Dog Bite Lawsuit Complexities

Dog bites can cause not just physical harm but also lasting emotional wounds. If you’re considering filing a legal claim after being injured by an aggressive animal, you should know that the laws surrounding dog bites in Virginia are complex, and recovering compensation isn’t always simple. This post will unpack the basics of Virginia’s dog bite laws and highlight some of the key challenges victims face when taking legal action.

Understanding the Basics of Dog Bite Laws in Virginia

If you’ve been involved in a dog bite incident, your loved ones may be urging you to file a lawsuit. However, before you do so, it’s essential to understand a little about dog bite laws in Virginia.

The laws governing dog bite cases vary by state, but tend to fall into one of the following two categories:

• Strict Liability: Owners are liable for bites even if their dog wasn’t previously aggressive
• “One-Bite” Rule: Owners are only liable if they had reason to believe their dog was aggressive

In either case, dog owners generally aren’t liable for bites that happened when the victim was trespassing or otherwise breaking the law.

Virginia is a “one-bite” rule state. If an owner has no reason to believe their dog might be aggressive and the animal bites you, the owner likely won’t be held liable. However, once the dog has bitten someone or otherwise acted aggressively, the owner may be held responsible for future bites.

There’s an important caveat here: Even if a dog owner had no reason to believe their animal would bite, they may still be held liable if they were negligent.

For example, there are leash laws in effect in many parts of Virginia, and they require dog owners to keep their pets leashed while in public. If a dog is roaming loose and bites you, your attorney may argue that its owners were negligent because they failed to obey the leash law.

What Are the Complexities of Dog Bite Cases?

Dog bite cases aren’t necessarily “easy” to win, particularly in Virginia. From proving the dog’s aggressive behavior to accurately calculating losses, here are some of the hurdles victims may encounter.

Challenge #1: Proving the Dog’s History of Aggression

Dog bite lawsuits often rise or fall on whether the owner knew or should have known the dog was dangerous. If a dog has previously bitten someone, that knowledge may be relatively simple to establish through medical records, police reports, or animal control documentation. When there is no prior bite, however, proving fault becomes far more challenging. Victims must rely on indirect evidence and piece together patterns of behavior rather than pointing to a single, clear incident.

Evidence used in cases without a prior bite may include:

• Witness statements describing growling, lunging, snapping, or chasing behavior
• Evidence that the dog previously attacked or attempted to attack other animals
• Complaints made to police or animal control about aggressive behavior
• Photo or video evidence showing threatening or uncontrolled conduct

In many of these cases, the focus is on whether the owner failed to act reasonably despite warning signs. Allowing a dog with known aggressive tendencies to roam unrestrained or ignoring leash laws can help show that the owner should have anticipated the risk and taken steps to prevent the attack.

Challenge #2: Availability of Insurance Coverage

In dog bite cases, insurance coverage often plays a decisive role in whether a claim can realistically move forward. In most situations, compensation does not come directly from the dog’s owner. Instead, it comes from the dog owner’s insurance company under either a homeowners’ or renters’ insurance policy.

Most dog bite lawsuits begin as insurance claims. If coverage exists, then a claim might face challenges surrounding policy limits and exclusions, Some policies exclude certain breeds, deny coverage after prior incidents, or cap payouts well below the value of a serious injury claim.

When a dog owner has no applicable insurance and lacks meaningful personal assets, pursuing a dog bite lawsuit may offer little practical recovery, even if liability is clear. The same issue can arise when a victim is bitten by a loose dog, and the owner cannot be identified. Without a responsible party and an insurance policy to respond, a claim may stall before it ever reaches court.

Challenge #3: Contributory Negligence

In many states, dog bite claims are governed by comparative negligence rules, where an injured person’s compensation may be reduced if they share some responsibility for what happened. Virginia does not follow this approach.

Virginia is one of the few states that still applies a strict contributory negligence standard. Under this rule, a dog bite victim may be completely barred from recovering compensation if they are found to have contributed to the incident in any way, even minimally.

As a result, there is effectively no such thing as a shared-fault dog bite claim in Virginia. If the dog’s owner can show that you trespassed, ignored warnings, or provoked the dog, they may argue that you are not entitled to any compensation at all, even if you’ve suffered severe injuries.

Challenge #4: Assessing the Full Impact

If you have suffered serious dog bite injuries, the initial medical bills are often only the beginning. Dog attacks can cause long-term complications that affect daily life, future medical needs, and the overall value of a claim.

Even when early medical treatment costs are relatively low, complications such as infection, nerve damage, or loss of function can lead to permanent impairments and significant future expenses. In cases involving scarring or disfigurement, multiple surgeries, rehabilitation, and ongoing care may be required. Dog bite victims may also suffer from lasting post-traumatic stress disorder and other forms of emotional distress. Accurately accounting for these long-term effects is often difficult early in the recovery process.

This creates a challenge in dog bite cases, as claims must be valued and pursued before the full extent of the injury is always clear. Underestimating future medical needs, lost wages and earning capacity, or the lasting impact on quality of life can result in compensation that falls short of what the injury ultimately requires.

Get Help From a Firm That Understands the Challenges of Dog Bite Lawsuits — and Knows How to Tackle Them

Dog bite lawsuits in Virginia involve many nuances that most injured victims do not anticipate. From proving a dog’s aggressive history to navigating strict contributory negligence rules and insurance coverage gaps, each of these factors can significantly affect the strength and value of a case.

Huffman & Huffman Brothers‑in‑Law has been serving Virginians since 1973. Our experienced dog bite attorneys in Newport News and Virginia Beach understand the challenges associated with these cases and help give victims the best chance of recovering fair compensation for their medical expenses and other losses. If you’ve suffered from a dog bite, reach out to us today for a free consultation.