Written and reviewed by Josh Kohanim, Esq., California Bar No. 328609 · Reviewed
In this guide
After a bite in Los Angeles County, the questions are which bites are reportable, which agency takes the report, what the quarantine involves, how a dangerous dog hearing works, and why the paperwork matters to a claim. Liability is covered in our guide to California dog bite law.
Two reports with two purposes
The first track is public health. Its question is narrow: could this animal have transmitted rabies. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health's Veterinary Public Health Program collects animal bite reports, and the program states that the current location of the biting animal is one of the most important parts of the report, because rabies risk is assessed by observing that animal. The program can be reached at 313 N Figueroa Street, Room 1127, Los Angeles, CA 90012, and at (213) 288-7060.
The second track is animal control. Its question is different: is this dog a danger to the neighborhood. Public Health draws the line in plain language on its own page: a report of a bite from an animal does not mean that the animal is deemed dangerous, and residents who believe an animal to be dangerous must file a separate report with their local animal control agency. That sentence is the reason so many families think they reported a dangerous dog and find out later that no one investigated one.
Which bites have to be reported
The rule is broader than most people expect, and is written by species rather than severity. Veterinary Public Health lists these categories:
- All mammal bites to people, except bites from small rodents such as rats, mice, and gophers, and bites from rabbits.
- Bites from non-mammals are not reportable. Reptiles and birds are outside the system.
- All wild mammal bites to domestic mammals, such as a raccoon biting a dog. Bites to pets from wild small rodents, rabbits, birds, and reptiles are not reportable.
- All close encounters with bats, which the program treats separately because bat bites are tiny, heal quickly, and can be too small to find later. Bats are the primary reservoir for rabies in Los Angeles County.
Anyone with knowledge of a bite may report it, and the program says most reports come from animal control agencies, physicians, and veterinarians. You do not need the owner's cooperation. Reports go through the county's bite reporting portal or the downloadable forms on the program's site, and a scratch caused by an animal's teeth is treated the same way as a bite.
Who takes the report where you live
Los Angeles County has no single animal control agency, and the number you call depends on your address. The County Department of Animal Care and Control serves all unincorporated areas, which cover more than 2,600 square miles and 120 unincorporated communities, plus 43 of the 88 incorporated cities in the county and the City of Thousand Oaks in Ventura County. The City of Los Angeles runs its own department.
| Where the bite happened | Agency | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| City of Los Angeles | Los Angeles Animal Services | (888) 452-7381, or your nearest city shelter |
| Unincorporated county and 43 contract cities | LA County Animal Care and Control | Online service request, or your nearest county care center |
| Pasadena | Pasadena Humane Society | 626-792-7151 |
| Long Beach | Long Beach Animal Control | 562-570-7387 |
| Anywhere in the county, for the rabies report | Public Health, Veterinary Public Health | (213) 288-7060 |
Vernon handles its own reports through the city Health Department at 323-583-8811. If you are unsure which agency covers your address, call Veterinary Public Health first: the bite report is required either way, and the program works with animal control agencies when needed. Veterinary Public Health is not an animal control agency and does not impound animals.
The dog's 10 day quarantine
Los Angeles County and the State of California require an animal of a species subject to rabies that has bitten a person, or scratched with its teeth, to be reported to the Department of Public Health and quarantined, usually for ten days, even if the animal is vaccinated against rabies. Quarantine periods for dogs and cats are a minimum of 10 days. Biting livestock are quarantined for 30 days.
Where that happens varies. The county says the vast majority of quarantines are performed in the biting animal's home, and that depending on the circumstances the quarantine may be carried out at the owner's home, at a local animal control agency, or at a private boarding facility approved by the local health officer. Animals impounded by an animal control agency must complete the quarantine in a shelter. Biting wild animals of high rabies risk species, including bats, skunks, foxes, raccoons, and coyotes, are tested rather than quarantined.
The fear of what reporting will do to the dog keeps people from reporting at all. A bite report is a rabies control step, and most dogs are observed at home for ten days by their own owners.
What a dangerous dog hearing decides
The County's Department of Animal Care and Control runs a Dangerous Dog Investigations Unit that investigates reported dog bites and attacks. The investigating officer may prepare a petition for review by an administrative hearing officer, who may impose a series of restrictions and conditions on the continued ownership of the dog, or in certain cases order a vicious dog to be euthanized. The department states that its ordinance on potentially dangerous and vicious dogs begins at County Code section 10.37.010.
The county also runs a Safe Neighborhoods Program for dogs that behave in a threatening manner without having bitten, such as charging a fence. An officer responds, completes a property safety inspection, verifies rabies vaccination, licensing, spay and neuter, and microchip compliance, and counsels the owner. If a dog frightened you but did not bite, that program is the report to make.
The City of Los Angeles has its own version. Los Angeles Animal Services says an animal may be considered dangerous if it has attacked a person or another animal, that an animal control officer investigates, and that an animal found dangerous may be impounded for further observation. In July of 1987 the City enacted ordinances, which the department identifies as Los Angeles Municipal Code sections 53.18.5, 53.34.4, and 53.63, authorizing the department to conduct administrative hearings on dangerous animals.
Why the report matters to your claim
A bite report is the cheapest evidence in the case. It fixes the date, the location, the dog, and the owner's name in a government record written by someone with no stake in your claim. Insurers argue about which dog, whose dog, and what date. A report closes those arguments before they start.
Prior reports are worth more than your own. Earlier complaints about the same dog are what prove a landlord had actual knowledge of a dangerous animal, and what turn a negligence claim against a keeper or a property owner into a straightforward one. Animal control files, quarantine records, and any potentially dangerous or vicious dog petition are the first records our attorneys ask for. To get a copy of your own report, ask the agency that took it, and ask in writing.
When the two reports do not fit
- Nobody knows whose dog it was. Report it anyway. The report is how the animal gets found, and rabies risk cannot be ruled out on an animal nobody located.
- The bite happened in a city with its own agency. Pasadena, Long Beach, Vernon, and the City of Los Angeles run their own systems, and a call to the county will not open a file in theirs.
- It was a bat, or you woke up with a bat in the room. Public Health treats close encounters with bats as reportable even without a visible bite.
- The dog belongs to a public agency or bit you at a public facility. The animal control report is separate from the six month government claim deadline, and filing one does not preserve the other.
- You were bitten at work handling animals. The bite is still reportable, but the claim itself may run through workers' compensation and the occupational assumption of the risk rule, under which people paid to handle animals accept the risk of bites, rather than the dog bite statute.
Who to call after a dog bite
Call both. Report the bite to Veterinary Public Health or your local animal control agency so the rabies observation starts, and if you believe the dog is dangerous, file a separate dangerous dog report with the agency covering your address. Then write down the owner's name, the dog's address, and the report number.
Our Los Angeles dog bite lawyer page explains who is liable and by when, our guide on child dog bite injuries covers what changes when the person bitten is a minor, and bites that happen in an apartment complex or on a business's property usually raise a premises liability claim as well.