Bitten on an Evening Walk: Your Rights After a Dog Attack

October 6, 2026

Let’s say Maria walks the same loop through her Chesapeake neighborhood almost every evening. Same sidewalk, same houses, same dog barking behind the same wooden fence two streets over.

One evening, the gate on that fence isn’t latched.

The dog, a big mixed breed she’s seen lunge at that fence more times than she can count, comes through the gap and straight at her. She turns to step away. It bites her calf and holds on for a few seconds. While struggling, she falls and is bitten on the hip before the owner runs out and pulls it off.

The owner is apologetic. “He’s never bitten anyone,” he says. “He’s all bark.” When she asks whether the dog’s rabies shots are current, he hesitates. The dog’s vaccination lapsed last year. He’s been meaning to get it updated.

Maria drives herself to urgent care. The wounds needs stitches and a round of antibiotics. The bite is reported by the hospital, but when animal control tries to follow up, they can’t reach the dog owner or locate the dog for the required 10-day observation period.

With the dog unavailable and its rabies vaccination out of date, Maria is advised to begin rabies treatment. It begins with injections of immune globulin directly into and around the fresh bite wound. It’s every bit as painful as it sounds. That’s followed by a series of rabies vaccine shots over the next two weeks. Over those two weeks she misses four shifts at work, goes back again and again for shots and wound checks.

Then the bills start coming in. Urgent care. The rabies treatment, which costs far more than she expected. The follow-up visits. Her next paycheck is short four shifts. She begins to wonder if she should ask the dog owner to pay her bills.

If you’ve been in Maria’s shoes, here’s what you need to know.

Dog Bites Are More Common Than You Think

Maria’s situation isn’t unusual.

According to the Insurance Information Institute’s dog bite liability report, roughly 4.5 million people in the U.S. are bitten by dogs every year. The American Veterinary Medical Association reports that hundreds of thousands of those bite victims seek medical care each year, and that about half of all dog bite victims are children.

The costs are climbing too. The Insurance Information Institute and State Farm report that U.S. homeowners insurers paid about $1.86 billion on 28,450 dog-related injury claims in 2025. That’s a 25.6% jump in the number of claims from the year before. The average claim was $65,450, nearly double what it was in 2016.

How Virginia Dog Bite Law Works

This is where Virginia is different from a lot of states.

Many states have a “strict liability” dog bite statute, meaning the owner is automatically responsible for a bite, period. Virginia does not have a general statute like that. Instead, a dog bite claim in Virginia usually rests on one or more of these grounds:

1. The owner knew the dog had dangerous tendencies. A prior bite can be important evidence, but it isn’t the only way to show an owner was on notice. Prior growling, snapping, lunging, attacks, or other aggressive behavior may also matter.

2. The owner was negligent. An owner may also be liable for failing to use reasonable care, such as allowing a dog to escape through an unsecured gate or failing to control the dog when circumstances called for it.

3. The owner violated a leash or running-at-large ordinance. Virginia allows localities to regulate dogs running at large and to impose leash requirements. When an ordinance intended to protect the public is violated and that violation leads to an injury, it can be important evidence in a civil claim.

In Maria’s case, the unlatched gate and the dog’s history of lunging at passersby are exactly the kinds of facts that matter.

Who Pays for a Dog Bite in Virginia?

Here’s what most people don’t realize. In many cases, the dog owner’s homeowners or renters insurance may cover the claim. According to the Insurance Information Institute, these policies typically cover dog bite liability up to the policy limits, usually somewhere between $100,000 and $300,000.

That means a claim isn’t usually about taking money out of your neighbor’s pocket. It’s about the insurance coverage they already pay for.

What compensation can you recover?

Depending on the facts, a Virginia dog bite claim can include:

Medical bills, past and future (ER, urgent care, stitches, antibiotics, rabies shots, follow-up visits)
Scar revision or plastic surgery
Lost wages and lost earning capacity
Pain and suffering
Emotional distress, including extreme anxiety or fear of dogs after an attack
Permanent scarring or disfigurement (especially serious for children)
Wrongful death, in the rare cases where an attack is fatal

There’s no average settlement amount for a dog bite. It depends on the severity of your injuries, the medical treatment you need, whether you have permanent scarring or other lasting effects, how the attack has affected your daily life, and the amount of insurance coverage available.

Protecting Yourself After a Dog Bite

If you’ve been bitten, these steps can protect both your health and your claim.

Get medical care. See a doctor as soon as possible. Dog bites can lead to infection, and a doctor can also determine whether you need treatment for possible rabies exposure.
Report the bite. Contact your local animal control. That creates an official record.
Document everything. Photograph the wound on the day it happens and as it heals.
Consult with a lawyer. A free consultation can help you understand your options. It’s worth having that conversation before you speak with an insurance company or accept money from the dog’s owner.

Talk to a Virginia Dog Bite Lawyer

For decades, the Law Offices of Richard J. Serpe, PC has helped dog attack victims across Virginia. We’ve seen just about every kind of dog bite case: a loose dog in the neighborhood, a family pet at a friend’s house, a dog that attacked a delivery driver at the door.

Attorneys Richard Serpe and Ashley Strandjord have recovered settlements for victims in cases ranging from neighborhood attacks to children with serious facial injuries. You can see some of our Virginia dog bite settlements here.