Durham Dog Bite Lawyer
Durham Dog Bite Lawyer
On This Page
- Durham and Durham County Dog Bite Statistics
- North Carolina Dog Bite Law: The Owner's Knowledge, Negligence, and a Narrow Statute
- Durham Leash Law and Dog Ordinances
- Durham Animal Control and Rabies Follow-Up
- What To Do After a Durham Dog Bite
- Durham Hospitals and Urgent Care for Dog Bites
- How To Report a Dog Bite in Durham
- Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Durham Dog Bite
- Filing a Dog Bite Claim in Durham County
- Compensation for Durham Dog Bite Victims
- Contributory Negligence in North Carolina: Any Fault Can Bar Recovery
- Statute of Limitations for Durham Dog Bite Cases
- Homeowner and Renter Insurance for Durham Dog Bites
- Why Choose Dog Bite Laws for Your Durham Case
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Sheriff Handles Bites: In the Durham County part of the city and across the county, the Sheriff's Office Animal Services Division investigates every reported bite.
- 856 Bites Listed: The Sheriff's 2025 Annual Report lists 856 bites, and it does not separate dog bites from bites by cats or ferrets.
- Leash Required: County Code section 4-86 makes it unlawful to let a dog run at large, and voice command does not count as restraint.
- Knowledge or Negligence: North Carolina's strict liability statute covers only a dog that was already dangerous before the bite, so most Durham claims need proof the owner knew the dog was dangerous or was careless in restraining it.
- Any Fault Bars: Under contributory negligence, carelessness of your own that helped cause the bite can defeat a negligence claim entirely.
- Shelter Confinement: The health department's owner bite form, dated December 2012, sends a biting dog to the Animal Protection Society shelter for 10 days unless the Health Director approves another place.
- Level I Trauma: Duke University Hospital in Durham is on the state's list of Level I trauma centers.
- Three Years: Adults generally have three years from the bite to sue, and a child's own claim usually runs until the twenty-first birthday.
If a dog bit you in Durham, the owner can owe you compensation when the owner knew or should have known the dog was dangerous, or was careless in restraining it. North Carolina dog bite law makes an owner strictly liable only for a dog that already qualified as dangerous, and its contributory negligence rule can bar a negligence claim if your own carelessness helped cause the bite, so the facts you lock in during the first week matter.
This page covers the bite numbers the Sheriff’s Office publishes, the county leash ordinance that applies inside the city, how Durham handles the 10-day rabies confinement, the trauma centers that serve Durham, how to report, who can be responsible, the Durham County courts, and your deadlines.
Dog Bite Laws handles dog attack cases. Talk to us for free, and pay no fee unless we recover money for you.
Durham and Durham County Dog Bite Statistics
The local bite figures here come from the Durham County Sheriff’s Office, whose Animal Services Division answers bite calls for the county and for the Durham County part of the city. Its annual reports carry a one page Animal Services summary.
- 2025 Annual Report. 856 bites, 12,112 calls for service and 2,220 stray animals.
- 2024 Annual Report. 824 bites and 12,250 calls for service.
- 2023 Annual Report (fiscal year 2022/23). 708 bites and 10,556 calls.
- 2022 Annual Report (fiscal year 2021/22). 688 bites and 10,117 calls.
Read those numbers with care. The Sheriff’s Animal Services Division responds to bites by dogs, cats and ferrets, and each report gives a single bite count that does not separate dog bites from the others. The 2022 and 2023 reports label their figures by fiscal year; the 2024 and 2025 reports do not state the period.
The Sheriff’s annual reports are posted on its website.
North Carolina Dog Bite Law: The Owner's Knowledge, Negligence, and a Narrow Statute
North Carolina gives a Durham bite victim three possible claims. The North Carolina hub page covers each one in depth.
- The knowledge rule. You prove the dog had a dangerous or vicious propensity and that the owner or keeper knew or should have known it. An earlier bite is not the only proof, so this is not a strict one bite rule. But the Supreme Court said in Sink v. Moore in 1966 that the evidence must be unequivocal: a small dog’s fights with other dogs and habit of chasing cars were not enough.
- Negligence. The question is whether the owner should have known from the dog’s past conduct that it was likely, if not restrained, to hurt someone, and failed to confine or restrain it.
- The dangerous dog statute. G.S. 67-4.4 makes the owner of a dangerous dog strictly liable, but only for a dog that already qualified as dangerous before it bit you.
The Court of Appeals read the statute that way in a Durham case. In Mims v. Parker, decided by the Court of Appeals on February 4, 2020, two teenagers were walking an American Bulldog on Summer Storm Drive when it broke its collar and bit a woman several times. The court held the owners were not strictly liable because the dog had not killed or severely injured anyone before that morning. Her negligence claim failed too, because the dog was on a collar and leash and Durham County Animal Control had no earlier reports about it.
Durham Leash Law and Dog Ordinances
The City of Durham does not write its own dog rules. Section 6-1 of the City Code says the Durham County animal control ordinance, chapter 4 of the county code, applies in the parts of the city that lie in Durham County. The same section applies Wake County’s ordinance in the part of the city inside Wake County and Orange County’s ordinance in the part inside Orange County. For most Durham addresses, the county code is the leash law.
- Running at large is illegal. Section 4-86 makes it unlawful for anyone owning, keeping, possessing or maintaining a dog to intentionally or negligently allow it to run at large.
- What at large means. Under section 4-13, a dog is at large when it is off its owner’s property and not under restraint. A dog already declared dangerous or potentially dangerous is at large even at home if it is not in a secure enclosure. Dog parks and police dogs on duty are excluded.
- What restraint means. A secure enclosure on the owner’s property, an attended leash, or an electronic device strong enough to keep control. The ordinance says plainly that voice command is not adequate restraint.
- Tethering is banned. Section 4-62 forbids tying a dog out except in listed situations, such as up to seven days of hunting, herding or camping, or on an attended leash, which the ordinance defines as a responsible person outside with the dog and within visual range of it.
- Apartment common areas. The ordinance treats a complex’s common areas as the landlord’s property, not the tenant’s.
Fines are civil: $50 for a first violation, $100 after that, and $500 when the dog has been declared dangerous or potentially dangerous. Section 4-87 adds that nothing in the at large article stops an injured person from suing the owner for damages.
A violation does not finish your case. In Swaney v. Shaw in 1975, the Court of Appeals repeated the North Carolina rule that a person who neglects a duty a safety statute or municipal ordinance imposes is liable for the harm it was meant to prevent, provided the injured person is free from contributory negligence. Swaney applied that rule to a state statute, not to a county leash ordinance, and even where it applies it helps only an injured person who was not careless too.
Durham Animal Control and Rabies Follow-Up
In Durham the dog side and the health side of a bite are handled by two county agencies working together.
The Sheriff’s Office runs animal control. Section 4-3 of the county code gives the Sheriff authority to enforce the animal ordinance and makes the office responsible for investigating every reported bite. The Animal Services Division works from an office on Glenn Road, open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. On weekends and holidays it takes emergency calls only, and a bite by a dog that is still loose counts as one.
The health department runs rabies control. The Durham County Department of Public Health says its rabies program evaluates every potential exposure and works with the Sheriff’s Animal Services Division and the Animal Protection Society of Durham to make sure state rabies law is followed.
Where the dog goes. State law requires a biting dog to be confined for 10 days in a place the local health director designates. Durham’s owner bite form, issued by the health department and dated December 2012, tells the owner the dog must be confined immediately at the Animal Protection Society of Durham’s animal shelter, even while a request for another arrangement is pending. Under that form, confinement at a veterinary hospital or at home happens only on a written request that the Health Director, or a designee, approves. Under county code section 4-40, the owner pays the shelter costs, and a dog not picked up within 24 hours after the confinement ends becomes county property.
Rabies treatment. The state health department says to seek immediate medical attention after washing the wound, and that a doctor will determine what treatment is needed. The county health department does not give rabies shots itself, and it tells people who need one to go to an urgent care or an emergency room.
The dangerous dog process. The Sheriff or a designee decides whether a dog is potentially dangerous or dangerous under state law and issues a written declaration. An owner can appeal to the county’s dangerous dog appeal board, where testimony is under oath and recorded. A declared dog must be microchipped within 30 days of the final determination and any appeal period, and its owner must post a warning sign clearly visible from the public right-of-way or property line. A designation made after your bite does not create strict liability for your claim.
What To Do After a Durham Dog Bite
- Call 911 if the dog is still loose. Do the same if the injury is serious. Animal Services treats a bite by a loose dog as an emergency at any hour.
- Wash the wound. Use soap and water for 15 minutes, as the state health department advises, then seek medical attention right away.
- Identify the dog and the people with it. Get the owner’s name and address, the name of whoever held the leash, and the rabies tag number. If no one will tell you, note the house the dog went back to.
- Report the bite to Animal Services. Under state law, the dog must then be confined for 10 days.
- Photograph the scene. The open gate, the broken latch, the snapped collar, the tie-out chain, or the dog loose in a parking lot. These can show whether the dog was at large or tethered in breach of the county code.
- Photograph the wound. Before treatment if you can, then every few days as it heals.
- Write down the last minute before the bite. Where you were standing, whether you were on the sidewalk, and what you were doing with your hands. In North Carolina, those details go to any contributory negligence defense.
- Collect witnesses, especially neighbors who have seen the dog loose or aggressive before.
- Give no recorded statement. Sign nothing for the owner’s insurer before you speak with a lawyer.
Our guide on how to file a dog bite claim walks through the paperwork.
Durham Hospitals and Urgent Care for Dog Bites
Durham has one state designated trauma center, and two more are a short drive away. The list below comes from the North Carolina Office of Emergency Medical Services trauma center list.
- Duke University Hospital, Durham. Level I trauma center, in the Duke regional advisory committee.
- UNC Medical Center, Chapel Hill. Level I trauma center.
- WakeMed, Raleigh. Level I trauma center.
No other Durham hospital appears on the state’s trauma list. That does not mean other emergency departments cannot treat a bite; it means the state has designated these hospitals as trauma centers. Call 911 for a serious injury.
The Durham County health department does not give rabies vaccine, and it tells people who need one to visit an urgent care or an emergency room. If you go to an urgent care clinic, ask whether it can start rabies treatment if your doctor decides you need it. Read about the signs of a dog bite infection, and tell every provider it was a dog bite so the records say so.
How To Report a Dog Bite in Durham
North Carolina’s reporting rule, G.S. 130A-196, says the person bitten, or a parent or guardian, and the dog’s owner must notify the local health director immediately. A doctor who treats the bite must report it within 24 hours. Section 4-40 of the county code requires bitten people, owners and health care workers to comply with that statute.
In practice, the county health department tells people who are attacked to call Durham County Animal Control, so a Durham report runs through the Sheriff’s Office:
- Weekdays. Call the Sheriff’s Animal Services Division during business hours. Its public page says bites by dogs are required to be reported by state law, and that Animal Services will respond.
- Nights, weekends and holidays. Call 911 if the dog is still loose or someone was just attacked. The on-call officer or a deputy responds to emergencies.
- The owner’s form. The health department’s bite report form, dated December 2012, is for the dog’s owner to complete. It asks for the dog’s rabies tag, vaccination dates, and whether the bite was provoked, and it contains the owner’s confinement agreement.
That provoked question matters. The owner will give the county an answer in writing, so give Animal Services your own account at the same time: where you were, what you were doing, and what the dog did first. Ask for the case number and the officer’s name.
If the bite happened in the part of Durham that lies in Wake County or Orange County, that county’s animal ordinance applies instead of Durham County’s. Read what happens after a dog bite is reported for the next steps.
Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Durham Dog Bite
- The owner. G.S. 67-4.1 defines an owner as any person or legal entity that has a possessory property right in a dog. See what determines ownership of a dog.
- A keeper. North Carolina law reaches anyone who undertakes to manage, control or care for the dog as owners usually do, with or without the owner’s permission. Simply owning the land where the dog lives is not enough.
- Anyone who was negligent with the dog. The Supreme Court held in Holcomb v. Colonial Associates in 2004 that a negligence claim does not require the defendant to be the owner or keeper. So whoever had charge of the dog when it bit, such as a walker or sitter, is worth looking at. Whether that person was a keeper, or owed you a duty of care, depends on the facts.
- A landlord. Only if, before the bite, the landlord knew this dog posed a danger and had enough control to remove it, such as a lease clause. That is the rule from Curlee v. Johnson in 2021. Complaints to a Durham apartment office are often the key evidence.
Durham’s ordinance defines an owner broadly, as anyone owning, keeping, having charge of or taking care of an animal, or allowing it to remain on their property. That definition is for enforcing the county ordinance. Who is liable in a civil claim turns on the state law rules above.
The Animal Services file matters. In Mims, the Court of Appeals pointed out that Durham County Animal Control had noted no prior complaints about the dog. When there are earlier complaints, nuisance reports or a prior dangerous dog proceeding, that file can help show what the owner knew. The Sheriff’s Office says nuisance complaints cannot be anonymous if they are to be enforced.
Filing a Dog Bite Claim in Durham County
Durham County’s trial courts sit in the Durham County Courthouse on South Dillard Street, and the county is in Superior Court District 16 and District Court District 16. Which court hears a case depends on the amount in controversy.
- Small claims. Up to $10,000 in Durham County, according to the court system’s Durham small claims page. A magistrate decides the case without a jury, and either side can appeal to district court within 10 days for a new trial.
- District court. Claims of $25,000 or less, under G.S. 7A-243.
- Superior court. Claims over $25,000.
The Mims case itself began in Durham County Superior Court, which granted the owners summary judgment in 2018 before the Court of Appeals affirmed.
Many claims are resolved with the owner’s insurer without a trial. If the bite left a scar, have a lawyer value it, including any later scar revision, before you settle or file anything. Our guide to medical evidence in a dog bite claim explains which records carry the most weight.
Compensation for Durham Dog Bite Victims
A North Carolina dog bite victim can recover compensatory damages for:
- Medical bills, past and future, including surgery, scar revision and counseling.
- Lost wages and any loss of earning capacity.
- Pain and suffering, scarring and disfigurement, and mental anguish.
- Damage to property, and under G.S. 67-4.4, injury to another animal, such as your own dog.
North Carolina’s statutory cap on noneconomic damages, in G.S. 90-21.19, applies by its terms to medical malpractice actions, not dog bite claims. Punitive damages are different: under G.S. 1D-15 they require fraud, malice, or willful or wanton conduct proved by clear and convincing evidence, and under G.S. 1D-25 they are capped at three times compensatory damages or $250,000, whichever is greater.
A national figure comes from the Insurance Information Institute and State Farm for 2025: an average of $65,450 per dog related injury claim across 28,450 claims, in their 2025 report. That report gives no figure for North Carolina or Durham. Your own number depends on the injury, the proof of what the owner knew, the contributory negligence risk, and the insurance available. Our page on the average dog bite settlement in North Carolina and the dog bite settlement calculator explain the factors.
Contributory Negligence in North Carolina: Any Fault Can Bar Recovery
Durham juries apply North Carolina’s contributory negligence rule. If your own failure to use ordinary care for your safety helped cause the bite, you can recover nothing on a negligence claim. It is not a matter of trimming the award by your share of the fault: the Supreme Court said in Smith v. Fiber Controls Corp. in 1980 that a contributory negligence verdict conclusively bars recovery.
The rule has real limits:
- The owner carries the burden. G.S. 1-139 puts the burden of proof on the party claiming you were contributorily negligent.
- A jury usually decides it. In Hill v. Williams, a worker who did not trust a Rottweiler and still went outside to help repair a machine was not contributorily negligent as a matter of law; the question was for the jury.
- Gross negligence defeats it. The Supreme Court held in Yancey v. Lea in 2001 that the defense is not a bar when the defendant’s gross negligence, or willful or wanton conduct, is a proximate cause of the injury.
- Young children are protected. Under Welch v. Jenkins, a child under seven is conclusively presumed incapable of contributory negligence, and a child between seven and fourteen is presumed incapable unless the owner shows this child had the capacity to understand the danger.
The legislature has not changed the rule: a 2025 bill to study abolishing it, House Bill 969, was referred to committee on April 14, 2025, with no further action recorded.
In Durham, think about where these arguments come from: the owner’s answer to the provoked question on the county’s bite form, a recorded call with an adjuster, or a neighbor’s story about you reaching over a fence. Keep your account consistent and in writing, and talk to a lawyer before anyone records you.
Statute of Limitations for Durham Dog Bite Cases
The general deadline is three years from the bite under G.S. 1-52.
- A child’s own claim. Under G.S. 1-17, the clock generally does not start until 18, so the child’s claim usually runs to the twenty-first birthday. G.S. 1-17 extends the deadline only for the person who was under 18 when the claim arose, so a parent should not assume the parent’s own claim for the child’s medical bills rides on that longer clock. Have it reviewed right away.
- A death. A wrongful death action must be filed within two years of the death under G.S. 1-53.
- A state agency. A claim that a state employee’s negligence caused the injury goes to the North Carolina Industrial Commission within three years under the State Tort Claims Act, with recovery capped at $1,000,000 per person, and no award if the claimant was contributorily negligent.
- The county or the city. Under G.S. 153A-435 and G.S. 160A-485, Durham County and the City of Durham waive governmental immunity by buying liability insurance, to the extent of the coverage. If a police dog, Animal Services, or another county or city officer was involved, talk to a lawyer early, because immunity and insurance questions need answers before the deadline.
Waiting is risky even when time remains. Dogs get rehomed, the shelter’s confinement records age, neighbors move, and policies lapse. Read more about the dog bite statute of limitations.
Homeowner and Renter Insurance for Durham Dog Bites
In most Durham cases, the money comes from the owner’s homeowners or renters policy. The North Carolina Department of Insurance’s consumer guide to homeowners insurance explains that personal liability coverage applies when a household member is legally responsible for injury to others, and that it provides a defense and pays damages.
- Limits. The guide lists a $100,000 minimum for personal liability on the broad form policy it describes, and the Insurance Information Institute says dog bite liability is typically covered up to $100,000 to $300,000.
- Medical payments. A separate coverage pays reasonable medical expenses for people accidentally injured on the property, with a $1,000 minimum on that form.
- Breed and cancellation. The guide warns that keeping dogs of certain breeds can lead to cancellation or nonrenewal, so confirm the policy was in force on the day of the bite.
The guide also says liability coverage protects renters the same as it would a homeowner, so a tenant’s renters policy can matter. If the bite happened in an apartment complex, ask whether the landlord had complaints about the dog, since the landlord’s own policy may also be in play under the Curlee test. Neither North Carolina’s dangerous dog statutes nor the county’s animal ordinance requires the owner of a dangerous dog to carry liability insurance, so ask the owner in writing for the carrier and policy number rather than accepting a claim that there is none.
Why Choose Dog Bite Laws for Your Durham Case
Dog Bite Laws handles dog attack cases, and a Durham case is built from county records: the Sheriff’s Animal Services file and any earlier complaints at that address, the owner’s bite form and confinement record, any dangerous dog declaration, and the at large rules in chapter 4 of the county code. North Carolina’s contributory negligence rule means we also build your side of the story early, before an adjuster does it for you.
We work on a contingency fee, so there is nothing to pay up front and no fee unless we recover money for you. Founding attorney Michael Agruss built the firm around people who need someone else to carry the paperwork while they heal.
We also take cases in Raleigh, Greensboro, Charlotte and Winston-Salem. If you or your child was bitten in Durham, contact us for a free consultation, and we will tell you honestly whether there is a claim worth bringing.
Frequently Asked Questions
For most of the city and the whole county, bites go to the Durham County Sheriff's Office Animal Services Division, which the county code charges with investigating every reported bite. Call 911 first if the dog is still loose or someone is badly hurt. If the bite happened in the part of the city that lies in Wake County or Orange County, that county's animal ordinance applies instead.
Ten days. State law requires that confinement after a bite, and Durham's health department owner form, dated December 2012, tells owners the dog must be confined immediately at the Animal Protection Society of Durham's shelter. The owner can ask in writing for home or veterinary confinement, but only the Health Director or a designee can approve it. The owner pays the costs, and a dog left more than 24 hours after the period ends becomes county property.
Possibly, but not automatically. Durham County's ordinance accepts an electronic device only if it is strong enough to let the owner keep control of the dog, and it rejects voice command outright. If the dog crossed an electronic boundary and reached you off the owner's property, the question is whether the device let the owner keep control of it. Photographs of where the bite happened and where the property line is will matter.
Sometimes. The dog owner is the first target, and Durham's ordinance treats apartment common areas as the landlord's property, so a dog loose there was off its owner's property. The complex itself is liable only if it knew before the bite that this dog was dangerous and had the power to remove it, often through a lease clause. Ask the leasing office for any complaints about the dog, in writing.
No. Durham's ordinance creates fines and a dangerous dog process, not automatic civil liability. North Carolina's strict liability statute applies only if the dog was already a dangerous dog before your bite, as the Court of Appeals held in Mims v. Parker, a Durham case. Otherwise you prove that the owner knew or should have known the danger, or failed to restrain the dog with reasonable care.
Yes, if your claim is $10,000 or less, which is the Durham County small claims limit. A magistrate hears the case without a jury. Small claims may not fit a bite with stitches on the face, a child victim or any chance of later scar treatment, because the amount in controversy in a small claim cannot exceed $10,000 under G.S. 7A-210.
Not on your child's own claim. A child under seven cannot be contributorily negligent in North Carolina, so the insurer cannot argue that a 6-year-old should have known better. On the parents' separate claim for medical bills, it may argue the supervising parent was careless; in Williams v. Tysinger, a case about a horse, the Supreme Court left that kind of argument to the jury. Report the bite to Animal Services, photograph the injury as it heals, and keep the friend's homeowners insurance information.
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