Helping Families After a Child Is Bitten by a Dog

Child Dog Bite Lawyer in Metro Atlanta: Free Case Review

A child dog bite claim asks the person responsible for a dog to pay for the harm the bite caused. If your child was bitten, a child dog bite lawyer can explain your options in a free, confidential first consultation. Slam Dunk Attorney represents people hurt by dogs across metro Atlanta and Georgia. This page explains how Georgia law applies when the injured person is a child.

What a Child Dog Bite Claim Is and Who It Is For

A child dog bite claim is a personal injury claim against the dog’s owner or another person responsible for the dog. It can follow a bite, a scratch, a knockdown, or a full attack.

This page is for families whose child was hurt by a dog at:

• Home
• A neighbor’s or friend’s house
• A park, yard, or other public place

Bites to a child’s face and head can leave visible scars. That is one reason these claims depend on careful medical records from the start. Parents, guardians, and adult family members can all reach out to talk through what happened.

What a Child’s Dog Bite Claim Can Cover

A child’s claim can seek money for medical bills, scarring, and the pain and fear a bite causes. The claim covers the harm the bite actually caused, so the details matter.

Common categories include:

• Medical costs: emergency care, stitches, wound care, infection treatment, follow-up visits, and reconstructive or plastic surgery when needed.
• Scarring and disfigurement: including facial injuries that affect how a child looks and feels.
• Pain and emotional distress: such as fear of dogs, nightmares, and anxiety.
• Ongoing care: such as physical therapy or counseling, when a doctor recommends it.

Georgia limits medical damages to the reasonable value of medically necessary care. That is why itemized bills and treatment notes matter. Georgia also separates general and special damages. Special damages, such as bills, must be proved.

The value of any claim depends on the facts of the bite and the child’s records. No amount can be predicted before a case review.

How Georgia’s Dog Bite Statute Applies When a Child Is Hurt

Georgia’s dog bite statute can make an owner or keeper liable when a vicious or dangerous animal injures someone. Under O.C.G.A. § 51-2-7, a person who owns or keeps a vicious or dangerous animal of any kind 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 to the person so injured. It describes two main routes:

• Careless management: the owner kept the dog in a way that led to the injury, or let the animal go at liberty.
• The leash rule: if a city, county, or consolidated government ordinance required the dog to be at heel or on a leash, and it was not, that can be enough to show a vicious propensity (a known tendency to be dangerous).

The statute protects a person who does not provoke the injury by his own act. So what happened right before the bite is a key fact. Records such as earlier complaints, animal control reports, and witness names can help show how the dog was kept.

Deadlines, Who Brings the Claim, and Why Timing Matters

Georgia generally requires injury claims to be brought within two years after the right of action accrues.

For a child, Georgia’s minor filing rule gives extra time after the child turns 18. That rule has exceptions. Families should not count on extra time without a review of the facts, because evidence gets harder to gather as time passes.

Useful evidence includes:

• Photos of wounds and healing
• Medical records, bills, and prescriptions
• Animal control reports and vaccination records
• Names of witnesses
• Texts and messages with the dog’s owner

That record can be useful to request early.

What to Expect: The Process From First Call to Case Handling

The process starts with a free, confidential first consultation. You decide whether to move forward after that meeting.

1. Contact us. Call or use the request form to schedule a free case review.
2. Review the facts. At the first consultation, we review the bite, your child’s injuries and treatment, the dog’s history, and the owner’s details. The consultation carries no obligation to continue.
3. Investigate. If you choose to go ahead, our team gathers medical and animal control records and identifies the responsible parties and their insurers.
4. Handle insurers. We handle communication and negotiations with insurance companies and keep you updated at each stage.
5. Consider court. If a settlement cannot be reached, the case may move to a lawsuit in court.

Timelines vary with your child’s medical course, the insurer’s response, and whether a lawsuit is needed. We cannot give a fixed timeline before we review the case.

Why Families Contact Slam Dunk Attorney

Slam Dunk Attorney is a personal injury firm based in Duluth, Georgia. The firm represents people hurt in dog bites, car, truck, and motorcycle accidents, rideshare incidents, premises injuries, nursing home abuse, and wrongful death across metro Atlanta and Georgia.

Our lawyers include Peter F. Jaraysi, the responsible lawyer for this page, and Brian D. Wright. Our team focuses on clear communication, a personal review of each set of facts, and attention to a child’s medical and emotional needs. We handle these matters in Georgia.

For more background, read our Georgia dog bite guide.

Common Questions Parents Ask About Child Dog Bite Claims

Talk With a Lawyer About Your Child’s Bite Now

If your child was bitten and medical bills are already arriving, you don’t have to sort it out alone. Our lawyers can review the bite, the injuries, and the dog’s history during a free, confidential case review. There is no obligation to continue. Request a free consultation to get started.

Peter F. Jaraysi is the responsible lawyer for this page. Slam Dunk Attorney is based in Duluth, Georgia.