Georgia’s dog bite law is not what most people assume, and the difference decides cases. The state does not hold an owner automatically responsible because their dog bit someone. It holds them responsible when they knew the dog was dangerous — or when they broke a leash ordinance, which under Georgia law amounts to the same thing.

Savannah Dog Bite Lawyers

What this page covers

1. What Georgia law actually requires
2. The local ordinances that matter
3. Who can be held responsible
4. When the person bitten is a child
5. What a dog bite claim covers
6. What to do in the first days
7. Where the case would be filed
8. How we handle these cases
9. Frequently asked questions

Does Georgia hold a dog owner strictly liable for a bite?

No, and this is where most dog bite claims in Georgia are won or lost.

O.C.G.A. § 51-2-7 makes a person who owns or keeps a vicious or dangerous animal liable in damages where, by careless management or by allowing the animal to go at liberty, the animal injures someone who did not provoke the injury by their own act. Three elements are embedded in that sentence: the animal had a dangerous propensity, the owner failed to manage or confine it, and the injured person did not provoke it.

The element that gets litigated is the first one, and specifically the owner’s knowledge of it. Georgia is often described as a “one bite” state, which is a useful shorthand and a misleading one. The law does not grant every dog one free bite. What it requires is proof that the owner knew, or had reason to know, that this animal was dangerous. A prior bite is the most obvious way to show that. It is not the only way.

The Supreme Court of Georgia made that explicit in Steagald v. Eason, 300 Ga. 717 (2017). The dog in that case had snapped at the owners twice in the month before it attacked a visitor, without breaking skin. The lower court held that was not enough. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that a jury could find the owners were on notice of the dog’s propensity from those incidents — that the law does not require a completed bite before an owner is charged with knowing what their dog is capable of. Steagald is the case to reach for whenever the owner’s defense is that the dog had never actually bitten anyone.

Then there is the clause that changes the arithmetic entirely. O.C.G.A. § 51-2-7 goes on to provide that, in proving vicious propensity, it is sufficient to show that the animal was required to be at heel or on a leash by an ordinance of a city, county or consolidated government, and that the animal was not at heel or on a leash at the time of the occurrence.

Read that again, because it is the single most useful sentence in Georgia dog bite law. Where a local leash ordinance applies and the dog was loose in violation of it, the plaintiff does not have to prove the owner knew anything about the dog’s temperament. The ordinance violation supplies the propensity element. What was a difficult knowledge case becomes a straightforward one.

Which Savannah and Chatham County ordinances matter?

Because O.C.G.A. § 51-2-7 lets a local ordinance carry the propensity element, identifying the right ordinance — and proving it applied where the attack happened — is the first real work in a Savannah dog bite case.

Inside the Savannah city limits, the animal provisions sit in Part 9, Chapter 5 of the City Code. Section 9-5022, governing dogs running at large, makes it unlawful for a dog to have access to the streets, lanes, highways, roads or squares of the city unless the dog is held firmly on a leash held by a person. That is precisely the kind of provision § 51-2-7 contemplates. Section 9-5041 and the sections following it govern dangerous and potentially dangerous dogs, and impose harder restraint rules on a dog that has been classified: when outside a proper enclosure, a classified dog must be muzzled and restrained by no more than a six-foot chain or leash under the physical control of a responsible person.

In unincorporated Chatham County, the county’s own animal control ordinance applies, enforced by Chatham County Animal Services, and it likewise prohibits dogs from running at large. Which body of law governs turns on the address, and in a county where city, county, Garden City, Port Wentworth, Pooler, Thunderbolt and Tybee Island boundaries interlock, that is a question worth answering carefully rather than assuming.

Layered on top is the state framework. Georgia’s Responsible Dog Ownership Act, O.C.G.A. § 4-8-20 et seq., enacted as House Bill 685 in 2012, replaced the older Dangerous Dog Control Law. It draws a line between a dangerous dog — one that causes a substantial puncture of a person’s skin without causing serious injury, among other definitions — and a vicious dog, one that inflicts serious injury on a person. Classification triggers a notice-and-hearing process, registration requirements, confinement standards, and, for a vicious dog, a requirement that the owner carry substantial liability coverage or a surety bond in the amount of $50,000.

The practical value of all this is documentary. If animal control has previously investigated this dog, issued a citation, or classified it, there is a file. That file is the cleanest possible proof of the owner’s knowledge, and it is obtainable under the Georgia Open Records Act. Requesting it early — before anyone has a reason to be careful — is standard practice in these cases.

Who can be held responsible besides the dog’s owner?

O.C.G.A. § 51-2-7 reaches a person who owns or keeps the animal. That second word matters, because it extends past the person whose name is on the rabies tag.

• The keeper or harborer. An adult child housing a parent’s dog, a boyfriend who lives at the residence, a friend watching the dog for a week — each may qualify as a keeper depending on the degree of care and control they exercised.
• Landlords, in limited circumstances. Georgia courts have permitted claims against a landlord where the evidence shows the landlord knew of the animal’s vicious propensity and retained a right of control over the premises. An out-of-possession landlord with no such knowledge is generally not liable, so this is a fact-intensive question rather than a routine addition.
• Kennels, groomers, sitters and dog walkers, who take custody and with it a duty of control.
• Property owners and hospitality operators. A hotel, short-term rental host, apartment complex or restaurant patio that permits dogs on the premises may face a separate premises liability claim under O.C.G.A. § 51-3-1, distinct from the dog statute, where the operator knew of a dangerous animal on site and did nothing.

The reason to identify every responsible party is not vindictiveness. It is coverage. Dog bite claims are almost always paid by homeowners or renters insurance rather than by an individual, and the size of that policy sets the practical ceiling on the case. Renters policies commonly carry $100,000 in liability coverage; homeowners policies more. Many carriers exclude specific breeds or exclude any dog with a documented bite history, which is exactly the situation in which a claim is most likely to be brought. Where a dog has been classified as vicious under the Responsible Dog Ownership Act, the statutory insurance or surety requirement may supply coverage the homeowner’s policy excludes.

Finding the policies is early work. So is determining whether the attack happened at a residence the owner rents, at a property they own, or somewhere else entirely — because the answer changes which insurer is on the risk.

Why are these cases different when a child is bitten?

Children are bitten at a rate wildly out of proportion to their share of the population, and they are bitten differently. An adult is usually bitten on a hand or forearm. A small child is at eye level with a standing dog, so the injuries are to the face, scalp and neck.

That changes the medicine and it changes the case. Facial lacerations in a young child are typically repaired in the emergency department and then revised — sometimes repeatedly, over years, as the child grows and the scar tissue does not grow with them. A plastic surgeon may recommend a staged plan that is not complete until adolescence or later. Valuing that claim at the two-month mark, when a settlement offer usually arrives, is close to impossible, and accepting one is irreversible.

The psychological injury is real and is compensable in Georgia. A child who has been attacked by a dog often develops a persistent fear response that reshapes ordinary life — walks, playgrounds, friends’ houses, family pets. Documented treatment matters here, both for the child and for the claim.

Two legal points are specific to minors. First, Georgia tolls the statute of limitations for a person who is a minor when injured, under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-90, so the child’s own claim generally remains available until two years after their eighteenth birthday. The parents’ separate claim for the child’s medical expenses is not tolled and runs on the ordinary two-year clock — a distinction that has cost families the ability to recover bills they already paid. Second, a settlement on behalf of a minor in Georgia generally requires court approval above a statutory threshold, and structuring it properly is not optional.

Expect the provocation defense. O.C.G.A. § 51-2-7 requires that the injured person not have provoked the injury by their own act, and where the injured person is four years old, the argument that they pulled a tail or startled the animal is one a defendant makes at real risk with a jury. Georgia law does not hold a small child to an adult’s standard of care, and jurors in Chatham County do not need to be told what a four-year-old is like.

Finally, a bite is a reportable event. Georgia requires rabies observation and quarantine protocols following an animal bite, and the report generated by animal control or the health department becomes evidence. Get it filed, and get a copy.

What can you recover after a Savannah dog attack?

A Georgia dog bite claim covers medical expenses already incurred and those reasonably expected in the future, including staged reconstructive procedures; lost wages and lost earning capacity; and non-economic damages for pain, suffering, disfigurement, and the psychological consequences of the attack. Scarring and disfigurement are compensable in their own right in Georgia, separate from the cost of treating them.

Georgia places no statutory cap on non-economic damages in an ordinary negligence case. The Supreme Court of Georgia struck the cap down in Atlanta Oculoplastic Surgery, P.C. v. Nestlehutt, 286 Ga. 731 (2010), holding it violated the constitutional right to trial by jury. Punitive damages are separate and are generally limited to $250,000 under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1, with exceptions for specific intent to cause harm and for defendants under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In a dog case, punitive exposure typically arises where an owner kept an animal they had already been told was dangerous.

Shared fault operates the way it does in every Georgia injury case. Under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33 your recovery is reduced by your percentage of responsibility, and a plaintiff found 50 percent or more at fault recovers nothing. In dog cases the fault argument usually arrives dressed as provocation, or as an assertion that you entered a yard you had no business entering.

On timing: two years from the date of injury under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33, tolled for a minor under § 9-3-90 until two years after the eighteenth birthday. Where the attack produced a criminal prosecution — a violation of the Responsible Dog Ownership Act can be charged criminally — O.C.G.A. § 9-3-99 may toll the civil deadline while that prosecution is pending, subject to a six-year outside limit.

And expect medical liens. Under O.C.G.A. § 44-14-470 a hospital or physician practice that treated the injury may assert a lien against the recovery. Where a serious facial injury is involved in this region, that is frequently Memorial Health University Medical Center, the Level I trauma center for southeast Georgia. Liens are negotiable and should be addressed before a settlement closes.

What should you do after a dog bite in Savannah?

The order matters more than people expect, because two of these steps become impossible within about a week.

1. Get medical care, and say it was a dog. Bite wounds are puncture injuries and they get infected at rates that surprise people. The chart entry is also the first contemporaneous record of what happened.
2. Report it. Call Chatham County Animal Services, or the Savannah Police Department if the attack is ongoing or the dog is still loose. A report triggers the rabies observation protocol, creates an official record, and often produces a citation for the ordinance violation that will later carry your propensity element.
3. Identify the dog and the owner. Get a name, an address, and a phone number, and ask for proof of current rabies vaccination. If you cannot identify the dog, the medical decision-making around rabies prophylaxis changes considerably.
4. Photograph everything, repeatedly. Wounds on day one, day three, day seven and after any repair. Bruising and swelling evolve, and a scar six months later tells a jury far less than the sequence does. Photograph the location too — the gate, the fence, the broken latch, the absent leash.
5. Keep the clothing. Torn and bloodied clothing is physical evidence of force and is routinely thrown away in the first week.
6. Get witness names. Neighbors frequently know this dog’s history and will say so freely in the first days, and much less freely after litigation starts.
7. Do not give a recorded statement, and do not sign anything. Homeowners insurers move fast on dog claims and often present a modest check with a full release attached. Once signed, it is over — including for the reconstructive surgery nobody has scheduled yet.

One more thing, and it is the hardest. In a large share of these cases the dog belongs to a neighbor, a friend or a relative, and people delay because they do not want to cause trouble for someone they know. It is worth understanding that the claim is against an insurance policy, not against a person’s savings, and that the delay costs the injured party far more than it spares anyone else.

Where would a Savannah dog bite case be filed?

Most Chatham County personal injury suits are filed in the State Court of Chatham County, which sits in the Eugene H. Gadsden Courthouse on West Oglethorpe Avenue in Savannah. That court holds concurrent civil jurisdiction with the Superior Court without regard to the amount in controversy, except where jurisdiction is vested exclusively in Superior Court, and personal injury cases are a core part of its civil docket. Either party may demand a jury.

Venue in Georgia generally follows the defendant’s county of residence under Article VI, Section II, Paragraph VI of the Georgia Constitution. Where joint tortfeasors reside in different counties, O.C.G.A. § 9-10-31 permits suit where any of them resides, and the plaintiff makes that election. In a dog case with an owner in one county, a landlord in another and a property management company somewhere else, that election is a genuine strategic decision.

Most of these claims never reach a courtroom. They resolve with a homeowners or renters carrier once liability under O.C.G.A. § 51-2-7 is documented and the medical picture is complete. Filing suit is the tool that gets used when a carrier disputes propensity, disputes the ordinance violation, or offers a number that does not account for the surgery still ahead.

How does Southern Injury Attorneys handle these cases?

The plain disclosure first: we do not have an office in Savannah. Our only Georgia office is in Atlanta, and Chatham County matters are handled from there and from our Memphis headquarters. Georgia matters are handled by an attorney licensed in Georgia.

What we do in the first two weeks of a dog bite case is unglamorous and decisive. We request the animal control file and any prior complaints or classifications on this dog under the Georgia Open Records Act. We pin down the exact address of the attack and confirm which leash ordinance governed it, because that single fact can convert a difficult knowledge case into a straightforward one under O.C.G.A. § 51-2-7. We identify every potentially responsible party and every policy behind them. And we tell you plainly not to settle a facial injury on a child before a plastic surgeon has told you what the next fifteen years look like.

The consultation is free and the representation is on a contingency fee: no fee unless there is a recovery, with case expenses advanced by the firm and accounted for at resolution. Call 901-300-5001 at any hour, or use the contact form on this site.

Frequently asked questions

Is Georgia a one bite state for dog attacks?

That shorthand is misleading. Georgia does not give every dog one free bite. O.C.G.A. § 51-2-7 requires proof that the animal was vicious or dangerous and that the owner knew or should have known it, and a prior bite is only one way to establish that. In Steagald v. Eason, 300 Ga. 717 (2017), the Supreme Court of Georgia held that prior snapping incidents that never broke skin could put an owner on notice of the dog’s propensity.

Does the Savannah leash law help my dog bite case?

Substantially. O.C.G.A. § 51-2-7 provides that in proving vicious propensity it is sufficient to show the animal was required to be at heel or on a leash by a city or county ordinance and was not at the time of the attack. Section 9-5022 of the City of Savannah Code makes it unlawful for a dog to have access to the city’s streets, lanes, roads or squares unless held firmly on a leash held by a person. Where that ordinance applied and was violated, you no longer have to prove what the owner knew about the dog.

What if the dog had never bitten anyone before?

A prior bite is not required. Under Steagald v. Eason a jury may find an owner was on notice from earlier behavior that stopped short of a bite, such as lunging or snapping at people. And if the dog was loose in violation of a local leash ordinance, O.C.G.A. § 51-2-7 supplies the propensity element regardless of the animal’s history.

Who actually pays a Georgia dog bite claim?

Almost always an insurance company rather than the owner personally. Homeowners and renters liability coverage is the usual source, and the policy limit sets the practical ceiling on the case. Many carriers exclude particular breeds or exclude any dog with a documented bite history. Where a dog has been classified as vicious under Georgia’s Responsible Dog Ownership Act, the owner is required to carry substantial liability coverage or a surety bond, which can supply coverage a homeowners policy excludes.

How long do I have to file a dog bite claim in Georgia?

Two years from the date of injury under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. If the injured person was a minor, O.C.G.A. § 9-3-90 tolls that period, so the child’s own claim generally survives until two years after their eighteenth birthday. The parents’ separate claim for the child’s medical expenses is not tolled and runs on the ordinary two-year clock.

What if the owner says my child provoked the dog?

Provocation is built into the statute — O.C.G.A. § 51-2-7 applies where the injured person did not provoke the injury by their own act — so expect the argument. It is a fact question for the jury, and Georgia law does not hold a young child to an adult’s standard of care. Photographs, witness accounts and the animal control report usually settle the question faster than argument does.

Do I have to report a dog bite in Savannah?

You should, and there are good reasons beyond the legal ones. A report to Chatham County Animal Services or the Savannah Police Department triggers rabies observation protocols, creates an official record of the attack, and frequently produces a citation for the ordinance violation that later carries the propensity element of your claim. That file is also obtainable under the Georgia Open Records Act.

What is the difference between a dangerous dog and a vicious dog under Georgia law?

Georgia’s Responsible Dog Ownership Act, O.C.G.A. § 4-8-20 et seq., enacted as House Bill 685 in 2012, distinguishes the two. A dangerous dog is generally one that causes a substantial puncture of a person’s skin without inflicting serious injury, among other definitions. A vicious dog is one that inflicts serious injury on a person. Classification follows a notice-and-hearing process and carries registration, confinement and insurance obligations, and a classification in this dog’s file is powerful evidence of the owner’s knowledge.

Does it cost anything up front to have a Savannah dog bite case reviewed?

No. Southern Injury Attorneys handles dog bite claims on a contingency fee, meaning no fee unless there is a recovery, and the consultation is free. Case expenses are advanced by the firm and accounted for at resolution.

Do you have an office in Savannah?

No. Southern Injury Attorneys does not maintain an office in Savannah. Our only Georgia office is in Atlanta, and Chatham County matters are handled from there and from our Memphis headquarters. Georgia matters are handled by an attorney licensed in Georgia: Larry “Jimmy” Peters, Georgia Bar No. 936535.

This page is legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Statutes 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 Savannah; our only Georgia office is in Atlanta, and Chatham County matters are handled from there and from our Memphis headquarters.