Dog Bite on the Face: What Happens Next, Medically and Legally

A dog bite on the face needs same-day emergency treatment, and it should be assessed by someone who repairs faces for a living rather than closed as a routine laceration. Facial bites carry a real risk to structures that do not heal on their own: the eyelid and tear duct, the border of the lip, the branches of the facial nerve, and the salivary ducts. They also scar where everyone can see, which is why they are among the most serious dog bite injuries both medically and legally.

The first 24 hours matter twice over. They decide how the wound heals, and they create the medical record that any later insurance claim rests on.

Dog Bite Laws is the dog-bite injury practice of Mike Agruss Law, and we help bitten people nationwide. Worth knowing up front: dog-bite law is state law and the rules genuinely differ, so what is true in one state may not be true where you were bitten.

Why a Dog Bite to the Face Is Different

The face is the third most commonly bitten part of the body, after the upper and lower limbs, and it is the area where a bite of the same physical size does the most lasting damage. A 2022 narrative review in the World Journal of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery pooled seven studies of facial dog bite patients from seven countries and set out what these injuries actually look like in practice.

Within the face, the lips, the cheek and the nose are the most commonly injured sites. In the Belgian study in that review, the distribution was lips 47.5%, cheek 27.4%, nose 20.6% and the area around the eye 12.1%. Those are not interchangeable with a bite on the forearm. A few millimetres of tissue loss at the border of the lip, or a tear through the eyelid margin, changes the face permanently in a way that the same wound on a calf does not.

That anatomy changes three practical things: how the wound is closed, who closes it, and how many operations it takes.

Facial Bites Are Usually Closed With Stitches, Not Left Open

General dog bite advice says the wound is often left open to drain, because closing a contaminated puncture traps bacteria. On the face, the usual practice is the reverse. Facial skin has an unusually rich blood supply, which both lowers the infection risk and improves healing, so the standard approach is thorough cleaning followed by immediate closure, called primary repair.

Every one of the seven studies closed the majority of its facial wounds. The lowest rate was 56%, and two of the studies closed almost every wound they saw. Most patients were also given antibiotics as a precaution, and the share who went on to develop an infection varied a great deal between studies, from none at all to about a third.

Why this matters to you as a patient: if you arrive at a walk-in clinic and are told that dog bites are left open and sent away with a dressing, that is the general rule being applied to a wound the general rule was not written for. It is a reasonable moment to ask whether a facial specialist should look at it first. Timing is part of the reason. In the studies that recorded it, most patients presented within 24 hours, and the window in which a facial wound can be cleanly closed is measured in hours, not days.

Who Repairs the Wound Changes the Result

In the seven studies reviewed, facial dog bite repairs were carried out by plastic surgery, maxillofacial surgery and ENT teams, not by general emergency staff. That is a meaningful difference in outcome, and it is one of the few things a patient or a parent can actually influence on the day.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons puts the point directly for children: “It’s important that children see pediatric face and hand specialists early to get the best long-term results since they are still growing.” The same guidance advises getting an opinion from a board-certified plastic surgeon if one is not on staff at the facility once the injury has been initially addressed, and notes that the first treatment is where the pathway gets set. ASPS reported that almost 19,000 people underwent reconstruction procedures for dog bites in a single year.

The other number worth knowing is how often one operation turns out not to be enough. In the US study in the review, which looked only at children, 81% required further surgical procedures, averaging 3.8 procedures per child, including scar revisions. The French study reported 28.6% needing secondary procedures. Reconstruction in these cases typically means local or advancement flaps, full-thickness skin grafts or split skin grafts.

That is the practical reason a facial dog bite is not a claim to settle quickly. If you accept a payment that covers one emergency visit, and your child turns out to need three more operations over the next four years, that money is already spent and the claim is closed.

If a dog bit you or your child in the face, this is the moment to call, not after the surgery is finished. The insurer will usually make contact within days, while the wound is still dressed and before anyone knows whether it will need revision. We can tell you what the injury is likely to involve and what not to say to the adjuster, at no cost and with no obligation. Call 312-786-4442 any time, day or night.

Children Are Bitten in the Face Far More Often Than Adults

Children are disproportionately affected by facial dog bites, and the reason is simply geometry. The 2022 review states it plainly: younger children have an increased likelihood of being bitten on the face because of their shorter stature and the disproportionate size of their head relative to their body. A dog’s mouth is at an adult’s thigh and a small child’s face.

The scale of the skew shows in the data. Across the seven studies, the share of facial bite patients under 18 ranged from 27.5% to 100%, and three of the seven studies were composed entirely of children.

Two legal points follow for a parent. First, provocation arguments are raised constantly in child cases, and they are weaker than insurers suggest. We cover that in detail in can a child provoke a dog and dog bite provocation. Second, the deadline to bring a claim is frequently different for a minor than for an adult, and in many states the clock does not start until the child turns 18. That is state-specific, and our dog bite statute of limitations guide sets out the deadlines state by state. A settlement on behalf of a child also commonly requires court approval, which is a further reason not to accept an early offer.

The Dog Usually Belongs to Someone You Know

In the studies that recorded it, the dog was known to the victim in 75%, 79% and 96% of cases. A facial dog bite is overwhelmingly not a stray in a park. It is a relative’s dog, a neighbour’s dog, a friend’s dog, or the family’s own.

This is the single biggest reason people who have a strong claim never make one. They do not want to sue someone they care about. It is worth being clear about what actually happens: a dog bite claim is normally paid by the dog owner’s homeowners or renters insurance policy, which exists precisely for this. The owner is not writing a personal cheque, and in most cases their involvement is limited to reporting the incident to their carrier.

Our guide to whether insurance covers dog bites explains how that coverage works, what the typical limits are, and the situations where it runs out, including breed exclusions and bites that happen on rental property.

What the Record From the First Day Is Worth

The average dog-bite claim paid by home insurers reached $65,450 in 2025, according to research by the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I) and State Farm, which found insurers paid $1.86 billion across 28,450 dog-related injury claims that year, an 18.6% increase in total payouts over 2024. Facial injuries sit at the higher end of that range, because permanent visible scarring is compensable in its own right on top of medical costs.

What decides the value is largely written down in the first 24 hours, by people who are not thinking about a claim:

• How the injury is described in the chart. “Facial laceration” and “avulsion of the left nasal ala with tissue loss” are the same event recorded two different ways, and only one of them conveys the injury.
• Whether the cause is recorded as a dog bite at all. If it goes in as an unspecified laceration, you will spend months proving something nobody disputed at the time.
• Whether a specialist was involved, and what they said about future revision. A note anticipating scar revision is the difference between a claim for one visit and a claim for a course of treatment.
• Photographs before the wound is closed. After repair, the injury is a line of sutures. Nobody photographs the wound for you.

Photograph the injury at every stage, including after the dressing comes off and at intervals as the scar changes. For how the claim proceeds from there, see our guides to filing a dog bite claim, medical evidence in a dog bite claim and dog bite compensation, plus the dog bite settlement amounts hub.

Where Your State Changes the Answer

Most states make a dog owner strictly liable for a bite, meaning you do not have to prove the owner did anything wrong or knew the dog was dangerous. A minority still apply a version of the one-bite rule, where what the owner knew about the dog matters. Which one applies to you changes what you have to prove, and in at least one large state it changes which damages are covered.

Illinois is a strict-liability state. Under 510 ILCS 5/16, an owner is liable in civil damages “for the full amount of the injury proximately caused” where the animal attacks or injures a person “who is peaceably conducting himself or herself in any place where he or she may lawfully be.” Illinois is also unusually explicit about facial injuries elsewhere in the same Act: 510 ILCS 5/2.19a defines “serious physical injury” to include “serious disfigurement” and, expressly, “plastic surgery.” A bite that requires reconstructive work is categorised as serious under Illinois law by definition.

California is also strict liability. Civil Code § 3342 makes an owner liable for damages suffered by anyone bitten in a public place or lawfully in a private place, “regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner’s knowledge of such viciousness.”

New York works differently, and the difference matters most in exactly this kind of case. Under Agriculture & Markets Law § 123(10), the owner of a dog that has been adjudicated “dangerous” is strictly liable only “for medical costs resulting from injury caused by such dog.” Strict liability in New York therefore reaches the surgery bills but not the disfigurement itself. To recover for the scarring, which in a facial case is usually the larger part of the claim, a New York victim generally has to prove the owner knew of the dog’s vicious propensities under common law. Section 123(12) preserves those common-law claims expressly.

So a facial bite with identical injuries can require quite different proof depending on where it happened. Do not assume the national default applies to you, and check your own state before you accept an insurer’s account of what you are entitled to. Our one bite law hub covers which approach each state follows.

What to Do Immediately After a Facial Dog Bite

1. Go to an emergency department today, not a walk-in clinic, and say the words “dog bite” so it is recorded that way.
2. Ask whether a plastic, maxillofacial or ENT specialist should assess it before it is closed. For a child, ask specifically for a pediatric facial specialist.
3. Photograph the wound before it is repaired, then again after the dressing comes off, then monthly as the scar changes.
4. Get the owner’s name, address and insurance details, and the dog’s rabies vaccination status. If the dog is unvaccinated or cannot be identified, see bitten by an unvaccinated dog.
5. Report the bite to animal control the same day. That report is an independent record of what happened. See what happens after a dog bite is reported.
6. Talk to a dog-bite lawyer before you talk to the insurer. The adjuster will call within days, while the wound is dressed and before anyone knows whether it will need revision surgery, and will ask for a recorded statement. That statement is permanent and your injuries are not yet known. A free consultation costs nothing and takes about 15 minutes: 312-786-4442.
7. Keep every receipt and a short daily note on pain, sleep, and what you or your child are avoiding because of how the face looks.
8. Do not settle until the scar has matured. That takes roughly a year. Our guide to dog bite scars explains why the timing decides the value, and emotional trauma after a dog attack covers the psychological side, which is significant with a visible facial injury.

For the wider picture of what happens to everyone involved after a bite, see what happens when a dog bites someone, our guide to dog bite infection, and how severity is graded in dog bite levels. You can also read more about how these claims work on our dog bite hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if a dog bites you on the face?

You should be seen the same day in an emergency department, because a facial bite can involve structures that will not heal correctly on their own, including the eyelid and tear duct, the border of the lip, the facial nerve and the salivary ducts. The wound is cleaned thoroughly and, unlike bites elsewhere on the body, is usually closed with stitches straight away rather than left open, because facial skin has a rich blood supply. You will normally be given preventive antibiotics and your tetanus status will be checked. Where the injury involves tissue loss or a delicate margin, the repair should be done by a plastic, maxillofacial or ENT specialist rather than closed as a routine laceration.

How serious is a dog bite to the face?

Facial dog bites are among the most serious bite injuries, because they combine infection risk with permanent, visible scarring and possible damage to structures that control how the face moves and works. In one study of children with facial dog bites, 81% needed further surgery after the initial repair, averaging 3.8 procedures each. Reported infection rates after facial bites vary widely between studies, from none up to around a third of patients. Legally, a facial bite is also treated as a serious injury: Illinois, for example, defines “serious physical injury” in its Animal Control Act to include serious disfigurement and plastic surgery.

How should I treat a dog bite on my face?

Treat it as an emergency rather than something to manage at home. Apply gentle direct pressure with a clean cloth to stop the bleeding, rinse the area with running water, cover it loosely with a clean dressing, and go to an emergency department. Do not scrub the wound, do not use hydrogen peroxide, and do not try to pull the edges together with tape or a butterfly closure, because a facial wound needs to be assessed and cleaned properly before anything is closed. Take photographs before you leave for the hospital if you can, and tell staff clearly that the injury was caused by a dog so it is recorded that way.

Should I cover a dog bite wound or leave it open?

Cover it with a clean, loose dressing to get to hospital, but the decision about whether the wound itself is closed or left open is a medical one that depends heavily on where the bite is. Bites on the hands, feet and limbs are frequently left open to drain, because closing a contaminated puncture can trap bacteria. Facial bites are the main exception: across seven studies pooled in a 2022 review, between 56.3% and 100% of facial dog bite patients had their wounds closed immediately, because the face heals well and the cosmetic cost of leaving a wound open is high. That is a judgment for the treating clinician, and it is worth asking whether a facial specialist should make it.

What are the stages of a dog bite healing?

A facial dog bite typically moves through three stages. In the first 24 hours the wound is cleaned, assessed and usually closed, with preventive antibiotics started and tetanus status checked. Over the following two weeks the tissue repairs, swelling and bruising settle, and facial stitches are generally removed early, often within about a week, to avoid leaving stitch marks. From there the scar matures over roughly three to twelve months, going through a red or raised phase before it flattens and fades. Because that final stage takes about a year and revision surgery is often only considered at the end of it, the full extent of a facial injury is not known for months, which is why settling early is risky.

Bitten in the Face by a Dog? We Can Help.

A facial scar is permanent, and so is a settlement signed before anyone knows whether it will need revision surgery. Every week you wait, the animal control record goes stale, witnesses forget, and the insurer builds a file arguing the injury was minor or that you provoked the dog. If you or your child was bitten in the face by a dog, Dog Bite Laws, the dog-bite injury team at Mike Agruss Law, offers free, no-obligation consultations to review your case. We work on contingency: No Fees Unless Until We Win. Call us at 312-786-4442 or reach out through our contact form to discuss your rights and options.

This information is provided for educational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Dog-bite laws vary by state, and every case is unique. Results depend on the specific facts and circumstances.