Luật sư chuyên về các vụ chó cắn ở Buffalo
Luật sư chuyên về các vụ chó cắn ở Buffalo
On This Page
- Buffalo and Erie County Dog Bite Statistics
- New York Dog Bite Law: Vicious Propensities and the 2025 Negligence Change
- Buffalo Leash Law and Dog Ordinances
- Buffalo Animal Control and Rabies Follow-Up
- What To Do After a Buffalo Dog Bite
- Buffalo Hospitals and Urgent Care for Dog Bites
- How To Report a Dog Bite in Buffalo
- Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Buffalo Dog Bite
- Filing a Dog Bite Claim in Erie County
- Compensation for Buffalo Dog Bite Victims
- Comparative Fault in New York Dog Bite Cases
- Statute of Limitations for Buffalo Dog Bite Cases
- Homeowner and Renter Insurance for Buffalo Dog Bites
- Why Choose Dog Bite Laws for Your Buffalo Case
- Các câu hỏi thường gặp
- Two Legal Routes: A Buffalo victim can pursue strict liability for a dog's known vicious propensities and, since April 17, 2025, ordinary negligence as well.
- No Prior Bite Needed: Growling, snapping, lunging at a window or being shut away from visitors can put an owner on notice, so a first bite can still support a claim.
- Buffalo Restraint Rule: Buffalo City Code 78-19 requires an owner to muzzle, fasten or otherwise restrain a dog on the property so it cannot bite anyone lawfully entering or leaving.
- Erie County Rabies: The Erie County Department of Health investigates animal bites and directs the ten day observation of the dog, and publishes 716-961-6800 for its Environmental Health Division.
- Service Requests: Buffalo's open data portal counted 2,648 Dog Animal Control Issue service requests from May 2024 through September 30, 2026, which are requests for service and not confirmed bites.
- Adult And Child Trauma: New York designates Erie County Medical Center as a Level I adult trauma center and Golisano Children's Hospital of Buffalo as a Level I pediatric trauma center.
- Three Year Deadline: An ordinary New York dog bite claim has three years, but only 90 days to serve a sworn notice of claim when a public entity is involved.
- Breed Underwriting Limit: Insurance Law 3421 bars a New York homeowners insurer from canceling or surcharging a policy based solely on a dog's breed.
A dog bite in Buffalo is frightening, painful and expensive, and the law that decides who pays changed recently. New York dog bite law now gives a victim two routes: strict liability, where the owner knew or should have known the dog was likely to hurt someone, and ordinary negligence, which the New York Court of Appeals restored on April 17, 2025 after nearly twenty years in which a New York dog owner could not be sued for plain carelessness.
This page covers what Buffalo publishes about dog complaints, the city’s leash and restraint rules, how the animal shelter and the Erie County Department of Health each handle a bite, which hospitals the state designates for adult and child trauma, who can be responsible, and how long you have.
Dog Bite Laws handles dog attack cases. Talk to us for free, and pay no fee unless we recover money for you.
Buffalo and Erie County Dog Bite Statistics
Buffalo publishes dog related service request counts, not confirmed bite counts, and the difference matters. These figures come from OpenData Buffalo‘s 311 service request dataset.
- 2,648 requests of the type “Dog Animal Control Issue” in the city’s current 311 dataset, which begins in May 2024 and was queried on September 30, 2026.
- By year: 774 from the dataset’s May 2024 start, 941 in 2025, and 933 through September 30, 2026.
The older 311 dataset uses different request types, so those figures are not a trend to compare against.
For reported bites, the largest count we found published in the state is a New York City number, 5,049 in 2025. 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 are insurance claims rather than bites, and the source’s 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 nothing makes an owner pay just because a dog bit someone. There are two court made routes, and you can use both.
Strict liability for vicious propensities. If the owner knew or should have known the dog had a propensity to put others at risk, the owner is liable, and being careful is no defense. No prior bite is needed. Growling, snapping, baring teeth, lunging through a window and being shut away from visitors have all been treated as evidence that can put an owner on notice.
Ordinary negligence, reopened April 17, 2025. That day the New York Court of Appeals decided Flanders v Goodfellow and overruled Bard v Jahnke, which had barred negligence claims against the owner of a domestic animal. From 2006 until then a victim had strict liability and nothing else. Now you can show either that the owner knew about the dog or that the owner failed to use reasonable care. Much of what is published about New York dog bites predates that decision and still says there is no negligence claim. Whether the change reaches an older bite is a question for a lawyer.
New York is often called a one bite state. The Court of Appeals has called that a misnomer, because a first bite can support liability where the owner already knew the dog was dangerous. See our one bite law page.
Agriculture and Markets Law 123(10) makes the owner of a dangerous dog strictly liable for medical costs, but for nothing else, and whether the dog must be declared dangerous first is unsettled.
Buffalo Leash Law and Dog Ordinances
There is no statewide New York leash law. Agriculture and Markets Law 122 lets a municipality set its own rules on keeping dogs and dogs running at large, so the rule that governs your bite is Buffalo’s, in chapter 78, article IV, of the Buffalo City Code.
- Off the property, 78-18(A). An owner must restrain the dog so it cannot leave the premises, and may take it off the premises only when securely held in leash.
- On the property, 78-19. This is the one most Buffalo claims turn on. Unless the dog is in the owner’s immediate custody, the owner must keep it muzzled, securely fastened or otherwise restrained so it cannot bite any person lawfully entering upon or leaving the premises.
Under 78-15.3, every Buffalo dog four months or older must be licensed through the City Clerk with proof of rabies vaccination, and 78-15.6 issues a collar tag carrying a seven digit number. The Dog Licensing Bureau is 716-851-5433, and a restraint violation draws a fine of $15 rising to $50 under 78-21.
Chapter 78 has no dangerous dog article and Buffalo runs no local determination, so the state proceeding in Agriculture and Markets Law 123 applies, and the city says dangerous dogs should be reported to the police. State law bars a breed specific municipal dangerous dog program.
Buffalo Animal Control and Rabies Follow-Up
Two agencies are involved: one deals with the dog, the other with rabies and with you.
The City of Buffalo Animal Shelter provides the city’s animal control officers. The city publishes 716-851-5694 or 716-851-4265, open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, and 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday. It is closed Sundays and holidays.
The Erie County Department of Health handles rabies. Its Rabies, Disease & Vector Control Program sits in the county’s Environmental Health Division and investigates animal bites. The county publishes 716-961-6800 for that division and labels 716-961-7898 as the number for emergencies after regular business hours. New York’s health department tells residents to report all animal bites to their county health department.
A dog that potentially exposed a person to rabies is then confined under the county’s direction and observed for ten days. In the state’s words, if the animal remains healthy during this period, the animal did not transmit rabies at the time of the bite. That is a finding about the dog, not permission to skip care. We did not find anything Erie County publishes that says where the dog is confined, so ask where yours is and who verifies at the end that it stayed healthy.
What To Do After a Buffalo Dog Bite
Health first, claim second.
- Get away from the dog, and call 911 if anyone is badly hurt or the dog is still loose.
- Get medical care the same day. Bite wounds look small and infect easily.
- Report the bite to the Erie County Department of Health, the agency New York points you to, and report the dog to the city on 311, or 716-851-4890 from outside city limits. Report a dangerous dog to the police.
- Get the owner’s name, phone number and insurance company, plus the dog’s tag number and rabies certificate.
- Photograph the wounds that day and again over the next week, plus the place, the fence and any beware of dog sign.
- Find the witnesses now and get what they saw in writing. The 2025 decision that reopened negligence claims was helped by two other postal carriers who described the dog slamming into a window and trying to bite through the glass, and neither had ever complained to anyone.
- Do not give a recorded statement to the owner’s insurer first. Read about dog bite provocation before that call.
Buffalo Hospitals and Urgent Care for Dog Bites
Erie County has two state designated trauma centers, both in Buffalo, and under those designations an injured adult and an injured child go to different ones. The levels below are as listed by the New York State Department of Health, page revised July 2026. State designation is a separate layer from verification by the American College of Surgeons.
- Erie County Medical Center. State designated Level I adult trauma center, listed as not designated for pediatrics. ECMC’s own trauma page says it was recently verified as a Level 1 Trauma Care Center by the American College of Surgeons. The hospital publishes (716) 898-3000.
- Golisano Children’s Hospital of Buffalo. State designated Level I pediatric trauma center, listed as not designated for adults. The hospital publishes (716) 323-2000 as its main hospital number.
Go to an emergency department for a deep or bleeding wound, a bite to the face, hands or a joint, or any serious bite to a child. Urgent care can handle a shallow wound that has stopped bleeding, but return to an emergency department for spreading redness, swelling, pus, a red streak or fever, as covered in dog bite infection.
For a facial bite, especially on a child, keep everything from that visit, because the photographs and treating notes are what later support the cost of scar treatment. See medical evidence in a dog bite claim.
How To Report a Dog Bite in Buffalo
Report a Buffalo bite by phone, because we did not find an online animal bite form published by the city or the county.
- Erie County Department of Health, Environmental Health Division. 716-961-6800, with 716-961-7898 labeled by the county for emergencies after regular business hours. This is the agency that directs the ten day observation.
- City of Buffalo, 311. Call 311 within city limits or 716-851-4890 from outside them. The city says 311 covers city services, complaints and non-emergency police matters. See its 311 contact page.
- Buffalo Police Department. The city directory lists 716-851-4444 as the department’s phone number, and the city says dangerous dogs should be reported to the police.
- Erie County Sheriff’s Office. Outside city limits, the office publishes (716) 858-2903 as its Non-Emergency Sheriff’s Dispatch.
Your lawyer can also obtain the bite report, the animal control file and earlier complaints about that dog or address, including ones closed with no action taken. Here is what happens after a dog bite is reported.
Under Agriculture and Markets Law 123, the officer you speak to must tell you that you can start a dangerous dog proceeding yourself, and must start it if there is reason to believe the dog is dangerous.
Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Buffalo Dog Bite
More than one person or business can be responsible for the same bite, which usually means more insurance to pay for it.
- The owner, and owner is broader than the license. Agriculture and Markets Law 108 defines an owner as anyone who harbors or keeps a dog, and harboring as providing food or shelter to one. See what determines ownership of a dog.
- Housemates and co-tenants. A New York appellate court has held co-tenants can be strictly liable for an attack by a dog owned only by another co-tenant, where they took part in its care enough to have joined in harboring it.
- Whoever was handling the dog, including a relative, neighbor, walker or sitter who failed to control it.
- A landlord, where it had notice a dog was kept on the premises, knew or should have known of its vicious propensities, and had enough control to remove or confine it. Since 2025 a landlord may also face a negligence claim. A verbal complaint to somebody at the building has failed in the cases we have seen, so complain in writing and keep a copy.
- A business that had custody of the dog. New York’s highest court has held a veterinary clinic can be sued in negligence without proof of vicious propensities. Whether that reaches a groomer, kennel or trainer is unsettled.
If the dog belongs to a minor, New York’s parental liability statute does not help, because it covers property damage only. In practice the parent harbors the dog anyway.
Filing a Dog Bite Claim in Erie County
In our experience most Buffalo dog bite claims are presented to the owner’s homeowners or renters insurer and resolved by settlement, and a lawsuit is what gets filed when the insurer will not pay a fair number. If yours becomes one, the Supreme Court in Erie County is where it belongs. Despite the name, the Supreme Court is New York’s trial court and has no dollar ceiling. Buffalo City Court hears money claims up to $15,000, with a small claims part up to $5,000.
A dangerous dog proceeding under Agriculture and Markets Law 123 starts with a sworn complaint to a municipal judge, which in Buffalo means the City Court. The judge decides immediately whether there is probable cause to believe the dog is dangerous, can order it seized, and holds a hearing within five days on at least two days’ notice to the owner, with proof by clear and convincing evidence. That proceeding can require confinement, leashing, muzzling and training, but it is not a way to get paid, and the statute says plainly that it does not limit a claim you already have. Here is how to file a dog bite claim.
Compensation for Buffalo Dog Bite Victims
New York awards are itemized, and a Buffalo dog bite claim is built the same way.
- Medical and dental care, including emergency treatment, wound care, rabies treatment if given, surgery, and future revision surgery.
- Lost earnings and lost earning capacity.
- Pain and suffering, past and future, and disfigurement and scarring, a separate item here.
- Loss of enjoyment of life, and a spouse’s derivative claim.
- Psychological treatment. Fear of dogs, nightmares and disrupted sleep are real, treatable and routinely under documented. Read about emotional trauma after a dog attack.
New York puts no dollar cap on a dog bite recovery. Instead, an appeals court can raise or lower an award that deviates materially from what would be reasonable compensation.
Two rules matter before you settle. The jury hears what your care was worth, and the judge subtracts what insurance actually covered afterward, with the burden on the defense to prove it. And voluntary charitable contributions raised for you are protected by statute and are not subtracted. 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 is a pure comparative fault state. Under CPLR 1411(a), a victim’s own careless conduct does not bar recovery. 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. The award is reduced in proportion to the victim’s share of the fault, and that is all it does. There is no cutoff percentage in a dog bite claim. If a Buffalo delivery driver’s damages come to $60,000 and a jury puts him 25 percent at fault for stepping through a gate he could see was open, he recovers $45,000.
The burden is not on you either. CPLR 1412 makes the victim’s own conduct a defense the dog owner has to raise and prove, so the instinct to blame yourself for petting a dog is worth resisting.
Expect the defense to talk about provocation. New York’s dangerous dog statute carries a broad list of justifications, covering someone who was tormenting, abusing or physically threatening the dog, even in the past, and a dog responding to pain or protecting its household. That list governs the dangerous dog proceeding rather than your civil claim, but it is the vocabulary an insurer borrows. Children are rarely found meaningfully at fault.
Statute of Limitations for Buffalo Dog Bite Cases
New York gives most dog bite victims three years, and far less in the cases people least expect.
- Three years from the date of the bite for an ordinary 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, and that claim belongs to the representative of the estate.
- 90 days to serve a sworn written notice of claim if a city, county, town, village, school district, fire district, public housing authority or other public corporation is involved, and 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 different and usually longer under CPLR 208, but a parent’s own claim and any municipal deadline may not be.
These things do not pause the clocks: not the animal control case, not a criminal charge, not months of talk with an adjuster. Missing the municipal 90 days is not always fatal, because a court can extend it, but that is discretionary and can never run past the underlying deadline. See our guide to the dog bite statute of limitations.
Homeowner and Renter Insurance for Buffalo Dog Bites
In the ordinary Buffalo case the money comes from the dog owner’s homeowners or renters policy, under its personal liability coverage. The insurer pays the settlement and the owner’s defense, which is why bringing a claim is not the same as going after a neighbor’s savings. The Insurance Information Institute says liability limits typically run from $100,000 to $300,000, and the owner is personally responsible above the limit.
New York does not require a dog owner to carry liability insurance, though a court that finds a dog dangerous may order a policy of up to $100,000.
New York also restricts 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 on breed where that specific dog has been designated dangerous under Agriculture and Markets Law 123. The statute reaches homeowners policies as the Insurance Law defines them, so do not accept “we do not cover that breed” at face value here.
If coverage is denied, look for a second policy, a co-tenant’s, a landlord’s, or a business policy if the bite happened at work.
Why Choose Dog Bite Laws for Your Buffalo Case
Dog Bite Laws focuses on dog attack cases. In a Buffalo case that means knowing which agency holds which record, how to get the Erie County Department of Health bite investigation and the animal shelter file, and how to build the vicious propensity evidence these cases are won on.
It also means knowing what changed. The negligence route reopened in April 2025, so a Buffalo victim turned away before then may have been told something no longer true.
We deal with the insurance company, gather the records, negotiate medical liens, and file suit if the insurer will not offer fair compensation. There are no upfront costs and no fee unless we recover money for you. Read about our founder at Michael Agruss.
If you or your child was bitten in Buffalo, contact Dog Bite Laws for a free case review. We also handle cases in Rochester and Syracuse.
Các câu hỏi thường gặp
It can. Buffalo issues each licensed dog a collar tag with a seven digit number, and the city record behind that number ties the dog to its owner, its current rabies status and its description. Section 78-15.6(B) also treats a dog found in Buffalo without a tag, on or off the owner's property, as a stray subject to seizure. So a missing tag costs you the easy way to identify the dog and shows the owner was not following the city's rules.
Not as a separate ordinance. Chapter 78 of the Buffalo City Code includes articles on licensing and impoundment, control of dogs, protection of dogs and dog control violations, and none of its articles is a dangerous dog article, so Buffalo does not run its own administrative dangerous dog determination. The proceeding that applies here is the state one in Agriculture and Markets Law 123, started by a sworn complaint to a municipal judge, which in Buffalo means the City Court. The city's own guidance is to report dangerous dogs to the police.
The Erie County Department of Health. Its Rabies, Disease and Vector Control Program investigates animal bites and scratches, and the county publishes 716-961-6800 for its Environmental Health Division, with 716-961-7898 labeled for emergencies after regular business hours. New York's health department tells residents to report all animal bites to their county health department even if they seem minor. The county then directs the ten day observation of the dog.
Under the New York State Department of Health trauma center list, page revised July 2026, Golisano Children's Hospital of Buffalo is the state designated Level I pediatric trauma center in Erie County, and the list shows it as not designated for adults. Erie County Medical Center is the state designated Level I adult trauma center and is listed as not designated for pediatrics. An adult and a child from the same household can end up at different hospitals, which is worth knowing before you are in the car.
Yes. Being on the clock does not remove your claim against the dog's owner or keeper. Delivery drivers, mail carriers and utility workers are bitten on the job, and the 2025 decision that reopened negligence claims was brought by a postal carrier bitten at a customer's door. Buffalo's section 78-19 is written for this situation, because it requires an owner to restrain a dog so it cannot bite someone lawfully entering or leaving. If you were working there may also be a separate work injury claim, and a lawyer should look at how the two fit together.
Be careful. A cash offer almost never covers what a bite actually costs, because the wound care, the follow up visits, the missed work and any scar revision arrive after the offer does, and a scar can take a year or more to mature. Accepting money in exchange for signing something can end your claim entirely. The owner's homeowners or renters insurer is usually the one that pays, not the owner out of pocket. Get the insurance information and have a lawyer read any paper before you sign.
Usually not in the way you are picturing. These claims are normally paid by the homeowners or renters insurance on the household where the dog lives, and the insurer handles the claim and pays the defense costs, so your relative is not writing the check. Coverage can work differently when the bite happens inside the same household, so the policy language matters. Ask for the insurer and policy number, and have a lawyer read the coverage before you decide anything.
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