Abogado especializado en mordeduras de perro en Tampa
Abogado especializado en mordeduras de perro en Tampa
On This Page
- Tampa and Hillsborough County Dog Bite Statistics
- Florida Dog Bite Law: Strict Liability for the Dog's Owner
- Tampa Leash Law and Dog Ordinances
- Tampa Animal Control and Rabies Follow-Up
- What To Do After a Tampa Dog Bite
- Tampa Hospitals and Urgent Care for Dog Bites
- How To Report a Dog Bite in Tampa
- Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Tampa Dog Bite
- Filing a Dog Bite Claim in Hillsborough County
- Compensation for Tampa Dog Bite Victims
- Comparative Fault in Florida: The More Than 50 Percent Bar
- Statute of Limitations for Tampa Dog Bite Cases
- Homeowner and Renter Insurance for Tampa Dog Bites
- Why Choose Dog Bite Laws for Your Tampa Case
- Preguntas frecuentes
- Owner Pays First: Florida's bite statute makes the owner liable for a bite in a public place or while you were lawfully on private property, with no need to prove the dog had bitten before.
- County Runs Animal Control: Tampa has no animal control agency of its own. Hillsborough County's Animal Control Division investigates bites and dangerous dogs inside the city limits.
- Two Reports: Report the bite to DOH-Hillsborough for the rabies follow-up and to county Animal Control for the bite investigation. Each creates its own record.
- Six Foot Park Rule: In Tampa city parks a dog must be within six feet of its handler and under direct control unless it is in a designated off-leash area.
- Dangerous Dog Database: Hillsborough publishes a searchable database of dogs declared dangerous, with photos and addresses, so you can check whether the dog was already on record.
- Two Trauma Centers: The Florida Department of Health lists Tampa General Hospital (Level I) and St. Joseph's Hospital (Level II and Pediatric) as Hillsborough's trauma centers.
- Over 50 Percent Bar: In a lawsuit filed after March 24, 2023, a victim found more than 50 percent at fault for their own injury recovers nothing.
- Two Year Clock: For a bite after March 24, 2023, plan on two years to file suit in Hillsborough County. A bite on or before that date kept the old four-year deadline.
If a dog bit you in Tampa, the owner is usually responsible for your medical bills and other losses even if the dog never bit anyone before. Florida dog bite law makes the owner strictly liable under Section 767.04 when the bite happens in a public place or while you were lawfully on private property, and the job in a Tampa case is proving that, then defeating the defenses the owner’s insurer will raise.
This page covers Hillsborough’s bite data, the county and city leash rules, who investigates a Tampa bite, the county’s dangerous dog rules, the two Hillsborough trauma centers, where a claim is filed, and the deadlines.
Dog Bite Laws handles dog attack cases. Talk to us for free, and pay no fee unless we recover money for you.
Tampa and Hillsborough County Dog Bite Statistics
The county’s Pet Resources reports page covers the shelter: intakes, outcomes, kennel inventory and euthanasia. DOH-Hillsborough’s bite page gives instructions, not totals.
One local number comes from the state’s disease surveillance system. Florida tracks “Rabies, Possible Exposure” as a reportable condition, which counts an exposure only when it led to rabies shots for the person or to testing, isolation or quarantine of the animal. On FLHealthCHARTS, Hillsborough County residents had 288 such cases in 2024, up from 187 in 2023. That works out to 18.3 per 100,000 residents in 2024, against 32.3 for Florida as a whole.
Read that figure with care. It covers every kind of animal, it is counted by where the person lives rather than where the bite happened, and many dog bites never lead to shots or a formal quarantine. It is not a dog bite total.
Statewide, the Insurance Information Institute and State Farm counted 2,347 Florida dog bite claims in 2025, second in the country, at an average of $62,375 per claim. In September 2026 DOH-Hillsborough issued a 60 day rabies alert for the Gibsonton area of the county after a cat with no known rabies vaccination tested positive.
Florida Dog Bite Law: Strict Liability for the Dog's Owner
Tampa cases run on state law. Under Section 767.04, the owner of a dog that bites someone in a public place, or someone lawfully on private property, including the owner’s own home, is liable regardless of the dog’s former viciousness and regardless of what the owner knew. Guests, customers and mail carriers are all lawfully there. Florida does not use the one bite rule for these claims.
Three state rules shape almost every Tampa claim:
- The Bad Dog sign. An owner who displayed a prominent, easily readable sign including the words Bad Dog can defeat the statutory claim, but never against a child under 6, and not when the owner’s own negligence caused the harm.
- Your share of fault. Your own negligence reduces the award by its percentage, and in a lawsuit filed after March 24, 2023 a finding that you were more than 50 percent at fault bars recovery.
- The deadline. For a bite after March 24, 2023, plan on two years.
Section 767.01 also makes an owner liable for any damage the dog does to a person, so a jogger knocked down by a lunging dog has a claim to look at even without a bite. Each rule is covered in full on our Florida page.
Tampa Leash Law and Dog Ordinances
The City of Tampa’s Code of Ordinances has no animal control chapter. The rules on dogs at large come from Hillsborough County’s Chapter 6, which by its own Section 6-57 applies in unincorporated Hillsborough and in incorporated areas where no conflicting city ordinance exists. The City of Tampa itself points residents to the county for animal enforcement.
- At large. Section 6-28(a) says no dog shall be allowed to stray, run or go at large on any public property, street, sidewalk or park, or on someone else’s private property without the owner’s consent.
- Direct control in public. Section 6-28(d) requires a dog on a public street, road, park or other public property to be under the direct control of its owner or keeper, with narrow exceptions such as shows and training events. Direct control means immediate, continuous physical control by a fence, leash, cord or chain strong enough to restrain the animal.
- City parks. Tampa’s own Section 16-38 requires a dog in a city park to be within six feet of its handler and under direct control unless it is in a designated off-leash area. Dogs declared dangerous are barred from city park land entirely.
- Vicious animals. Section 6-27(a) makes it a violation to allow a companion animal, when unprovoked, to bite, attack, endanger or injure a person.
The county lists fines of $100 to $500 for at large violations and fines starting at $450 for vicious animal violations.
Section 767.04 already makes the owner liable without proof of fault, so a violation matters in other ways. In deJesus v. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (1973), answering a question about violations of “a statute or ordinance,” the Florida Supreme Court explained that a violation is either negligence per se or prima facie evidence of negligence, depending on the kind of law. Evidence of the owner’s negligence can defeat a Bad Dog sign defense, and negligence is the basis of a claim against a non-owner, such as a dog walker who let go of the leash. Ask your lawyer which category a leash ordinance falls into.
Tampa Animal Control and Rabies Follow-Up
Two agencies handle a Tampa dog bite, and they do different jobs.
Hillsborough County Animal Control. The Animal Control Division of the county’s Code Enforcement Department serves all of Hillsborough County, including the cities of Tampa, Temple Terrace and Plant City. Its office on East Hanna Avenue investigates dog bites and dangerous dog cases and enforces the at large and vicious animal rules. The Pet Resource Center is the county’s shelter, not the bite investigator.
DOH-Hillsborough. The Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County investigates reported exposures and, under county Section 6-23(b), decides which animals are quarantined. It says a dog that bites can be confined for observation for 10 days, and that a person bitten by an animal that can be monitored rarely needs rabies shots. Your doctor and the health department make that call, not the owner.
Dangerous dog declarations. Hillsborough adopts the state dangerous dog law in full and adds its own conditions. If the county moves to declare the dog dangerous, the owner has seven days from the notice to ask for a hearing, which must be held within 21 calendar days and no sooner than five days after the request. Once the declaration stands, the owner must:
- Register the dog with the county within 14 days and renew every year.
- Sterilize the dog within 30 days and microchip it.
- Complete obedience training with an approved instructor and attend the county’s owner training.
- Post county signs at every entrance to the property.
- Muzzle and leash the dog outside its enclosure, with a head collar or harness the county recommends.
- Allow at least two county inspections a year.
The county also keeps a public Dangerous Dog Database with photos and addresses. If a dog already declared dangerous bites someone without provocation, Section 767.13 makes the owner guilty of a first degree misdemeanor and requires the dog to be confiscated.
What To Do After a Tampa Dog Bite
- Wash the wound and get care. Scrub it with soap and running water for five to ten minutes, then see a doctor or go to an emergency department. Say it was a dog bite so the chart records it that way.
- Identify the dog and the owner. Get a name, an address, where the dog lives and the homeowner or renter insurance carrier. If the owner will not cooperate, Section 828.30 gives you or your doctor the right to the information on the dog’s rabies certificate.
- Report to DOH-Hillsborough. Do it the same day so the department can arrange observation or testing while the dog can still be found.
- Report to county Animal Control. That opens a bite investigation and a case file.
- Search the Dangerous Dog Database. The owner of a declared dangerous dog must carry at least $100,000 of liability insurance, and a new unprovoked bite is a crime.
- Photograph the scene, including every gate, latch and sign at the entrances. Whether a Bad Dog sign was there and readable can decide an adult’s case.
- Note where it happened. A bite in a Tampa city park outside an off-leash area, or from a loose dog on a sidewalk, puts an ordinance violation in the file.
- Track the healing. Photograph the wounds every few days and keep every bill and explanation of benefits.
- Say nothing on the record. Give no recorded statement to the owner’s insurer and sign no release before you talk to a lawyer.
If the owner rents, add the landlord’s name and any complaints neighbors made to management. Our guide on how to file a dog bite claim walks through the rest.
Tampa Hospitals and Urgent Care for Dog Bites
The Florida Department of Health’s list of trauma centers, updated July 23, 2026, shows two in Hillsborough County:
- Tampa General Hospital. Level I trauma center.
- St. Joseph’s Hospital. Level II and Pediatric trauma center, the only state-listed pediatric trauma center in Hillsborough.
The same list shows trauma centers in neighboring counties: Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital (Pediatric) and Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital (Level II) in Pinellas, HCA Florida Bayonet Point Hospital (Level II) in Pasco, and Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center (Level I) in Polk.
Urgent care can handle a shallow bite. Go to an emergency department instead if the wound is deep or keeps bleeding, if it is on the face, a hand or a joint, if a child was bitten, or if the dog is unknown or unvaccinated. Watch for redness, swelling or fever in the days after, the early signs of a dog bite infection.
How To Report a Dog Bite in Tampa
Hillsborough’s own code puts a reporting duty on individuals. Section 6-23(a) says anyone exposed to rabies by any animal, or who knows of an exposure, must report it promptly to the county health department. Report in two places:
- DOH-Hillsborough. File the department’s online bite report, or download its paper form and fax it. This starts the rabies follow-up.
- Hillsborough County Animal Control. The county’s online report form lists dog bite or attack as a reason to file, and the division also takes reports by email. This starts the bite investigation and any dangerous dog case.
- 911. If the dog is still loose and threatening people, or someone needs an ambulance.
Section 6-23(a) lists what the report should contain: the name, address and phone number of the person bitten, the time and place, the location and description of the dog, what you know about the owner, and how it happened.
Doctors, hospitals and animal control officers have reporting duties too, but that does not replace your report. To push for a dangerous dog declaration, expect to sign a sworn affidavit. See what happens after a dog bite is reported and what happens if you don’t report a dog bite.
Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Tampa Dog Bite
- The owner. Section 767.04 names one defendant: the owner, which can be a business. County registration and the rabies certificate usually settle who that is. Read what determines ownership of a dog.
- A keeper, walker or sitter. The Florida Supreme Court has held the bite statute does not reach a keeper who is not the owner, but that person can still be liable for their own negligence. Hillsborough’s code defines owner far more broadly for its own purposes, to include anyone harboring, keeping or having custody of a dog, and the parent of an owner under 18.
- The custodian of a declared dangerous dog. County Section 6-27 states that anyone who owns, harbors or otherwise provides custody for a dangerous dog shall be responsible for any damage or injury it causes. How far that language reaches in a civil case is a question for your lawyer.
- A landlord. A Florida appeals court held a landlord can be liable for a tenant’s dog when the landlord knew the dog was there and dangerous and had the ability to control its presence, including the right to end the tenancy.
- The City of Tampa or Hillsborough County. A tort claim against the city or county itself, for example over a dog the government owns, follows the written claim rules and damage caps of Section 768.28, covered below.
One Tampa detail: Tampa’s parks code, Section 16-38(g), directs the city to post park rules that include an acknowledgment that a dog owner’s use of the parks is an unconditional agreement to hold the city harmless for any damage or injury to any member of the public.
Filing a Dog Bite Claim in Hillsborough County
Hillsborough County’s trial courts are the circuit and county courts of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit. Its circuit civil divisions sit in the Edgecomb Courthouse at 800 East Twiggs Street in downtown Tampa, and county civil cases are heard downtown and at the Plant City courthouse for East County.
- Small claims. The Florida Small Claims Rules cover county court cases of $8,000 or less, not counting costs, interest and attorney fees.
- County court. Under Section 34.01, county court hears cases up to $50,000 if filed on or after January 1, 2023.
- Circuit court. Anything larger goes to circuit court, which has no ceiling.
Florida’s venue statute, Section 47.011, lets a case be brought in the county where the defendant resides or where the cause of action accrued. If the owner lives in Pasco or Pinellas, ask your lawyer where to file.
A child’s settlement has its own court step. When a bitten child’s net settlement is more than $15,000, Florida requires a legal guardianship, and guardianship is a circuit court proceeding. Once a suit is filed, any settlement for a child needs the court’s approval.
Whether a claim settles with the insurer or goes to court, the medical record carries it. See medical evidence in a dog bite claim.
Compensation for Tampa Dog Bite Victims
A Florida claim can include economic damages, meaning medical care past and future, rabies shots, lost wages and lost earning capacity, and noneconomic damages such as pain, scarring, disfigurement and mental anguish. Chapter 768, the part of Florida law that governs negligence damages, caps what a government defendant pays and caps punitive damages, but it sets no dollar cap on noneconomic damages against a private dog owner.
Since 2023, Section 768.0427 changes how medical bills are proved in lawsuits filed after March 24, 2023. Evidence of bills already paid is limited to the amount actually paid, regardless of the source of payment, not the full hospital charge, and evidence of unpaid bills includes what your health coverage would pay or, without coverage, amounts tied to Medicare or Medicaid rates. Keep every explanation of benefits from Tampa General, St. Joseph’s or your urgent care.
Punitive damages need clear and convincing evidence of intentional misconduct or gross negligence and are generally capped at the greater of three times compensatory damages or $500,000.
Against the City of Tampa or Hillsborough County, payment is capped at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident unless the Legislature passes a claim bill; a 2026 bill to raise the caps was vetoed on June 30, 2026. Read about dog bite compensation and emotional trauma after a dog attack, or try the dog bite settlement calculator for a rough range.
Comparative Fault in Florida: The More Than 50 Percent Bar
House Bill 837 added Section 768.81(6): in a negligence action, a party found greater than 50 percent at fault for his or her own harm recovers nothing. It applies to lawsuits filed after March 24, 2023, so it turns on the filing date, not the bite date. A victim found exactly 50 percent at fault still recovers half. At 51 percent, nothing.
Section 767.04 has its own fault language. Your negligence that was a proximate cause of the bite reduces the owner’s liability by your percentage. In 1993 the Legislature replaced the statute’s old provocation defense with that comparative negligence rule. Section 768.81 defines a negligence action to include claims based on strict liability, so expect the insurer to argue that the over 50 percent bar applies.
For its own ordinance, Hillsborough’s code calls an attack unprovoked when the victim was conducting himself or herself peacefully and lawfully. That county definition does not set your fault percentage in a lawsuit.
Young children are not automatically protected. In Swindell v. Hellkamp (1970) the Florida Supreme Court held that, absent a legislative declaration, a child under six is conclusively presumed incapable of contributory negligence, but in Reed v. Bowen (1987) it held that the dog bite statute, as then written, overrode that rule and let a jury decide whether a four-year-old had provoked the dog. Expect the insurer to argue a young child’s fault, and ask your lawyer how these cases apply. More on dog bite provocation and whether a child can provoke a dog.
Statute of Limitations for Tampa Dog Bite Cases
House Bill 837 cut Florida’s negligence deadline from four years to two, now in Section 95.11(5)(a), for causes of action accruing after March 24, 2023.
- Bitten after March 24, 2023: plan on two years from the bite to file in Hillsborough County.
- Bitten on or before March 24, 2023: the old four-year period applies. Four years from a bite on March 24, 2023 is March 24, 2027, so if your bite was in early 2023, act now.
- A child: usually the same deadline as an adult. Section 95.051 pauses the clock for a minor only when the child has no parent or guardian, or the parent or guardian is incapacitated or has interests adverse to the child, and even then suit must come within seven years.
- The City of Tampa or Hillsborough County: a written claim to the city or county within three years under Section 768.28(6). Because the defendant is a city or county, no separate claim to the Department of Financial Services is required. You generally cannot sue until the claim is denied in writing or six months pass without a final decision.
- A death: two years for a wrongful death action.
Section 95.11 still gives four years to an action founded on a statutory liability, and a lawyer could argue a bite statute claim fits. Do not count on that argument. File within two years. Our guide to the dog bite statute of limitations explains how the clocks interact.
Homeowner and Renter Insurance for Tampa Dog Bites
In most Tampa cases the money comes from the owner’s homeowners or renters policy. The Insurance Information Institute says these policies typically cover dog bite liability up to the liability limit, commonly $100,000 to $300,000, with the owner responsible for damages above it.
- Declared dangerous dogs. Since July 1, 2025, state law requires the owner of a dog classified as dangerous to carry at least $100,000 of liability insurance for bodily injury the dog causes and to give proof to animal control. State law makes that insurance one of the things an owner must show to get the dog’s certificate of registration, and Hillsborough’s code requires the same proof before it issues or renews one. If the dog that bit you was on the county’s list, tell your lawyer so the policy can be tracked down.
- Breed. The Insurance Information Institute says some insurance companies will not insure homeowners who own certain breeds of dogs. Do not accept an owner’s word that there is no coverage; get the carrier’s name and let a lawyer check the policy.
- Other policies. A landlord’s policy, a business policy for a guard dog or a store dog, or an umbrella policy may also apply.
An early offer usually comes before anyone knows whether a scar will need revision. The Florida average dog bite settlement page explains what moves the number.
Why Choose Dog Bite Laws for Your Tampa Case
Dog Bite Laws handles dog attack cases. In a Tampa case that means pulling the county Animal Control file and the DOH-Hillsborough follow-up, checking the Dangerous Dog Database, testing any Bad Dog sign, proving medical damages the way Section 768.0427 requires, and finding every policy before the two-year clock runs.
We deal with the insurer while you heal, and we work on a contingency fee, so there is nothing to pay up front and no fee unless we recover money for you. You can read about founding attorney Michael Agruss.
We also take cases in Miami, Orlando and Jacksonville. If you or your child was bitten in Tampa, contact us for a free consultation. We will tell you honestly whether you have a claim and how much time is left.
Preguntas frecuentes
Call the county. Tampa's code has no animal control chapter, and Hillsborough County's Animal Control Division, part of county Code Enforcement, investigates bites and dangerous dogs in Tampa, Temple Terrace, Plant City and unincorporated Hillsborough. The rabies follow-up is a separate report to the Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County, which you can file online.
It can, as evidence. Tampa's parks ordinance requires a dog to stay within six feet of its handler under direct control unless it is in a designated off-leash area, so a loose dog on a trail or lawn was in violation. The owner is already liable under Florida's bite statute without proof of fault, but evidence of the owner's negligence matters if the owner raises a Bad Dog sign defense, and it is the basis of any claim against a handler who was not the owner. If the bite happened inside a fenced off-leash area, the facts of who approached whom matter more.
Search the county's Dangerous Dog Database, which lists declared dogs with photos and addresses, and ask Animal Control about the address when you report. A declared dog must be registered every year, muzzled and leashed outside its enclosure, and insured for at least $100,000 under state law. An unprovoked bite by a dog already on the list can also expose the owner to criminal penalties under Section 767.13.
The health department. Hillsborough's code gives the county health department director the decision on which animals are quarantined and the instructions that go with it, and DOH-Hillsborough says a dog that bites can be confined for observation for 10 days. Report the bite promptly so the department can follow up while the dog can still be found. Whether you need rabies shots is a medical decision for your doctor and DOH, not something the owner can settle for you.
A court of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County. Claims of $8,000 or less can use small claims procedures in county court, county court takes cases up to $50,000, and larger cases go to circuit court, whose civil divisions sit in the Edgecomb Courthouse downtown. Where your case belongs depends on the amount you claim, not on who was bitten.
No. Florida's sign defense never applies to a victim under 6, so a sign on the gate does not protect the owner when a preschooler is bitten. A parent also has a claim for the child's medical bills. Watch the deadline: Florida usually does not pause the clock for a child who lives with a parent, so plan on two years from the bite.
No, a different set of rules applies. A tort claim against the City of Tampa runs under Section 768.28: you must present a written claim to the city within three years, and you generally cannot sue until it is denied in writing or six months pass without a final decision. Recovery is capped at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident unless the Legislature approves more, and punitive damages are not available. Section 767.16 also exempts police dogs from Florida's dangerous dog law, so the dog will not be classified as dangerous. Talk to a lawyer early, because these claims have formal requirements.
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