Georgia is not a strict liability state for dog bites, which is why so many owners assume they are not responsible. But Augusta has a leash ordinance — and under Georgia law, a leash violation can do the work that would otherwise require proving the dog had bitten someone before.

Augusta Dog Bite Lawyers

Qué cubre esta página

1. Georgia is not a strict liability state
2. The Augusta leash ordinance shortcut
3. What counts as the owner knowing
4. The dangerous dog classification system
5. Getting the dog’s history
6. When the victim is a child
7. Who actually pays a dog bite claim
8. Deadlines, fault and venue
9. Working with us on an Augusta dog bite case

Is Georgia a strict liability state for dog bites?

No, and this is the fact that decides most Georgia dog bite cases.

Many states impose strict liability: the dog bit someone, the owner pays, and the dog’s history is irrelevant. Georgia does not work that way. O.C.G.A. § 51-2-7 provides that a person who owns or keeps a vicious or dangerous animal and who, by careless management or by allowing the animal to go at liberty, causes injury to another person who does not provoke the injury by his own act, may be liable in damages.

The words “vicious or dangerous” carry the weight. Georgia courts have long read the statute to require that the owner knew or should have known of the animal’s propensity to do the kind of harm it caused. This is the origin of the old and much-misunderstood idea of a “one free bite” — the notion that a dog gets one attack before the owner is on notice.

That framing is misleading in two directions. It overstates the burden, because a prior bite is not the only way to prove knowledge. And it understates it, because without some route to knowledge a genuinely injured person can lose.

So the practical question in an Augusta dog bite case is not “did the dog bite me.” It is “how do we establish that the owner was on notice.” Georgia gives two strong routes, and Augusta’s own ordinance supplies the better of them.

How does Augusta’s leash ordinance change your dog bite case?

This is the most important section on this page.

O.C.G.A. § 51-2-7 contains its own built-in shortcut. The statute provides that where an animal is required to be at heel or on a leash by an ordinance of a city, county, or consolidated government, and the animal was no at heel or on a leash at the time of the injury, that fact is sufficient to show that the animal had a vicious or dangerous propensity. In other words: prove the leash violation and you no longer have to prove the dog had ever hurt anyone before.

Augusta-Richmond County has exactly such an ordinance. Its Animal Control Ordinance sits at Title 4, Chapter 1 of the Augusta-Richmond County Code, running from § 4-1-1 through § 4-1-73, and it was amended by the Augusta Commission effective June 26, 2025. Two provisions matter most:

• § 4-1-19, “Dogs on public streets to be on leash.” It is unlawful for any dog to be upon the public streets except on a leash and accompanied by an individual, or enclosed in a vehicle, cage, crate or other suitable container preventing escape.
• § 4-1-18, duty of the owner to keep the dog under control. It is unlawful for any animal to be out of control or unattended regardless of its location, and unlawful for an animal to be out of control or unattended off the owner’s premises or on another person’s premises without permission.

Section 4-1-20 then authorises Animal Control to seize any animal found stray or running at large.

The practical effect for an Augusta victim is large. A dog that was loose on a public street when it attacked you was, on the face of it, in violation of § 4-1-19 — and the loose-dog attack is by far the most common serious dog bite scenario. That takes a case that would otherwise require digging up the dog’s entire history and converts it into a much more direct proof problem.

Worth knowing, and worth not assuming: this route is a matter of local law, and local law varies within Georgia. Not every Georgia jurisdiction has a leash ordinance in force — some have repealed theirs, which removes this shortcut entirely in those counties. Augusta currently has one. The specific ordinance in force at the time of your attack, in the specific jurisdiction where it happened, has to be checked rather than presumed.

What counts as an owner knowing the dog was dangerous?

Where a leash violation is not available — an attack inside the owner’s own fenced yard, for instance — the case returns to proving the owner’s knowledge of a vicious propensity. Georgia law is more generous here than the “one free bite” phrase suggests.

Steagald v. Eason, 300 Ga. 717 (2017), is the controlling modern statement. The Georgia Supreme Court held that an owner need not have known the dog would bite; it is enough that the owner knew the dog had the temperament and propensity to do so. Critically, the Court held that prior snapping at people — conduct short of an actual bite — can be enough to put an owner on notice. In Steagald the dog had snapped at the owners twice in the months before it attacked a neighbour, and that was held sufficient to create a jury question.

So the evidence that establishes knowledge includes, but is far from limited to, a prior bite:

• Prior snapping, lunging or charging at people, even without contact
• Prior attacks on other animals
• Neighbour complaints, including informal ones
• Prior animal control calls, citations or investigations
• “Beware of Dog” signage, which cuts both ways but is frequently an admission of awareness
• Muzzling, chaining, or keeping the dog separated when visitors came
• The owner’s own statements, often made in the immediate aftermath and later regretted
• Veterinary or grooming records noting aggression or requiring sedation for handling

The last two categories are routinely overlooked. A veterinary record flagging a dog as aggressive is contemporaneous, third-party documentary evidence of exactly the propensity the statute requires.

The statute also requires that the injured person did not provoke the attack, and provocation is the standard defense. It is worth knowing that Georgia courts assess provocation in relation to what the person actually did — and that with young children, conduct an adult might call provocation frequently is not, given what a child can be expected to understand.

What is Georgia’s dangerous dog law, and why does it matter to your claim?

Separate from § 51-2-7 there is a regulatory scheme: the Responsible Dog Ownership Act, O.C.G.A. § 4-8-20 et seq., substantially rewritten by House Bill 685 in 2012. It creates two classifications:

• A dangerous dog is one that causes a substantial puncture of a person’s skin by its teeth without causing serious injury, or aggressively attacks in a manner causing a reasonable person to believe the dog posed an imminent threat, or kills a pet animal off the owner’s property.
• A vicious dog is one that inflicts serious injury on a person.

Classification is not automatic. It follows a procedure with notice and a hearing, and once a dog is classified the owner faces real obligations — registration, secure enclosure requirements, warning signage, and for a vicious dog, proof of $50,000 in insurance or surety.

Augusta implements this locally. Its ordinance expressly states that the Animal Services director is the dog control officer under Title 4, Chapter 8, Article 2 of the Georgia Code (§ 4-1-3), and § 4-1-4 provides for implementation of the state dog control law. § 4-1-6 sets out the procedures for classifying vicious, dangerous and potentially dangerous dogs, including notice and hearing. § 4-1-33 requires that a dangerous, potentially dangerous or vicious dog off the owner’s property be restrained by a secure muzzle, collar and leash not exceeding six feet, under the immediate physical control of a capable person.

Why this matters to a civil claim: a classification proceeding creates a documented paper trail establishing that the owner was formally notified their dog was dangerous. If the dog that bit you had been classified before, the vicious-propensity element is essentially proved by a government record. If it had a $50,000 insurance requirement, there may be a policy specifically because of this dog. Checking for a prior classification should be among the first steps in any Augusta case.

How do you find out whether the dog had a history?

Through public records, and this is the most underused tool in Georgia dog bite practice.

Augusta Animal Services is the responsible agency. It is located at 4164 Mack Lane, Augusta, GA 30906, reachable at (706) 790-6836, with an after-hours and weekend line at (706) 821-1080. Its published duties include, in its own words, to investigate bite cases and to impound and quarantine unvaccinated animals involved in bite cases, as well as to investigate animal-related complaints and impound stray and nuisance animals.

Because Animal Services is a department of the consolidated government, its files are subject to the Georgia Open Records Act, and Augusta expressly lists Animal Services among the departments answering open records requests. Requests go through Augusta’s open records portal, and the city’s Open Records Officer is reachable at 706-821-4899 at 535 Telfair Street, Suite 910.

What to ask for, by owner name, address and dog description or tag number:

• Prior bite reports involving the same dog or the same owner
• Complaint and investigation records, including barking and running-at-large complaints
• Impoundment and quarantine records
• Classification proceedings and hearing records under § 4-1-6 — the single most valuable category
• Citation history under § 4-1-9
• Rabies vaccination records

If the attack also generated a law enforcement report, that is a separate request to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office open records unit at (706) 821-1076 — remember there is no separate Augusta Police Department.

Report the bite promptly even if you are unsure about a claim. An Animal Services investigation creates the contemporaneous record that later proves what happened, and the quarantine process protects you on the rabies question. A bite that is never reported leaves you proving the attack from nothing but your own account.

What is different when a child is bitten?

Almost everything, and Augusta families should understand the deadline point in particular.

Children are bitten to the face, head and neck far more often than adults, simply because of height. That changes the injury profile from puncture wounds on a forearm to facial lacerations, nerve damage, and scarring in the most visible place a person has. Reconstructive surgery is frequently staged across years, and a growing child may need revision procedures into adolescence because scar tissue does not grow with them. The psychological injury is also real and compensable — lasting fear of dogs, sleep disturbance and avoidance behaviour are documented consequences, not soft add-ons.

The deadline trap. Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-90 a minor’s own claim is tolled until age 18, so the child generally has until age 20 to sue. But the parents’ separate claim for the child’s medical expenses is NOT tolled — it expires two years from the date of the bite. Families lose the medical-bill portion of these claims on this point more often than on anything else, precisely because they reasonably assume the whole matter can wait until the child is grown. It cannot.

Provocation deserves a second mention here. Defendants routinely argue a child provoked the dog by hugging it, pulling at it, approaching while it ate, or startling it. Whether that constitutes provocation has to account for what a child of that age can actually be expected to understand, and it is not the same analysis as it would be for an adult who did the same thing.

Any settlement on behalf of a minor also carries procedural requirements in Georgia designed to protect the child’s interest, and those should be handled properly rather than papered over.

Who pays an Augusta dog bite claim?

Usually not the dog’s owner personally. Dog bite claims are typically paid by seguros de propietarios o renters insurance, both of which ordinarily include personal liability coverage that responds to injuries caused by a pet — including, in many policies, bites that occur away from the insured property.

This is worth saying plainly because it is the reason many Augusta victims never pursue a legitimate claim. People do not want to sue a neighbour, a friend or a relative. In the great majority of cases the practical effect of a claim is a demand against an insurance policy that exists precisely for this situation, not a financial attack on the person.

Coverage sources and complications to check:

• Homeowners or renters liability, typically $100,000 to $500,000, sometimes more.
• Políticas paraguas sitting above the homeowners policy.
• Breed exclusions and prior-bite exclusions. Many carriers exclude specific breeds outright, or exclude a dog with a documented bite history — which can mean the very evidence that proves your case also removes the coverage. That has to be assessed early, because it changes strategy.
• The $50,000 insurance or surety requirement for a dog classified as vicious under O.C.G.A. § 4-8-20 et seq., which may exist specifically because of this dog.
• Landlord liability, where a landlord knew a tenant kept a dangerous dog on the property and had the ability to remove it — a separate and sometimes better-insured defendant.
• Políticas comerciales where the attack occurred at a business, a kennel, a groomer or a daycare.

Recoverable damages follow the ordinary Georgia framework: medical and reconstructive costs, future surgery, lost income, scarring and disfigurement, and psychological injury. Georgia does not cap non-economic damages in ordinary negligence cases following Atlanta Oculoplastic Surgery v. Nestlehutt, 286 Ga. 731 (2010) — which matters a great deal where the principal harm is permanent facial scarring rather than a large medical bill.

How long do you have, and where is the case filed?

Two years from the date of the bite under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. The related clocks:

• A child’s own claim — tolled to age 18 under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-90, generally until age 20; the parents’ claim for the child’s medical expenses is not tolled and expires at two years.
• Loss of consortium — four years.
• A claim involving a Georgia municipality — six months for ante litem notice; doce meses under the Georgia Tort Claims Act for the state. Relevant where a government-owned animal or a public facility is involved.
• Related criminal or ordinance prosecution — O.C.G.A. § 9-3-99 tolls the civil clock while a prosecution arising from the same conduct is pending, subject to a six-year cap.

On culpa: Georgia applies modified comparative negligence under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33, so a provocation finding can reduce your recovery and, at 50 percent or more, eliminate it. The statute’s own no-provocation element and the comparative fault rule overlap here, and defendants use both.

On venue: suits are filed in the State Court o Superior Court of Richmond County, both at 735 James Brown Boulevard. State Court has civil jurisdiction without regard to the amount in controversy under O.C.G.A. § 15-7-4; Superior Court is required for equitable relief under O.C.G.A. § 23-1-1. Venue generally follows the defendant’s residence under Art. VI, § II, ¶ VI of the Georgia Constitution — which in a dog bite case usually means the county where the owner lives, and the Augusta Judicial Circuit is now Richmond and Burke counties only after Columbia County was split off in 2021.

Do you have an office in Augusta?

No. Southern Injury Attorneys does not maintain an office in Augusta. Our only Georgia office is in Atlanta, and Richmond County matters are handled from there and from our Memphis headquarters.

Larry “Jimmy” Peters is admitted to the State Bar of Georgia, Bar No. 936535, and is also licensed in Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas and Kentucky.

A dog bite case is built substantially out of records: the Animal Services investigation file, prior complaint and classification records obtained through Augusta’s open records portal, the Sheriff’s report if one exists, veterinary records, and the homeowners policy with its exclusions read carefully. That work is done by written request and subpoena. Where photographs of scarring over time matter — and in a child’s case they matter enormously — we make sure they are taken properly and at the right intervals rather than left to chance.

There is no fee unless we recover for you, and the consultation is free. If your case is better handled elsewhere, we will say so.

Related Augusta pages: Augusta personal injury overview, accidentes de coche, accidentes de camiones, accidentes de motocicletas, y responsabilidad civil.

Augusta dog bite claims: frequently asked questions

Is Georgia a strict liability state for dog bites?

No. Under O.C.G.A. § 51-2-7 an owner is liable for a vicious or dangerous animal that causes injury through careless management or being allowed to go at liberty, where the injured person did not provoke it. Georgia courts read the statute to require that the owner knew or should have known of the animal’s dangerous propensity, which is the origin of the misleading one free bite idea.

How does Augusta’s leash ordinance help my dog bite claim?

O.C.G.A. § 51-2-7 expressly provides that where a local ordinance requires an animal to be at heel or on a leash, and the animal was not, that fact is sufficient to show a vicious or dangerous propensity. Augusta-Richmond County § 4-1-19 makes it unlawful for any dog to be on a public street except on a leash and accompanied by an individual, and § 4-1-18 makes it unlawful for an animal to be out of control or unattended. A loose-dog attack on a public street therefore usually removes the need to prove the dog had bitten anyone before.

Does the dog have to have bitten someone before?

No. In Steagald v. Eason, 300 Ga. 717 (2017), the Georgia Supreme Court held that an owner need not have known the dog would bite, only that it had the temperament and propensity to do so, and that prior snapping at people short of an actual bite can be enough to establish notice. Prior lunging, attacks on other animals, neighbour complaints, animal control calls, warning signage and veterinary records noting aggression can all establish knowledge.

What is a dangerous dog under Georgia law?

Under the Responsible Dog Ownership Act, O.C.G.A. § 4-8-20 et seq., a dangerous dog is one that causes a substantial puncture of a person’s skin by its teeth without serious injury, aggressively attacks so as to cause a reasonable fear of imminent harm, or kills a pet animal off the owner’s property. A vicious dog is one that inflicts serious injury on a person. Classification follows a notice and hearing procedure, and a vicious dog carries a $50,000 insurance or surety requirement.

How do I find out if the dog had a history in Augusta?

Through a Georgia Open Records Act request to Augusta Animal Services, which is a department of the consolidated government and is expressly listed among the departments answering open records requests. Ask for prior bite reports, complaint and investigation records, impoundment and quarantine records, citation history, and above all classification proceedings and hearing records under § 4-1-6. Augusta’s Open Records Officer can be reached at 706-821-4899.

Who do I report a dog bite to in Augusta?

Augusta Animal Services, at 4164 Mack Lane, Augusta GA 30906, on (706) 790-6836, with an after-hours line at (706) 821-1080. Its published duties include investigating bite cases and impounding and quarantining unvaccinated animals involved in bite cases. If a law enforcement report was also taken, that is a separate request to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, since Augusta has no separate city police department.

Who actually pays a dog bite claim?

Usually the owner’s homeowners or renters insurance, which ordinarily includes personal liability coverage responding to injuries caused by a pet, often including bites away from the property. Umbrella policies may sit above it, and a landlord who knew a tenant kept a dangerous dog may be separately liable. Watch for breed exclusions and prior-bite exclusions, which can mean the evidence proving your case also removes the coverage.

My child was bitten. How long do we have?

The child’s own claim is tolled until age 18 under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-90, so generally until age 20. But the parents’ separate claim for the child’s medical expenses is not tolled and expires two years from the date of the bite. Families lose the medical expense claim on this point more often than any other, because they reasonably assume the whole matter can wait until the child is grown.

The owner says my child provoked the dog. Is that a defense?

It can be, since O.C.G.A. § 51-2-7 requires that the injured person did not provoke the attack, and Georgia’s comparative negligence rule under § 51-12-33 can reduce or eliminate recovery. But whether conduct amounts to provocation has to account for what a child of that age can be expected to understand, and it is not analysed the same way as identical conduct by an adult.

What if the dog attacked inside its owner’s fenced yard?

The leash ordinance route is generally unavailable, so the case returns to proving the owner’s knowledge of a vicious propensity under Steagald v. Eason. That is done through prior complaints, animal control records, veterinary notes on aggression, warning signage, and the owner’s own statements. There may also be a separate argument about the adequacy of the enclosure, and Augusta’s ordinance addresses fencing at § 4-1-11.

Does Georgia limit what I can recover for scarring?

No. The Georgia Supreme Court struck down the statutory cap on non-economic damages in ordinary negligence cases in Atlanta Oculoplastic Surgery v. Nestlehutt, 286 Ga. 731 (2010). That matters particularly in dog bite cases, where the principal harm is often permanent facial scarring and disfigurement rather than a large medical bill, and where psychological injury such as lasting fear of dogs is also compensable.

Do you have an office in Augusta?

No. Southern Injury Attorneys does not maintain an office in Augusta. Our only Georgia office is in Atlanta, and Richmond County matters are handled from there and from our Memphis headquarters. The responsible attorney, Larry Peters, is admitted in Georgia under Bar No. 936535. There is no fee unless we recover for you.

This page is legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Statutes, ordinances and case law change; every case turns on its own facts. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Responsible attorney: Larry “Jimmy” Peters, Georgia Bar No. 936535. Southern Injury Attorneys does not maintain an office in Augusta; our only Georgia office is in Atlanta, and Richmond County matters are handled from there and from our Memphis headquarters.