern Nevada Health District
Poison Control is for poisoning, not bite wounds. Do not call it for a dog bite.
Other Resources
Helpful to know, but not where you report a bite or get urgent care.
- The Animal Foundation
- Nevada 2-1-1
- Non-Emergency Routing
Under NRS 11.190, you generally have two years from the date of the attack to file a dog bite lawsuit. A child usually has more time, but evidence still fades fast. Talk to us early so a deadline never decides your case for you.
The Proof You Gather Now Decides This Case
A dog bite case lives and dies on evidence, and most of it has a short shelf life. The wound heals, the swelling goes down, the dog gets rehomed or quietly disappears, and the neighbor who saw the whole thing moves out of the complex. That is why what you collect in the first days matters more than almost anything that happens later.
Start with the bite itself. Photograph every wound the day it happens and keep photographing as it changes, because a scar that settles in over weeks tells a story a single shot cannot. Report the attack to Animal Control so there is an official record with a case number. Get the owner's name, address, and insurance, and find out whether the dog is current on rabies shots. Write down anyone who saw it.
Then there is the dog's history, which is the part owners hope you never find. Has this animal bitten before? Did neighbors complain? Was there a prior dangerous-dog finding? In Nevada that history is not a side detail. It is often the core of the claim, because it shows the owner knew and let it happen anyway. Erik has spent more than 20 years taking on insurers and big corporations across Clark County, and he knows where these records hide.
Where the bite happened shapes where that paper trail lives. A loose dog in a Henderson neighborhood off St. Rose Parkway runs through Henderson Animal Care and Control. One inside Las Vegas city limits goes through the city's Animal Protection Services, and a bite in an unincorporated pocket of the valley sits with Clark County Animal Control. We know which door to knock on for each, and we pair the animal-control file with the medical records, the photos, and the witness names so the whole story lines up. If a lawsuit becomes necessary, a Clark County dog bite case is generally filed in the Eighth Judicial District Court, and we build the file from day one as if it is headed there.
Why Nevada Owners Aren't Automatically On The Hook
People assume that if a dog bites you, the owner is automatically liable. In a lot of states that is true. In Nevada it is not. There is no statewide strict-liability dog-bite statute here, so a bite claim runs on two things: negligence, and what the owner knew about their dog.
That knowledge piece is sometimes called the "one bite" idea, and it is easy to misread. It does not mean every dog gets one free bite. It means the case gets a lot stronger when you can show the owner had reason to know the dog was dangerous, whether that came from a prior bite, growling and lunging at people, a breed-specific restriction, or warnings from neighbors. Pair that with a broken leash law or a violated dangerous-dog ordinance and you have a clear negligence claim.
This is exactly why an off-leash dog matters so much. Clark County and the cities of Las Vegas and Henderson each have their own leash and dangerous-dog rules, and breaking one is solid evidence of negligence. The same questions of duty and notice run through our premises liability cases and our negligent security claims, where a property owner ignored a known risk.
Where The Attack Happened Changes Your Case
Nevada has no automatic, strict liability for dog bites. A claim runs on negligence and on what the owner knew about the dog, and that part stays the same everywhere. What changes from place to place is who else might share the blame, whose insurance pays, and which leash law applies. Here is how it tends to break down.
A Guest's Dog Bites You At Your Place
The dog's owner is usually on the hook, not you. Liability follows the dog, so your guest's homeowner's or renter's policy is normally the source of recovery, and it often follows the dog even off their own property. You are generally not responsible for a guest's dog unless you had control of it or knew it was dangerous and let it in.
You Are Bitten At The Dog Owner's House
Here the homeowner and the dog owner are the same person, so they can be liable under two theories at once, owner negligence and premises liability. Recovery usually comes from their homeowner's or renter's policy. One Nevada wrinkle: a lawful guest is owed real care, while a trespasser is owed a reduced duty.
On A Sidewalk Or In The Road
Often the strongest spot for a victim, because leash laws apply directly. An off-leash bite that breaks a local leash ordinance can support negligence per se, which can establish fault even if the dog had never bitten before. Which ordinance applies depends on whether you were in Clark County, Las Vegas, Henderson, or another city, so the exact spot matters.
In A Government Building Or Park
The dog's owner is still the main person responsible. A government entity is on the hook only if its own people or conditions negligently allowed the harm, and those claims run through the Nevada Tort Claims Act. That law keeps some immunity, caps the damages, and adds special pre-suit filing steps, so it is handled very differently than a claim against a private owner.
In A Supermarket Or Other Business
You may have two defendants: the dog's owner for negligence, and the business under premises liability if it knew a dangerous dog was on-site and did nothing reasonable. Recovery can come from the owner's policy and the business's commercial liability policy. A business generally must allow a real service dog, but that does not excuse a handler whose dog bites someone.
On A Trail Or In A Park
The dog owner is usually responsible, and their homeowner's or renter's policy is the typical source of recovery. If a posted leash rule was broken, that can support negligence per se. The catch is figuring out who manages the trail, because a county park, a state park, and a federal area each carry a different rule and a different possible government defendant.
At Lake Mead Or Red Rock
On federal land the private dog owner stays personally responsible, and their own policy is the usual source of recovery. The managing federal agency sets the leash rule, often a leash no longer than six feet. The federal government itself only comes in where a federal employee's negligence caused the harm, and that runs through the Federal Tort Claims Act, a separate and specialized track.
At An Off-Leash Dog Park
The toughest spot for a victim, because off-leash is allowed and posted, so the leash-law shortcut to fault generally does not apply. You are back to proving ordinary negligence or that the owner knew the dog was dangerous. A "use at your own risk" sign does not automatically waive that, and in Nevada assumption of risk covers only the normal risks of dogs playing, not an owner's unreasonable conduct.
This is general information about Nevada law, not legal advice. Every dog bite case turns on its own facts. Talk to us about yours.
A Single Bite Can Do Damage That Lasts
Dog mouths drive bacteria deep into the tissue, so even a wound that looks minor can turn into a real medical problem. These are the injuries that most often bring people to our door.
Deep puncture wounds
Narrow but deep, and easy to underestimate.
Torn skin and avulsion
Skin torn away, often needing surgical repair.
Facial scarring
Permanent, and especially serious on a child.
Nerve and tendon damage
Lasting loss of feeling, strength, or grip.
Infection and sepsis risk
Bacteria driven deep can turn dangerous fast.
Broken fingers and hands
Hand bites fracture small, slow-healing bones.
Eye and lip injuries
Sensitive areas that scar and impair.
Emotional trauma and fear
Anxiety and fear that outlast the wound.
"Erik and his staff are very knowledgeable and helpful. I can definitely recommend his law practice!"
Dog Bites Are More Common, And More Costly, Than People Think
These are not scare numbers. They are what the national record shows about how often this happens, who gets hurt, and what these claims are actually worth.
So what about breed? It is the first question almost everyone asks, and the honest answer helps your case more than a list would.
National studies do find that some breeds turn up more often in the worst attacks. The CDC's review of US dog bite related deaths from 1979 to 1998, published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, found that pit bull type dogs and Rottweilers together accounted for more than half of those fatalities. Hospital studies of children's facial bites tend to point the same way where the breed is known.
The Breeds Reported Most In Fatal Attacks
From the CDC's study of US dog bite related deaths, 1979 to 1998. This is the breed reported, not a measure of how likely any single dog is to bite. Source: CDC, in JAVMA (2000)
Pit Bull-Type
The type most often reported in fatal US attacks across the CDC's twenty year review.
Rottweiler
Second most reported. With pit bull type dogs, the two made up more than half of those deaths.
German Shepherd
Third most frequently reported in the same CDC study.
Here is the part that matters for a claim. Those same researchers, and the American Veterinary Medical Association, warn against reading too much into the breed numbers. Any dog can bite, breed is genuinely hard to identify by sight, and the AVMA opposes breed based laws because they do not match which dogs actually do the biting. A breed label, by itself, does not win or lose a Nevada case.
Nevada bars any city or county from branding a dog dangerous on breed alone, under NRS 202.500. No breed is banned in Las Vegas, Henderson, or Clark County. What decides a claim is the individual dog's conduct and what the owner knew, a prior bite, a broken leash law, a history of lunging, never the name of the breed.
Sources: CDC, AVMA, Sacks et al., JAVMA (2000), and the Insurance Information Institute (2024 claim data). Figures are national. Nevada does not publish a public county bite count.
Watch: Preventing A Bite, And Knowing When To Get Care
Two short videos from medical and veterinary voices. One on the warning signs before a dog bites, one on how to tell whether a bite needs a doctor.
Reading the warning signs. Most bites give a warning first. This short one from a veterinary practice shows the body language to watch for, and how to keep kids safe around dogs.
Does it need a doctor? A hospital physician walks through how to look at a bite and decide when it needs real medical care. When in doubt, get it checked.
More from the experts: AVMA, AAP HealthyChildren, Mayo Clinic, and the American Red Cross.
How The Homeowner's Insurer Tries To Shrink Your Claim
Once you know whose policy pays, the dog bite, it is usually the owner's homeowner's or renter's coverage, you also know who is on the other side of the table. The adjuster is friendly, and they are working to close your file for as little as possible before you understand what your injury will really cost.
Their first move is almost always blame. They will say you provoked the dog, reached over a fence, ignored a "Beware of Dog" sign, or walked into a yard you were not invited into. Nevada's comparative negligence rule under NRS 41.141 gives them a reason to push: every percent of fault they pin on you cuts their bill. So they push hard, and they push early, while you are still in pain and not thinking about percentages.
The next move is speed. They float a quick check before the swelling is even down, hoping you sign a release while the wound still looks like it will heal clean. Then the scar sets in, or the nerve damage shows up, and the case you settled for a few hundred dollars is closed for good. We do not let a fast offer decide a slow-healing injury. We wait for your doctor to tell us where you really stand, then we build the demand around that, the same patience we bring to our slip and fall claims.
What A Full Dog Bite Claim Covers
A real dog bite claim is more than the urgent care bill you paid on the way out the door. It accounts for the bills you can already see and what the bite leaves behind once the wound closes and the scar sets in. Insurers settle the first part fast and hope you forget the second. We build the claim around both.
Medical Care, Now And Down The Road
The first bills are the obvious ones: the ER visit, the wound cleaning and stitches, antibiotics, and rabies shots when the dog cannot be confirmed vaccinated. The harder part, the part insurers skip, is the care that comes later. A deep bite can mean scar revision or reconstructive surgery a plastic surgeon stages over months or years, especially for a child who is still growing. Nerve or tendon damage can mean physical therapy long after the skin looks healed. Counseling for the fear and the nightmares is medical care too. We do not settle on a number until your doctor tells us what the road ahead actually costs.
Scarring And Disfigurement
A scar is permanent, and Nevada law treats it as its own kind of harm, separate from the medical bills. The value climbs when the scar is visible, when it sits on the face or the hands, and it climbs the most when the person carrying it is a child who will live with it for life. This is the part insurers most want to minimize, because there is no invoice for it. So we make the record: photos over time as the scar matures, and a surgeon's written opinion on what it takes to treat and what will still show after.
Lost Pay And Future Earnings
Start with the paychecks you missed while healing, recovering from surgery, or sitting in follow-up appointments. Then there is the bigger question that gets missed: if the bite left nerve damage, a weakened hand, or scarring that limits the work you can do, the claim should account for the earnings you will lose going forward, not just the ones you already lost. That larger number usually takes an expert to project honestly, and we bring one in when the injury calls for it.
Pain, Suffering, And The Toll It Takes
A dog attack hurts long after the wound heals. There is the physical pain of the bite, the treatment, and the recovery. There is the part that does not show on an X-ray: the anxiety, the nightmares, the flinch every time a dog comes around the corner, the walk you used to take that you avoid now. Nevada law calls this non-economic harm, and you are allowed to recover for it. For a lot of people it lasts longer than the scar, and we make sure it is part of the claim, not an afterthought.
How A Dog Bite Claim Is Valued
There is no calculator that spits out what a dog bite claim is worth. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. Here is how it actually works.
A claim has two halves. Economic damages are the ones with receipts: the medical bills, the future care your doctors project, and the wages and earning power you lose. You add up what is documented, then add the expert-projected costs that come later. This is the floor of the claim, concrete and defensible.
Non-economic damages are the pain, the scarring, and the emotional toll, the harm with no invoice attached. There is no fixed formula for this half. You may have heard of a "multiplier," where someone multiplies the medical bills by some number to land on pain and suffering. That is a rough negotiating shorthand, not a Nevada rule, and a jury is not bound by it. What drives the number is the story: the photos, the testimony, and the honest day to day impact on your life. Nevada does not cap non-economic damages in a dog bite case, and that matters, because the scarring and the emotional harm are often the largest part of what you are owed.
What Moves The Value Up Or Down
- How bad the scarring is. Permanent, visible, and facial pushes it up. Minor and hidden pushes it down.
- Whether the victim is a child. A lifelong scar on a kid carries real weight.
- Who is at fault, and whether the owner knew. Prior bites, neighbor complaints, or animal control reports that show the owner knew the dog was dangerous make the claim stronger.
- Comparative negligence. Under NRS 41.141, if you share some blame your recovery drops by your percentage of fault, and if you are found more than 50 percent at fault it is barred. This is why an adjuster works so hard to pin some of it on you.
- How much insurance is actually there. A claim is only worth what you can collect. That usually means the owner's homeowner's or renter's policy, sometimes an umbrella on top, and rarely the owner's personal assets. Finding every layer of coverage is part of the job.
What Dog Bite Cases Have Been Worth
Here is the honest answer most law firm pages will not give you. Solid public dollar figures for Nevada dog bite cases are hard to come by, because most settle quietly and the insurer seals the number as part of the deal. Any firm throwing a specific Nevada figure at you usually cannot show you the case behind it. We would rather show you real, documented data.
A Few Real Results, From Around The Country
An 82-year-old woman was knocked down and bitten by a 130-pound Presa Canario, with infection, a six-day hospital stay, and nerve damage. Georgia
A woman was attacked by a neighbor's Rottweiler while walking her own dog. Illinois
A four-year-old was bitten by a grandmother's German Shepherd and seriously injured. Missouri
Reported results via Burns & Wilcox.
The cases above are publicly reported results from other firms and other states. They are not results obtained by this firm, and they are shown only to illustrate how dog bite claims have been valued elsewhere. Every case is different. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome, and what your claim is worth depends on your own facts, your injuries, and the insurance available.
Bitten On The Job? You May Have Two Claims
If a dog bit you while you were working, you are not stuck with one path forward. In Nevada you can usually pursue two claims at the same time, and they cover different things.
Pays First, And Pays Fast
- Your medical treatment
- A share of your lost wages
- No-fault, so you do not prove blame
It does not pay a dime for pain, suffering, or scarring.
Covers What Comp Leaves Out
- Pain and suffering
- Scarring and disfigurement
- The long-term toll on your life
Usually paid by the owner's homeowner's or renter's policy, not your employer.
The two claims fit together. When you collect from the dog's owner, the workers' comp insurer can ask to be paid back for what it already covered, so you are not paid twice for the same bills. Nevada law caps how much it can take back, which means more of that recovery stays with you. We handle the coordination so you do not have to.
Two wrinkles worth knowing. Postal and other federal workers run through the federal system, FECA, not Nevada workers' comp, and still keep the separate claim against the dog's owner. And if you work as an independent contractor or gig driver, you may have no workers' comp at all, which can make the owner claim your main path to recovery.
Jobs Where On-The-Job Dog Bites Happen Most
Delivery & Postal
- Mail CarriersThe most documented group for work bites.
- Delivery DriversUPS, FedEx, Amazon, and food drivers at strange doors all day.
Utilities & Meter Reading
- Meter ReadersSide gates and back yards where dogs run loose.
- Utility Field TechsGas, electric, and water crews on private property.
Home Services
- Plumbers & HVAC TechsCrawl spaces and tight areas, hard to back away.
- Cable & Internet InstallersInside the home with the resident dog nearby.
- Pest Control & ApplianceRoutine entries, face to face with the family pet.
Outdoor & Grounds
- Landscapers & Lawn CrewsLoud equipment in fenced yards sets dogs off.
- Parks & Grounds CrewsPublic work means off-leash and stray dogs.
In-Home & Domestic
- Home-Health Aides & CaregiversAlone in a client's home with an unrestrained dog.
- House Cleaners & NanniesHours inside, alongside the family dog.
Public Safety
- Police OfficersInto yards and homes on calls.
- Firefighters, EMS & ParamedicsInto homes mid-emergency, where scared dogs are loose.
In-Home Professional Visits
- Social Workers & CPSHome visits, often unannounced.
- Real Estate, Inspectors & AppraisersOccupied homes during showings and inspections.
- Process Servers & Code EnforcementA guard dog is the first thing at the door.
If you are a veterinarian, vet tech, groomer, kennel worker, dog walker, or trainer, the rules can work differently, because handling dogs is part of the job. The good news is Nevada does not treat that as an automatic bar the way some states do, so you may still have a strong claim, especially if the owner hid a dog's bite history. The analysis is just different for you, so please still call.
This is general information about Nevada law, not legal advice. Whether you have one claim or two depends on your facts. Let us look at yours.
You Talk To The Attorney, Not A Call Center
Plenty of firms hand a dog bite case to a rotating cast of case managers, and you never reach the lawyer on the sign. That is not how this office runs. Erik works your case himself, from the first call through the final check, and he is a licensed Nevada attorney who has handled these claims since 2006.
No Fee Unless We Win
You pay nothing up front. Our fee comes out of the recovery, and we go over case costs and expenses with you before anything starts.
Available 24/7
Bites do not wait for business hours. Call nights, weekends, and holidays. Hablamos Español.
Local To Henderson And Las Vegas
We know the neighborhoods, the courts, and how the regional insurers operate. You can sit across a desk from your lawyer.
"So happy I chose the right person to help me with my needs. He is professional, responsible etc. My family and I thank you for all your help!"
If Your Injury Started Somewhere Else
A loose dog is one way a property turns dangerous. We handle the rest of them too. Find the page that fits what happened to you.
Dog Bite Questions, Answered Plainly
Talk To Erik About Your Dog Bite
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