Save Proof That Supports Your Bite Claim
A Dallas dog bite lawyer should investigate the animal’s owner, handler, history and access to the injured person. A prior bite is not the only route to a Texas claim. Genthe develops the attack facts together with treatment, scarring and the continuing effects.
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Recent Recoveries
- $2,000,000Car crash — litigation settlement
- $1,750,000Slip & fall — litigation settlement
- $1,000,00018-wheeler — litigation settlement
- $850,000Tractor-trailer — litigation settlement
- $650,000Commercial collision — litigation settlement
- $650,000Trucking accident — litigation settlement
- $550,000On-the-job injury — litigation settlement
Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case. Every case is decided on its own facts.
Client Reviews
What our clients say about us
Selected reviews reproduced as written and attributed to their authors. Individual experiences and prior results do not guarantee an outcome.
Rated five out of five stars
“They work really hard for you and know what they’re doing. They are thorough. I worked with different team members at different stages of my case and each one was kind but honest with the progress and possible outcomes. I feel like they undersold what they can do.”
Phoebe Sembel
Rated five out of five stars
“He knew what therapy and doctors I needed. Along my recovery, Aaron would call and ask how I was doing and not only that, cared about my physical pain and agony with upbeat information and treated me like an individual, not just a case.”
Adrianne Miller
Rated five out of five stars
“Mr. Genthe is an honest and caring attorney who truly helped me through this traumatic experience. He was with me every step of the way and was very informative on the process.”
Margaret Mijarez
Your Attorney
The lawyer who works your case
Meet Aaron Genthe, founder of Genthe Law Firm, who represents injured people in Dallas and throughout Texas.
Founder · Trial Attorney
Aaron Genthe
A Texas A&M graduate who went into personal injury straight out of law school, Aaron spent years as a litigator at one of the larger firms in Dallas — long enough to build a reputation as an aggressive and effective attorney, and long enough to watch how easily a client becomes a file number at a firm that size.
He started Genthe Law Firm so that the person you speak to about your injury is the person who tries it. On a dog bite that matters early: the case is won by somebody going out and finding what the dog did before, and the investigation needs more than a phone account.
- Practicing since
- 2015
- Education
- Texas A&M graduate
- Fee
- Contingency — nothing unless you recover
Representation built around your case
Get Lawyers Who Fight for Bite Victims
A Dallas dog bite lawyer should examine handling, restraint and known behavior while documenting the treatment and continuing effects of the attack.
01 · Individual case strategy
Your Bite Injuries Get an Individual Strategy
A label about the dog does not answer every responsibility question.
We review the owner or handler’s conduct, scene evidence and available animal-control records alongside your injuries. That work informs our assessment of an offer. We do not treat the first account of the dog’s behavior or the initial medical bill as the entire case.
02 · Attorney-led representation
Get Personal Attention From Your Injury Lawyer
You deserve to know which details support the claim.
Your lawyer evaluates the attack account, possible responsibility and insurer requests, explaining the next decisions. Paralegals assist with records and communication while the attorney directs the legal strategy. Questions about prior behavior, a gate or a leash remain part of a lawyer-led review.
Meet the Genthe team
03 · Trial-ready advocacy
We Prepare for Trial Against Low Offers
The conduct and the injury must both be presented clearly.
Genthe develops the witness, scene and treatment evidence into a supported case theory. Our willingness to litigate when appropriate helps us negotiate for recovery tied to the actual attack and documented losses rather than accept an insurer’s simplified version of the event.
We examine how the dog reached the injured person, the keeper’s conduct and the evolving injury record. The initial review has no cost or obligation, and written fee terms precede representation.
Where It Starts
The one-bite rule is half of the law
Almost everybody who calls about a dog bite has already read that Texas gives every dog one free bite, and has half decided not to bother. It is a true description of one claim and a false description of Texas law.
Texas has no dog bite statute. What it has is two claims that can be brought over the same attack, and they ask completely different questions.
The first is strict liability, and it is the one everybody has heard of: prove the owner knew the dog was dangerous and you win without arguing about carelessness at all. That is the claim the “one bite” is about, and it is the harder of the two to prove.
The second is ordinary negligence, and it needs no history whatsoever. Did the owner take reasonable care to keep the dog under control? A gate that did not latch, a chain that had been fraying for months, a front door opened onto a delivery driver, a lead handed to a child — none of those requires the dog to have done anything before, and every one of them is a case.
The owners told the insurer the dog had never done this. The neighbors told our investigator it had bitten other children. Nobody had asked them, and the claim had been denied for months.
Aaron Genthe · Founder
- 01
We go looking for the first bite
The owner’s account of whether the dog had done this before is not the only account. Animal services, the neighbors and the dog’s own vet each keep one, and collecting them is the job.
- 02
We plead negligence as well as knowledge
A claim resting only on prior viciousness rises and falls on what an owner admits. A claim that also pleads how the dog was kept — the gate, the chain, the door left open — does not.
- 03
We answer “he should not have been there”
The standard denial on a child’s claim. In our own case it took an investigator, aerial photographs and the neighbors to prove the child had been invited, and the insurer had denied it flat.
The Test
Texas Dog Bite Liability: Five Legal Routes
They are not alternatives you have to choose between. Read the second one against your own attack — it is the one almost nobody arrives here knowing about.
Strict liability — the “one bite” route
Marshall v. Ranne, 511 S.W.2d 255 (Tex. 1974), adopted the strict-liability rule for a possessor who has reason to know a domestic animal has dangerous propensities abnormal to its class. A prior bite is not the only possible evidence. The relevant propensity must cause the harm, and defenses require separate analysis.
Negligence — and it needs no prior bite at all
The claim most people have never heard of, and usually the stronger of the two. It asks whether the owner or handler took reasonable care to keep the dog under control, and whether the failure caused the injury.
Negligence per se — the restraint rule
Dallas Chapter 7 restraint rules address confinement and accompanied tethering. Whether an ordinance supports negligence per se, and whether a violation caused the injury, require legal analysis. A loose dog alone does not resolve every element.
The dangerous dog statute — Chapter 822
Health and Safety Code §822.042 imposes registration, restraint and financial-responsibility requirements within 30 days after an owner learns the dog is dangerous under the statute. It includes at least $100,000 in liability insurance or demonstrated financial responsibility. The regulatory determination and a civil damages claim are separate processes.
Whoever actually had the dog that day
The defendant is not always the person on the license. Liability reaches the keeper or harborer — the boyfriend minding it, the sitter, the kennel, the relative it lives with — because the duty attaches to control of the animal rather than to ownership of it.
What to do after a bite
Get care and report the attack
Seek appropriate medical care and follow the clinician’s and local rabies authority’s treatment and observation directions. Save the animal-control reference, vaccination information supplied to you and treatment records. A legal website cannot decide rabies treatment. Do not try to confine an unfamiliar dog or return to confront it.
Identify the people, animal and setting
Keep descriptions, known owner or keeper details, handler identity, place and witnesses. Distinguish the leash holder from the person who owns or controls the animal. Mark uncertain identifications. A yard, apartment shared area or public walkway can raise different property and control questions.
Keep safe scene and history evidence
Save photographs of the gate, leash, doorway, barrier or access point, including why you were there. Record prior reports, complaints and observations with dates and sources; breed alone does not establish owner knowledge. Ask what each witness actually saw rather than assuming they knew the dog’s history.
Document continuing effects and coverage
Bring existing injury photographs, dated notes, follow-up care, scarring, work or school changes and reasonable care costs. Future effects require medical support rather than a predicted recovery date. Keep the owner’s or insurer’s response: insured status, animal exclusions and policy terms can affect a homeowner’s or renter’s claim. Do not promise a friend it is only a form or call.
Reporting and preserving the first-week evidence
Report to Dallas Animal Services or the local animal-control service and keep the case number. Texas DSHS describes ten-day observation for biting dogs, cats and domestic ferrets, counted from exposure, under the local rabies authority. That observation period is separate from a legal claim deadline.
Seek prompt medical care. A clinician assesses wound cleaning, antibiotics, closure and tetanus protection. The clinician and local health authority assess rabies risk and treatment needs; CDC guidance explains the clinical considerations.
Keep the owner’s address and phone number and safe dog photographs. Save wound images without delaying care, then dated healing and scarring photographs, plus gates, fences, chains, the yard and torn clothing. Before giving an adjuster a recorded statement or signing a broad medical authorization, understand its scope and ask about legal review. Prompt investigation helps preserve witness memories and the original enclosure before repairs.
Questions for your consultation
Ask which owner, handler or property facts need checking and what insurance can be reviewed. A child’s and parents’ claims should be assessed separately and promptly. You may inquire before the owner or insurer responds. Bring what you have rather than investigating the dog yourself.
Texas Law
The six rules that decide a dog bite claim
Even where the owner was plainly careless, these six shape what you recover. The first catches families out more than any other rule on this site.
Two years generally; minors need a separate calculation
CPRC §16.003 generally sets two years for personal injury, and §16.001 may pause a child’s limitations during minority. Parent claims and other exceptions may follow different rules. Ask promptly about each deadline and evidence preservation rather than assuming every claim lasts until age 20.
State restraint rules and local ordinances both matter
There is no single statewide leash-at-all-times rule, but state law does regulate dangerous dogs and outdoor unattended restraint under Chapters 822 and 821. Dallas has its own confinement and tethering requirements. Check the law for the actual location and date rather than relying on the old three-hours-in-24-hours statement.
Texas will not let a city regulate by breed
Section 822.047 permits a county or municipality to place stricter requirements on dangerous dogs, but expressly forbids requirements aimed at one breed or several breeds.
Provocation, entry and the injured person’s conduct
Keep the exact interaction, the invitation or permission to enter, witnesses and the child’s age. The claim theory affects available defenses and responsibility rules. Do not assume that every touch is provocation, that a child can never provoke an animal, or that a disputed entry automatically defeats the claim.
Your share of the blame comes off the top
Texas applies modified comparative fault. Any percentage of responsibility assigned to you reduces the recovery by that much, and over 50% you take nothing.
The criminal case is not your case
A prosecution under section 822.005, a dangerous-dog determination, an order that the dog be destroyed — none of these compensates you, and none of them has to finish before your claim can be brought.
Case Value
What your claim can actually include
“What is it worth?” is the first question on nearly every call, and no honest answer comes before a surgeon has said what is still ahead.
Economic losses
The half proved with paper. Keep the emergency department paperwork, every prescription and every receipt, including the ones that feel too small to matter.
Medical treatment
Emergency care, the wound course, rabies prophylaxis, surgery, and the reconstruction still ahead — not only the bills already printed.
Future and revision surgery
On a child’s facial scar this is a plan running to adulthood, costed by the surgeon rather than estimated by an adjuster.
Lost income
Wages, shifts and self-employed work missed, counted on what was actually earned rather than on a base rate.
Lost earning capacity
Where a hand, a nerve or a tendon ends the work you did, this is the largest figure in the case.
A parent’s own losses
The time taken off to sit with a child through treatment, the travel, and the care nobody was paying for before.
Non-economic losses
The half no invoice arrives for, and the half a first offer leaves out. On a dog bite it is usually the larger of the two, which is unusual and is worth knowing before anybody signs anything.
Disfigurement
Valued in its own right, over a lifetime, and separately from the surgery that caused or repaired it.
Pain and suffering
The attack, and the treatment it took to put right — which on an open wound course is weeks of it.
Mental anguish
Nightmares, avoidance and the fear of dogs that follows a child into adulthood. The commonest lasting injury here.
Physical impairment
Grip, sensation, fine movement, and whatever the hand will not do again.
Loss of consortium
A claim belonging to a parent or spouse for what a serious injury took out of the relationship.
The Process
What happens when you call us
- 01
Free case review
You call or message. We ask what bit you, whose it was, where you were standing and what you have already been asked to sign.
- 02
We find the dog’s history
The animal services file, the 311 log, the previous complaints and the neighbors — which is what turns “he has never done this” into a document that says otherwise.
- 03
We find the policies
Homeowner’s, renter’s, umbrella, and the landlord or business behind them. Exclusions get read properly rather than accepted as an adjuster describes them.
- 04
We value it and we negotiate
Future and revision surgery costed by the surgeon, disfigurement valued in its own right, and suit filed if the numbers will not move.
- 05
You get paid
We go through the settlement line by line, including what a health insurer or hospital lien is owed and what we got that reduced. Nobody leaves here wondering what just happened.
Across North Texas
Dog bite cases across Dallas–Fort Worth
Every city keeps its own animal-control file, and that file is often the first piece of evidence we request.
We handle dog bite and animal attack cases across Dallas, Collin, Denton and Tarrant counties. Dallas Animal Services, Fort Worth Animal Care and Control, and the animal services departments in Plano, Garland, Arlington and other cities each keep their own bite reports and dangerous-dog records.
A dog bite case can usually be filed in the county where the attack happened. Our office is on Coit Road in North Dallas, and we meet clients wherever is easiest for them.
Dog bite FAQs
Texas is a “one-bite state”. Does that mean I have no claim?
No. A prior bite is not the only route to liability. Review what the owner knew about dangerous behavior, negligent handling or restraint, and the circumstances of the attack. The one-bite discussion and legal routes explain the distinct theories; an owner’s assurance that it never happened before does not settle the evidence.
My child was bitten. How long do we have?
Minority may pause a child’s limitations under CPRC §16.001, while §16.003 generally provides a two-year injury period. Parent claims and exceptions require separate review. Contact counsel promptly to preserve evidence and calculate all claims rather than relying on age 20 as a universal deadline.
It was a friend’s dog. Do I have to sue my friend?
A claim is against the legally responsible person, and applicable homeowner’s or renter’s insurance may provide a defense or payment. Dog-related exclusions, limits and other terms must be checked. Insurance is not automatically available, and a friend’s participation may involve more than a form or phone call.
Should I report the bite if I do not want the dog put down?
Report the bite to the local rabies control authority and seek prompt medical care. Texas DSHS explains the ten-day observation process for dogs, cats and domestic ferrets. The authority decides the animal’s required handling, and your clinician decides treatment. Do not start or stop rabies treatment based on this page. Reporting does not by itself establish a civil claim or require euthanasia in every case.
Do you handle dog bite cases outside Dallas?
Yes. We are based in North Dallas and handle dog bite cases across Dallas, Collin, Denton and Tarrant counties, including Plano, Frisco, Richardson, Garland, Irving, Arlington and Fort Worth, and elsewhere in Texas when we can help.
Does reporting a bite decide whether I need rabies treatment?
No. A clinician and the local rabies authority assess exposure and treatment. DSHS advises prompt medical attention and reporting; do not start or stop treatment based on a legal claim discussion.
How do I report an animal bite that happened inside Dallas?
Dallas Animal Services directs bitten or scratched people to report through 311 or its mobile-app route. Seek appropriate medical care and keep the service reference; the animal-services report and civil injury review have different purposes.
What if I know the dog’s appearance but not the owner’s name?
Preserve the location, description, photographs already available and witness contacts. Do not approach or capture the animal yourself; identifying ownership and handling may require appropriate animal-services investigation.
Which leash or enclosure details should I record?
Describe the gate, restraint, handler and where the animal came from, distinguishing observations from assumptions. Photographs of an empty fence later may not establish whether a gate was open at the incident time.
Does a Dallas animal-services finding guarantee compensation?
No. Regulatory findings may inform the evidence review, but civil responsibility, causation, injury and available coverage require their own analysis. Keep the actual finding rather than a secondhand description of it.
What should I preserve if the dog belongs to a tenant?
Identify the handler, resident, property and any relevant communications you lawfully have. Ownership, landlord status and knowledge are different questions; the address alone does not make every connected person liable.
How can witnesses help establish prior behavior?
Ask for contact details and preserve descriptions of events they personally observed, with approximate dates. A general reputation or neighborhood rumor should not be presented as a documented prior incident.
Should I photograph injuries as they heal?
Dated images can document visible changes, alongside clinical records. Keep originals and identify the date; photographs cannot diagnose infection or replace prompt professional assessment of worsening symptoms.
What if the attack knocked me down without a bite?
Describe the animal’s movement, contact, fall and resulting injury. Do not force the event into a bite-only account; the actual mechanism and applicable legal theory need review.
How should a parent document a child’s fear after an animal attack?
Record specific observed changes and relevant professional care without assigning a diagnosis yourself. Keep the child’s spontaneous words and avoid repeated questioning designed to produce a stronger account.
Why bring the owner’s insurance response to Genthe?
It may identify an asserted exclusion, coverage limit or factual dispute. The complete policy and circumstances may be needed; a brief phone denial should not be treated as a final answer to every possible recovery route.