Rochester Dog Bite Lawyer
Rochester Dog Bite Lawyer
On This Page
- Rochester and Monroe County Dog Bite Statistics
- New York Dog Bite Law: Vicious Propensities and the 2025 Negligence Change
- Rochester Leash Law and Dog Ordinances
- Rochester Animal Control and Rabies Follow-Up
- What To Do After a Rochester Dog Bite
- Rochester Hospitals and Urgent Care for Dog Bites
- How To Report a Dog Bite in Rochester
- Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Rochester Dog Bite
- Filing a Dog Bite Claim in Monroe County
- Compensation for Rochester Dog Bite Victims
- Comparative Fault in New York Dog Bite Cases
- Statute of Limitations for Rochester Dog Bite Cases
- Homeowner and Renter Insurance for Rochester Dog Bites
- Why Choose Dog Bite Laws for Your Rochester Case
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Law Changed 2025: Since April 17, 2025 a Rochester victim can pursue ordinary negligence as well as strict liability for a dog's known vicious propensities.
- City Publishes Routing: Rochester lists animal bites that break skin under 311, and puts a dog chasing people or a vicious animal under 911.
- County Handles Rabies: The Monroe County Rabies Program asks a bitten person to seek medical attention and report the injury at 585-753-5171.
- Provider Form Only: The animal bite form on the county's website sits under a heading for medical providers, so a Rochester victim should call rather than file it.
- Broader Local Rule: Rochester's chapter 31 defines a dangerous dog more broadly than state law and lets a complaint go to the Dog Complaint Division or to City Court.
- Medical Cost Restitution: A court that finds a dog dangerous under Rochester's ordinance must order the owner to pay restitution for the medical costs the dog caused.
- Strong Memorial Trauma: New York designates Strong Memorial Hospital as both a Level I adult and a Level I pediatric trauma center for Monroe County.
- Deadlines Differ: Three years for an ordinary claim, but only 90 days for a sworn notice of claim when a public entity is involved.
If a dog bit you in Rochester, the first thing worth knowing is that New York dog bite law changed on April 17, 2025. A victim now has two routes: strict liability, where the owner knew or should have known the dog was dangerous, and ordinary negligence, which the New York Court of Appeals restored that day after almost twenty years in which a dog owner here could not be sued for simple carelessness.
This page covers Rochester’s own leash and dangerous dog rules, the city’s published split between 311 and 911 for animal calls, how Rochester Animal Services and the Monroe County rabies program each handle a bite, the trauma designation for Strong Memorial, who besides the owner can pay, and the deadlines.
Dog Bite Laws focuses on dog attack cases. The consultation is free, and there is no fee unless we recover money for you.
Rochester and Monroe County Dog Bite Statistics
We have not found a published Rochester or Monroe County dog bite count. Here is what we checked, on September 24, 2026.
- DataROC, the city’s open data portal, publishes a 311 Case Data file that its own description says covers calendar year 2021 only.
- The Monroe County Department of Public Health Statistics and Reports page lists a youth survey, an adult health survey, and an overdose data section with the medical examiner’s annual reports, with no animal bite report among them.
- The county’s rabies program publishes its clinic schedule and describes its own workload, but no counts.
That is a search record, not proof that no figure exists.
Two labeled figures are still useful. New York City‘s health department recorded 5,049 reported dog bites in 2025, which is a New York City count and not a Monroe County one. Statewide, the Insurance Information Institute and State Farm counted 1,308 dog related injury claims in New York in 2025, averaging $92,154, the highest average of any state. Those count insurance claims, and the footnote says they include other dog related injuries such as fractures.
New York Dog Bite Law: Vicious Propensities and the 2025 Negligence Change
New York has no general dog bite statute, so a bite alone does not make the owner pay. There are two theories instead, and a Rochester victim can plead both.
Strict liability for vicious propensities. Prove the owner knew or should have known the dog had a propensity to put others at risk, and the owner is liable for the harm it caused, with care no defense. A prior bite is not required. Snarling, snapping and baring teeth have all been treated as notice, and so have the way the dog was restrained and whether it was kept as a guard dog.
Ordinary negligence, back since April 17, 2025. On that date the New York Court of Appeals decided Flanders v Goodfellow and overruled Bard v Jahnke, which since 2006 had barred negligence claims against the owner of a domestic animal. The Court now describes two prongs, so you can prove either that the owner knew what the dog was, or simply that the owner did not act with reasonable care.
Older advice needs checking. Pages written before April 2025 still say a New York victim has no negligence claim, and whether the change reaches an earlier bite is a question for a lawyer.
New York gets called a one bite state, but the Court of Appeals has said its rule does not entitle dog owners to an automatic one free bite. Our one bite law page explains why. Agriculture and Markets Law 123(10) does make the owner of a dangerous dog strictly liable for medical costs, but nothing else, and whether the dog must first be declared dangerous is not settled.
Rochester Leash Law and Dog Ordinances
New York has no statewide leash law. Agriculture and Markets Law 122 leaves that to each municipality, and Rochester’s rules are in chapter 31 of the city code.
- Leashed off the premises, 31-4. Every dog in Rochester must be restrained by a leash while off the owner’s premises, licensed or not, unless it is on another person’s premises with that person’s consent. Chapter 31 defines that as a collar or harness and a leash strong enough to hold the dog, held by a person able to control it, so a dog dragging a line is not restrained.
- Controlled on the premises, 31-4. On the owner’s property the dog must be under control, on a leash or in a fenced area so it cannot leave, and a leash reaching onto a neighbor’s property or a public sidewalk counts as unleashed.
- Tethering, 31-4.1. Added in 2023, it bars tethering a dog overnight, on a line under five feet, or for more than an hour in a blizzard or heavy rain or snow.
Licensing runs through the City Clerk under 31-10. Every dog four months or older must be licensed with a current rabies certificate, and the license record can note that a dog has been adjudicated dangerous. Published fees are $10 spayed or neutered and $30 if not. City Clerk Licensing is 585 428-6617, weekdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Rochester Animal Control and Rabies Follow-Up
Rochester splits the work between the city and the county.
Rochester Animal Services provides field animal control for city residents. Its officers enforce the city’s animal ordinances and issue warnings and notices of violation under the dog control chapter. The city publishes 585-428-7008 for pet owner support and 585-428-7274 as the Animal Services contact number. Bites themselves are routed through 311.
The Monroe County Department of Public Health owns the medical side. The county says its rabies program responds to reported bites and potential exposures, consults with medical staff about follow up treatment, and monitors the ten day confinement of animals involved in human contact. Its own instruction is that a person bitten or scratched should seek medical attention and report the injury to the Monroe County Rabies Program at 585-753-5171.
New York’s health department puts it this way: if the animal remains healthy during this period, the animal did not transmit rabies at the time of the bite. That is a statement about the dog, not a reason to delay care. We did not find anything Monroe County publishes that says where the confinement happens, so ask. City code 31-9 separately lets a Dog Control Officer or any police officer seize or direct the confinement of a dog reported to have attacked a person, at the owner’s cost. If the dog was never found, tell your doctor, and read bitten by an unvaccinated dog.
What To Do After a Rochester Dog Bite
A checklist for the first week.
- Call 911 if the dog is still chasing people or anyone is seriously hurt. Rochester’s published guidance puts vicious animals and animals chasing people in the 911 column.
- Get medical care the same day. A puncture that looks minor can still seed an infection.
- Call 311 to report the bite. The city lists animal bites and scratches that break the skin under 311.
- Report the injury to the Monroe County Rabies Program at 585-753-5171. That is what starts the rabies follow up and the ten day observation.
- Collect the owner’s name, phone number and insurer, plus the dog’s license and rabies information.
- Photograph the wounds over several days, plus the yard, the fence, the tether and any sign.
- Talk to the neighbors before anyone forgets. The 2025 case that reopened negligence claims turned on two mail carriers who had watched the dog throw itself at a window and had never reported it to anybody.
- Say nothing recorded to the owner’s insurer yet. See what happens after a dog bite is reported.
Rochester Hospitals and Urgent Care for Dog Bites
For Monroe County, the New York State Department of Health trauma center list, page revised July 2026, shows one entry.
- Strong Memorial Hospital. State designated Level I adult trauma center and state designated Level I pediatric trauma center, so an adult and a child can be treated at the same place. Its trauma program is the Kessler Burn and Trauma Center, and the university publishes (585) 275-8000 for it. Golisano Children’s Hospital in Rochester is attached to Strong Memorial, and the state lists the pediatric designation under Strong Memorial Hospital.
State designation and verification by the American College of Surgeons are two different layers, and the list above is the state layer. We do not call Strong Memorial ACS verified here, because the most recent statement we found was a 2017 university news story.
Go to an emergency department for a deep or bleeding wound, a bite to the face, a hand or a joint, or any serious bite to a child. Urgent care can manage a shallow wound that has stopped bleeding, but come back for spreading redness, swelling, pus, a red streak or fever, as covered in dog bite infection. For a facial bite, keep every photograph and note, because those are what pay for scar work later.
How To Report a Dog Bite in Rochester
Rochester publishes clear routing, and it is worth following exactly. There is a 311 Live online portal, but we could not confirm its service list includes an animal bite, so report by phone.
- 311. The city lists animal bites and scratches that break skin under 311, along with lost dogs, barking dogs and animals in distress. Bats are the exception, and the city sends those to the Monroe County Health Department at 753-5171.
- 911. The city puts vicious animals, animals chasing people, and sick or injured animals in the 911 column. A dog still loose is a 911 call.
- Monroe County Rabies Program, 585-753-5171. The county asks a bitten person to seek medical attention and report the injury here. The bite form on its site sits under a heading for medical providers, so call rather than filling that in.
- Rochester Police Department. Its guidance for general inquiries or non-emergencies is to call 3-1-1 or (585) 428-6720.
- Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. The county directory publishes 585 753-4178 as its phone number, for a bite outside the city limits.
Under Agriculture and Markets Law 123, the dog control officer or police officer you speak to must also tell you that you can start a dangerous dog proceeding yourself.
Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Rochester Dog Bite
In Rochester the right defendant is often more than one person.
- The owner or keeper. Agriculture and Markets Law 108 counts anyone who harbors or keeps a dog as its owner, and defines harboring as providing food or shelter. See what determines ownership of a dog.
- Housemates. A New York appellate court has held co-tenants strictly liable for an attack by a dog belonging to only one of them, where the others fed it and let it live in the house.
- The handler. Whoever had the leash can be responsible for failing to control the dog, and Rochester’s leash definition makes that concrete.
- A landlord, where it knew a dog was kept there, knew or should have known it was dangerous, and could have removed or confined it. Since 2025 a negligence claim is possible too. Complaints made in person to unnamed building staff have not always been enough in court, so put it in writing.
- A business with custody of the dog. New York’s highest court allows a negligence claim against a veterinary clinic without proof of vicious propensities. Whether a groomer or kennel is in the same position is unsettled.
Rochester adds a local tool. Under chapter 31, a court that finds a dog dangerous must order the owner to pay restitution for the medical costs the dog caused.
Filing a Dog Bite Claim in Monroe County
Most Rochester claims are settled with the dog owner’s insurer, and a lawsuit is what happens when the insurer will not pay a fair number. If yours becomes one, it belongs in the Supreme Court in Monroe County, which despite its name is New York’s trial court and has no dollar ceiling. Rochester City Court hears money claims up to $15,000, with a small claims part up to $5,000. Here is how to file a dog bite claim.
Rochester also gives you a second track written into its own code. Chapter 31 says that when someone complains about a dangerous dog, a Dog Control Officer must explain that the case can go either to the city’s Dog Complaint Division or to City Court, and must explain the penalties in each. Repeated complaints, and any complaint about a dog posing a serious threat, go to City Court.
A citizen can also start it: chapter 31 lets any person who knows of a violation file a signed statement under oath with a Dog Control Officer, who must then investigate.
Compensation for Rochester Dog Bite Victims
New York itemizes what a bite cost you, and a Rochester claim is assembled the same way.
- Medical and dental care, from the emergency visit through wound care, rabies treatment, surgery and later revision surgery.
- Lost earnings and lost earning capacity.
- Pain and suffering, past and future, with disfigurement and scarring counted separately.
- Loss of enjoyment of life, and a spouse’s derivative claim.
- Counseling and psychological care. Nightmares, fear of dogs and interrupted sleep are common after an attack and often left out of a file. Read emotional trauma after a dog attack.
There is no dollar cap on a New York dog bite recovery. An appeals court can instead raise or lower an award that deviates materially from what would be reasonable compensation.
Two New York rules help. The jury hears what the care was worth, and only afterward does the judge subtract what health insurance actually paid, with the defense carrying the burden of proof. Money raised for you by family, friends or a fundraiser is protected by statute. See dog bite compensation, our settlement calculator and the average dog bite settlement in New York.
Comparative Fault in New York Dog Bite Cases
In a dog bite claim New York uses pure comparative fault. CPLR 1411(a) says a victim’s own careless conduct does not bar recovery, and reduces the award in proportion to the victim’s share of the fault. A 2026 amendment added a narrower rule for certain motor vehicle claims under New York’s no fault law, and a dog bite is not a motor vehicle claim, so the pure rule applies. There is no percentage at which a dog bite claim disappears.
Say a Rochester tenant’s damages come to $80,000 and the jury assigns her 20 percent of the fault for stepping into a yard she knew had a dog. She recovers $64,000.
You do not have to prove you were careful either. Under CPLR 1412 the owner has to raise the issue and prove it.
The defense will reach for provocation. New York’s dangerous dog statute lists broad justifications, including a person who was tormenting, abusing or physically threatening the dog, even in the past, and a dog reacting to pain or defending its household. Rochester’s own ordinance has a similar list. Those lists govern the dangerous dog case rather than your civil claim, but they are where an adjuster’s script comes from. A child is rarely found meaningfully at fault, which we cover in can a child provoke a dog.
Statute of Limitations for Rochester Dog Bite Cases
Three years is the usual New York deadline, and the exceptions are the dangerous part.
- Three years from the bite for a claim against a private owner, a housemate, a landlord or a business. CPLR 214(5).
- Two years from the date of death in a fatal attack, brought by the representative of the estate.
- 90 days to serve a sworn written notice of claim where a city, county, town, village, school district, fire district, public housing authority or other public corporation is involved, then one year and 90 days to bring the lawsuit. General Municipal Law 50-e and 50-i.
- 90 days to present a claim if the State of New York is involved.
- A child’s own deadline is longer under CPLR 208, but a parent’s own claim and any public entity deadline may not be, so a child’s case is not one to sit on.
None of these clocks pauses for an animal control case, a criminal charge or a long talk with an adjuster. A court can extend a missed municipal 90 days, but only at its discretion and never past the underlying deadline. See our guide to the dog bite statute of limitations.
Homeowner and Renter Insurance for Rochester Dog Bites
Most Rochester dog bite claims are paid by the dog owner’s homeowners or renters policy under its personal liability coverage. The insurer pays the settlement and defends the owner, so making a claim is not the same as coming after a neighbor personally. The Insurance Information Institute puts typical liability limits between $100,000 and $300,000, and the owner is personally responsible above that.
New York does not make dog owners carry insurance, with two narrow exceptions. A court that declares a dog dangerous under state law may order a liability policy of up to $100,000. And under Rochester’s own chapter 31, a court can require the owner of a dangerous dog to prove liability insurance or a surety bond of not less than $100,000 to the Director of the Animal Services Center.
New York also limits breed based underwriting, which is worth knowing. Insurance Law 3421 says a homeowners insurer may not refuse to issue or renew, cancel, charge more, or exclude, limit, restrict or reduce coverage based solely on harboring or owning a dog of a specific breed or mixture of breeds. It may act where that dog has been designated dangerous under Agriculture and Markets Law 123. The statute reaches homeowners policies as the Insurance Law defines them, so a flat “that breed is not covered” deserves a second look.
Why Choose Dog Bite Laws for Your Rochester Case
Dog Bite Laws focuses on dog attack cases. In Rochester that means knowing the bite record sits with the county rabies program while the dog’s history sits with Animal Services, that chapter 31 gives a complainant a choice of forum and a restitution remedy written into its own code, and that what decides a New York case is usually a neighbor’s account nobody has written down yet.
It also means knowing what changed in April 2025. A Rochester victim told two years ago that New York offered no negligence claim was told something that is no longer true.
We handle the insurer, collect the records, price the future care, negotiate medical liens and file suit when an offer is not fair. No upfront costs, and no fee unless we recover money for you. Our founder is Michael Agruss.
If you or your child was bitten in Rochester, contact Dog Bite Laws for a free review. We also handle cases in Buffalo, Syracuse and Yonkers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Both can, at different moments. The city puts vicious animals, animals chasing people and sick or injured animals in the 911 column, so a dog still loose and going after people is a 911 call. It lists animal bites and scratches that break skin in the 311 column, so a bite that has already happened and is no longer an emergency is a 311 call. If you were bitten and the dog is now contained, call 311, then report the injury to the Monroe County Rabies Program.
Rochester's chapter 31 requires the officer to explain both. A dangerous dog case can be brought in the city's Dog Complaint Division or in City Court, and the officer has to walk you through the penalties available in each. Lesser complaints you do not want to take to court may be referred to the Dog Complaint Division. Repeated complaints, and any complaint about a dog posing a serious threat to health and safety, go to City Court.
No. That fillable Animal Bite and Contact Report sits on the county's rabies page under a heading for medical providers, alongside the state's rabies treatment guidance, so it is written for the clinician who treats you rather than for you. The county's own instruction to a bitten person is to seek medical attention and report the injury to the Monroe County Rabies Program at 585-753-5171. Call that number, and let the treating provider handle its own paperwork.
For Monroe County it is the hospital the state trauma list names, as a Level I adult trauma center and a Level I pediatric trauma center, page revised July 2026. Its trauma program is the Kessler Burn and Trauma Center, published at (585) 275-8000, and Golisano Children's Hospital in Rochester is part of Strong Memorial. For a shallow wound that has stopped bleeding an urgent care clinic is usually enough, but a deep bite, a facial bite or any serious bite to a child should go to an emergency department.
You still have a claim against the dog's owner or keeper, and being on the job does not change that. Rochester's leash and control rules apply to a dog on its owner's own property as well as off it, so a dog loose in a yard you were invited into is squarely within them. Get the work order or route record that puts you there, because it establishes you were lawfully present. If you were working, a separate work injury claim may also exist, and a lawyer should coordinate the two.
Usually not. Homeowners and renters policies are what pay these claims, and they also pay for the owner's defense, so keeping the insurer out of it generally means less money available, not more. A direct deal also tends to be signed before anyone knows what the injury will cost, and a scar can take a year or more to settle into its final appearance. Nothing stops you from staying on good terms with the owner while still asking for the insurance details.
Often, yes. The claim goes to the insurer on the home where the dog lives, and the insurer investigates, negotiates and pays, so your friend is not writing a check or standing in a courtroom. What helps most is handling it early and factually: the bite report, the photographs and the medical records. Coverage can work differently if the two families share a home, so have a lawyer read the policy.
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