Long Beach Dog Bite Lawyer
Long Beach Dog Bite Lawyer
On This Page
- Long Beach and Los Angeles County Dog Bite Statistics
- California Dog Bite Law: Strict Liability Under Civil Code 3342
- Long Beach Leash Law and Dog Ordinances
- Long Beach Animal Control and Rabies Follow-Up
- What To Do After a Long Beach Dog Bite
- Long Beach Hospitals and Urgent Care for Dog Bites
- How To Report a Dog Bite in Long Beach
- Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Long Beach Dog Bite
- Filing a Dog Bite Claim in Los Angeles County
- Compensation for Long Beach Dog Bite Victims
- Comparative Negligence in California Dog Bite Cases
- Statute of Limitations for Long Beach Dog Bite Cases
- Homeowner and Renter Insurance for Long Beach Dog Bites
- Why Choose Dog Bite Laws for Your Long Beach Case
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Strict Liability: Civil Code 3342 makes a Long Beach dog owner liable for a bite without any proof that the dog was dangerous or that the owner was careless.
- Six Foot Leash: Long Beach Municipal Code 6.16.100 requires a dog in any public place to be on a leash no longer than six feet, held continuously by a person able to control it.
- City Run Reporting: Long Beach Animal Care Services, (562) 570-7387, and the Long Beach Health Department, (562) 570-4302, handle bite reports and rabies follow-up inside the city.
- Level II Trauma: MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center is an adult and pediatric Level II trauma center, and St. Mary Medical Center is a second Level II center in the city.
- Carrier Attacks: Long Beach recorded 20 dog attacks on postal carriers in 2025, tied for 17th among all U.S. cities, in the state that ranked first with 673.
- Vicious Dog Hearing: Long Beach can declare a dog vicious after a hearing held five to ten business days after notice, with rules on how the dog is kept and contained, and a dog declared vicious can be humanely destroyed at the director's discretion.
- Two Year Deadline: An adult has two years from the bite to file suit; a claim involving a city or county dog must be presented to the agency within six months.
- Landlord Knowledge: A Long Beach landlord is liable for a tenant's dog only with actual knowledge that the dog was dangerous and the power to remove it.
A dog bite in Long Beach, whether it happened on the beach path, at a Belmont Shore sidewalk cafe, or in a neighbor’s yard, is covered by one of the most victim-friendly laws in the country. Under California’s dog bite statute, Civil Code 3342, the owner is strictly liable for a bite in a public place or anywhere you were lawfully present, and it does not matter whether the dog had ever shown aggression before. There is no one free bite in California.
Long Beach is also unusual among California cities: it runs its own health department and its own animal control agency, so bite reports and rabies follow-up stay inside the city rather than going to Los Angeles County. This page explains the Long Beach leash and vicious dog ordinances, how Long Beach Animal Care Services and the Long Beach Health Department handle a bite, which local hospitals are trauma centers, who can be held responsible, the deadlines that apply, and how the owner’s insurance pays.
Dog Bite Laws handles dog attack cases only. The consultation is free, and you owe no fee unless we recover for you.
Long Beach and Los Angeles County Dog Bite Statistics
Long Beach appears on the U.S. Postal Service’s national dog attack list in its own right. In the 2025 rankings released in the spring of 2026, Long Beach postal carriers reported 20 dog attacks, tying the city for 17th nationally. Los Angeles led the country with 70, and California led every state with 673 attacks, nearly twice the total of second-place Texas. Two of the top 20 cities in the nation are in Los Angeles County.
Long Beach does not publish an annual tally of dog bites to residents, so there is no single official city number. What the city does publish is the reporting rule: every animal bite to a person in Long Beach is legally reportable to the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services, with the only exceptions being rodents, rabbits, and non-mammals. Because Long Beach runs its own health department, those reports stay with the city rather than the county system used by most of Los Angeles County.
Statewide, the Insurance Information Institute counted 2,104 dog related injury claims in California in 2023, the most of any state, with an average payout of $68,125. Children are the highest risk group in every dataset, and because young children are bitten at face height, a child’s bite in Long Beach is far more likely to involve the lips, cheeks, or eyes than an adult’s, which is why pediatric trauma resources matter so much here.
California Dog Bite Law: Strict Liability Under Civil Code 3342
Civil Code 3342 makes the owner of any dog liable for the damages suffered by a person bitten while in a public place or lawfully in a private place, including the owner’s own property, regardless of the dog’s former viciousness or the owner’s knowledge of it. In practical terms, a Long Beach victim does not have to prove the dog was aggressive, that it had bitten before, or that the owner did anything wrong. Ownership, a bite, a place you had a right to be, and an injury are enough.
The statute reaches most of the places bites actually happen. Sidewalks, parks, the beach, the bike path, and businesses open to the public are all public places. On the owner’s property, you are lawfully present if you were invited, expressly or by the ordinary implied invitation that lets a neighbor, a guest, or a delivery driver walk to the door, or if you were there to do a job the law requires, such as delivering mail or reading a meter.
What the statute leaves out: a trespasser cannot use strict liability, though a trespasser can still sue for negligence, and a police or military dog that bites a suspect during listed police work is exempt if the agency has a written K-9 policy. Bystanders bitten by a K-9 are not covered by that exemption. And because the statute says bitten, a dog that knocks you down or chases you into the street without biting is handled under ordinary negligence, where the Long Beach leash ordinance becomes the key piece of evidence.
Long Beach Leash Law and Dog Ordinances
Long Beach has one of the more specific leash rules in the county. Under Long Beach Municipal Code 6.16.100, no person responsible for a dog may let it be on any public street, sidewalk, park, or other public place, or on private property that is open to the public, unless the dog is on a secure leash no more than six feet long, held continuously in the hands of a responsible person capable of controlling it, or is confined inside a vehicle. The person must also carry a leash even inside a dog exercise area, and the main exception to the leash requirement is a fenced dog exercise area in a city park approved by the City Council.
That detail matters after a bite. Rosie’s Dog Beach and the city’s fenced dog parks are the only places an off-leash dog is lawful, so a loose dog on the Shoreline path, at a park, or on a residential sidewalk is already in violation. California law presumes negligence when someone breaks a safety ordinance and the violation causes the kind of harm the ordinance was meant to prevent. That presumption is what makes a knock-down claim, or a claim against a dog walker who is not the owner, workable.
Long Beach also has its own vicious animal process. Under the city’s animal regulation chapter, when there is evidence that a dog may be vicious, the director of Animal Care Services must hold a public hearing, set between five and ten business days after notice to the owner, at which both sides can present evidence. A hearing officer decides by a preponderance of the evidence and can impose rules on how the dog is kept and contained. Keeping a dog found vicious in violation of those orders is a misdemeanor and carries administrative fines. State law adds the potentially dangerous and vicious dog framework in Food and Agricultural Code 31601, and bars any city from regulating by breed.
Every dog four months or older must be licensed and vaccinated against rabies under state law, and the license record is how a bite report gets tied to a specific owner.
Long Beach Animal Control and Rabies Follow-Up
Two city agencies share the work after a Long Beach bite. Long Beach Animal Care Services is the animal control agency. Its phone line and lobby are open Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed Monday and Tuesday, at (562) 570-7387, and it provides 24 hour emergency response for injured animals. Animal Care Services sends the officer, identifies the dog and owner, enforces the leash and vicious dog ordinances, and takes the separate dangerous animal complaint if you believe the dog is a threat.
The Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services, Communicable Disease Surveillance and Control Division, at (562) 570-4302, handles the rabies side. The health department decides the rabies risk, decides whether you need post-exposure treatment, and notifies Animal Care Services so the dog is placed under observation. Bites can be reported to the health department through its online veterinary disease reporting system or by phone.
The biting dog is observed for a minimum of 10 days. The dog is confined in a place and manner the local health officer approves. If the dog stays healthy, rabies is ruled out. If the dog cannot be located, your doctor will usually start the post-exposure vaccine series, and that expense is part of your claim.
Keep in mind what the city itself says: a bite report alone does not mean the dog is deemed dangerous. If you believe the dog is a threat to others, tell Animal Care Services that you want a dangerous animal complaint opened. The resulting file, including any prior complaints about the same dog, is the evidence your lawyer will use to show the owner knew what the dog could do. Learn more about what happens after a dog bite is reported.
What To Do After a Long Beach Dog Bite
Work through these steps in order. Each one protects your health first and your claim second.
- Get away from the dog and call 911 if the injury is serious or the dog is still loose. For a contained dog and no medical emergency, Long Beach Police dispatch takes non-emergency calls at (562) 435-6711.
- Get the owner’s name, phone number, and the address where the dog lives. If a dog walker or friend was handling the dog, get that person’s name too, because the handler and the owner can both be responsible.
- Seek medical care the same day. Puncture wounds close over quickly and trap bacteria. Face, hand, and child bites belong in an emergency room, and even a small bite should be cleaned by a professional to avoid infection.
- Report the bite to Long Beach Animal Care Services at (562) 570-7387 and to the Long Beach Health Department at (562) 570-4302. The first opens the animal control file; the second handles rabies follow-up.
- Photograph the wounds, the location, any gate or fence, and the dog if it is safe. Take new photos as the wound heals and scars form.
- Get names and numbers from every witness. Neighbors who have seen the dog loose before are especially valuable.
- Keep your torn clothing unwashed and save every bill, prescription, and discharge instruction. Write a short note each day about pain, missed work, and, for a child, nightmares or fear of dogs.
- Do not give a recorded statement to the owner’s insurance company before talking to a lawyer. Adjusters use those calls to build a provocation argument out of your own words.
Long Beach Hospitals and Urgent Care for Dog Bites
Long Beach has two designated trauma centers inside the city, and a Level I trauma center serves the nearby South Bay.
- MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center. Adult and pediatric Level II trauma center verified by the American College of Surgeons. Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital shares the campus and is one of the county’s designated pediatric trauma centers, making this the first choice for a child’s serious bite. Main line (562) 933-2000. Emergency department open 24 hours.
- Dignity Health St. Mary Medical Center. Level II trauma center in downtown Long Beach. Main line (562) 491-9000. Emergency department open 24 hours.
- Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. The nearest Level I trauma center, serving the South Bay and the harbor area. Main line (424) 306-4000. Emergency department open 24 hours.
For a smaller bite that has stopped bleeding, MemorialCare Urgent Care in the Los Altos area of Long Beach, (877) 696-3622, accepts walk-ins Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and weekends from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m..
If the bite is on the face, especially on a child treated at Miller Children’s, keep every record from that visit. Your lawyer will later rely on those medical records to prove both the injury and the future scar revision the case should cover.
How To Report a Dog Bite in Long Beach
California regulation requires anyone who knows about an animal bite to a person to report it to the local health officer, and Long Beach’s local health officer is the city’s own health department. Use these contacts.
- Long Beach Animal Care Services. (562) 570-7387. Animal control, dangerous animal complaints, and leash enforcement.
- Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services, Communicable Disease Surveillance and Control Division. (562) 570-4302. Rabies risk assessment and bite reporting, online or by phone.
- Long Beach Police Department, non-emergency dispatch. (562) 435-6711. For an owner who will not identify the dog or leaves the scene.
- Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, 24-hour general information. (323) 267-4800. For bites in unincorporated county areas outside the city.
- 911. Any active attack or injury that needs an ambulance.
Ask for the report number and a copy of the report when you call. If the city will not release the file to you directly, your lawyer can obtain it. The Animal Care Services file often shows whether the same dog was reported before, which changes the value of the case.
Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Long Beach Dog Bite
More than one person can owe you compensation for a Long Beach bite, and each may carry a separate insurance policy.
- The owner. Strictly liable under Civil Code 3342. Where a dog is shared by a household, more than one adult may be an owner. Read about what determines ownership of a dog.
- A keeper or dog walker. Someone who had the dog but does not own it is not covered by the strict liability statute, but is liable for negligence, and a violation of the six foot leash rule makes negligence presumed.
- A residential landlord. One of the leading California landlord cases came out of Long Beach. In the Yuzon decision, a child was bitten by a tenant’s dog, and the landlord was not liable because there was no evidence the landlord actually knew the dog was dangerous. The lesson is the other side of that coin: a landlord who did know, and who could have removed the dog, can be held responsible under the Uccello rule.
- A commercial landlord or business. A commercial property owner must inspect at lease renewal and remove a dangerous dog the owner knew or should have known about.
- A government agency. The city, the county, a school district, or the port can be responsible for a K-9 bite to a bystander or a dog on public property, subject to the six month claim deadline below.
Identifying every responsible party early is often what turns a claim limited by one policy into a full recovery.
Filing a Dog Bite Claim in Los Angeles County
Because Long Beach sits in Los Angeles County, a dog bite lawsuit is filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. Your lawyer prepares and files the case, calendars the deadlines, and handles every court appearance.
Most Long Beach claims resolve without a lawsuit. The owner’s homeowner or renter insurer pays, and a well documented demand usually produces a settlement. When an adjuster drags the claim out or offers a fraction of its value, filing suit is the step that forces a real number, because a filed case comes with dates the insurer must meet.
An individual can bring a claim of $12,500 or less in small claims court without a lawyer, but a bite that required an emergency room visit or left a scar is almost always worth more than that.
Compensation for Long Beach Dog Bite Victims
A Long Beach dog bite claim can include every loss the bite caused. There is no cap on pain and suffering in a California dog bite case. The categories are:
- Medical expenses, past and future. Emergency care, antibiotics, rabies treatment if the dog was never found, plastic surgery, scar revision, and therapy.
- Lost income and reduced earning capacity. Missed work and any lasting limit on what you can earn.
- Pain and suffering. The physical pain of the injury and its treatment.
- Scarring and disfigurement. A separate category, and usually the largest one in a child’s facial bite.
- Emotional distress. Anxiety, sleep problems, and fear of dogs, along with the counseling to treat them. Read about emotional trauma after a dog attack.
- Out-of-pocket costs. Clothing, prescriptions, mileage, and help at home.
California measures medical damages differently from many states. Under the Howell decision, you recover what was actually paid or is still owed for your care, not the amount the hospital originally billed. A $20,000 emergency bill that your insurer settled for $6,000 is worth $6,000 in the claim. Because Medi-Cal, Medicare, and private health plans then expect repayment out of your settlement, negotiating those liens down is one of the most valuable things a lawyer does in a Long Beach case.
Punitive damages require proof that the owner acted with malice or conscious disregard for safety, such as keeping a dog loose after a prior bite. For a sense of how these factors combine, see our California average dog bite settlement page and the general guide to dog bite settlement amounts.
Comparative Negligence in California Dog Bite Cases
California follows pure comparative fault. A jury assigns a percentage of blame to each side, and your recovery is reduced by your share. It is never eliminated, no matter how large your share is. Only a finding that you were entirely responsible produces nothing.
A Long Beach example: a jury values a bite on the Shoreline bike path at $120,000 and decides you were 20 percent at fault because you stopped your bike next to a leashed dog and reached down to pet it. You recover $96,000. Had the jury found you 60 percent at fault, you would still recover $48,000.
Provocation is not a separate defense under Civil Code 3342. When an owner says the dog was teased or startled, that argument goes to the jury as comparative fault and reduces the award by a percentage. The only complete bars are narrow: a person who deliberately invited the bite, or a professional such as a veterinarian or kennel worker who accepted the dog into their care for pay. A child is held to the standard of a child of similar age, not an adult, which is why an insurer’s claim that a toddler provoked the dog rarely holds up. Learn more about whether a child can provoke a dog.
Do not agree to the adjuster’s version of events in a recorded statement. The percentage of fault is built from those words.
Statute of Limitations for Long Beach Dog Bite Cases
Under Code of Civil Procedure 335.1, an adult has two years from the date of a Long Beach dog bite to file a lawsuit. Talking to the owner’s insurer or sending a demand does not extend that date, and a case filed late is dismissed regardless of merit.
For a child, the two year period does not begin until the child turns 18, which makes the practical deadline the 20th birthday. Waiting that long is a mistake in almost every case. The dog can be rehomed, the owner can move, Animal Care Services records become harder to obtain, and the witnesses who saw a loose dog on the block scatter. The strongest child cases are built in the first weeks.
The deadline collapses to six months when a public entity is involved. If the dog belonged to the City of Long Beach, the county, a school district, or another public agency, or if a police K-9 bit a bystander, a written government claim must be presented to that agency within six months of the bite. That six month rule is not extended for children, and a lawsuit must follow within six months of the agency’s rejection. Our guide to the dog bite statute of limitations has more detail.
Homeowner and Renter Insurance for Long Beach Dog Bites
Nearly every Long Beach dog bite claim is paid by the owner’s homeowner, condo, or renter insurance rather than by the owner personally. If the dog belongs to a neighbor or a friend, a claim is directed at the policy that person already pays for, not at their savings.
Typical liability limits are $100,000 to $300,000, and a policy may also include medical payments coverage, which can pay reasonable medical expenses for someone accidentally hurt on the owner’s property. An umbrella policy adds $1 million or more and matters in surgery and permanent scarring cases. Your lawyer should obtain the full policy with its endorsements, because that is where exclusions live.
California leads the nation in dog bite insurance claims, with 2,104 claims in 2023 and an average payout of $68,125 according to the Insurance Information Institute, and the average cost per claim nationally rose 97 percent from 2016 to 2025.
Two problems come up in Long Beach cases. Some insurers will not cover certain breeds, and once a dog has bitten someone an insurer may charge a higher premium, nonrenew the policy, or exclude the dog from coverage, so a policy may contain an animal liability exclusion. And an owner who never disclosed the dog on the application may face a coverage denial. In either situation, the answer is often a second source of recovery: a co-owner in the household, a dog walker’s policy, or a landlord with actual knowledge of the dog.
Why Choose Dog Bite Laws for Your Long Beach Case
Dog Bite Laws handles dog attack cases only. In Long Beach that means knowing that bite reports run through the city’s own health department rather than the county, how to obtain the Animal Care Services file and any vicious dog hearing record, how the Howell rule affects the value of a MemorialCare or St. Mary bill, and where the second insurance policy usually hides.
We handle the owner’s insurance company, gather the animal control and medical records, negotiate the medical liens, and file and handle the lawsuit if the insurer will not pay what the claim is worth. You pay nothing up front, and there is no fee unless we recover money for you.
If a dog bit you or your child in Long Beach, call Dog Bite Laws or contact us online for a free consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Both, and they work together. Long Beach is one of the few California cities with its own health department, so bite reports go to the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services, Communicable Disease Surveillance and Control Division, at (562) 570-4302, which assesses rabies risk and decides whether you need the vaccine series. It notifies Long Beach Animal Care Services, (562) 570-7387, which places the dog under a minimum 10 day observation and opens the animal control file. Calling both directly is the safest approach.
Under Long Beach Municipal Code 6.16.100, a dog in any public place or on private property open to the public must be on a leash no longer than six feet held continuously by a person able to control it. The main exception is a fenced dog exercise area in a city park approved by the City Council. A dog loose anywhere else is in violation, and California law presumes negligence when a safety ordinance is broken and someone is hurt, which strengthens a knock-down claim or a claim against a non-owner handler.
Yes. MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center is an adult and pediatric Level II trauma center verified by the American College of Surgeons, and Miller Children's and Women's Hospital on the same campus is one of Los Angeles County's designated pediatric trauma centers. Call (562) 933-2000. St. Mary Medical Center downtown, (562) 491-9000, is also a Level II trauma center. For the most severe injuries, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, (424) 306-4000, is the nearest Level I center.
Possibly. A California residential landlord is liable for a tenant's dog only when the landlord had actual knowledge that the dog was dangerous and had the power to remove it, for example by ending the tenancy. A well known case on this rule, Yuzon, came from Long Beach, and the landlord there won because no one could show what the landlord actually knew. If you have emails, complaints, or witnesses showing the landlord was told about earlier aggression, the landlord's insurance becomes a second source of recovery.
Not automatically. The city says a bite report by itself does not mean the dog is deemed dangerous, and most reported bites end with a 10 day rabies observation. If you believe the dog is a threat, ask Long Beach Animal Care Services to open a dangerous animal complaint. The city can then hold a hearing, five to ten business days after notifying the owner, and a hearing officer can declare the dog vicious and set rules on how the dog is kept and contained. Your own damages claim proceeds either way.
Both may be. The owner is strictly liable for the bite under Civil Code 3342 regardless of who was holding the leash. The dog walker is not an owner, so strict liability does not reach the walker, but a walker who let the dog get loose or who violated the six foot leash rule is presumed negligent and can be held responsible under ordinary negligence. Many professional walkers carry their own liability insurance, which is why identifying the handler at the scene matters.
For an adult, yes, two years from the bite under Code of Civil Procedure 335.1. For your daughter, the clock does not start until she turns 18, so the deadline is effectively her 20th birthday. The exception is a government dog: if a city, county, or school district dog was involved, a written claim must be presented within six months, with no extension for a child. Even with time available, the evidence that wins a child's case is gathered right after the bite, not years later.
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