Draper Dog Bite Lawyer

Dogs are part of daily life in Draper. Owners walk them on the Porter Rockwell Trail and the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, bring them to the city's dog parks, and keep them behind backyard fences across the east bench. Most bites still happen close to home: a dog that slips through a gate, a sidewalk greeting that goes wrong, a delivery driver or a visiting child at the front door.

Few people want to make a claim against a neighbor. In practice, a Utah dog bite claim is usually paid by the owner's homeowner's or renter's insurance rather than by the owner personally. Our office is in Draper, and our Draper personal injury page covers the city's other injury cases.

Utah's Dog Bite Rule

Owners and keepers are liable. Under Utah Code § 18-1-1, a person who owns or keeps a dog is liable for injuries it causes, whether or not the dog was vicious and whether or not the owner knew it. A first bite counts.

The exceptions are narrow. The statute protects certified police dogs used under agency policy, owners whose fenced dog injures another animal that came onto their private property without consent, and owners whose dog, secured in a fence or enclosure, injures a trespasser on their private property.

Fault can be shared. Damages are figured under Utah's comparative fault statute, § 78B-5-818, which is where an owner argues provocation. What a claim can include is on our damages page.

More time for children. The limitation period does not run while the injured person is under 18 (§ 78B-2-108). Adults generally have four years, and a claim against a government entity needs notice within one year. See the deadlines page.

Draper Dog Rules and Where to Report

Draper Animal Services is at 12375 S. Vista Station Blvd. and can be reached at (801) 576-6344 during office hours, or through VECC dispatch at (801) 840-4000 for emergencies. A report creates an official record and helps confirm the dog's rabies vaccination status. Get the wound treated the same day; Lone Peak Hospital on State Street has an emergency department.

The city's trail rules matter too. Dogs are not allowed in the Corner Canyon watershed above the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, must be leashed on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and the trails below it, and may be off leash only in designated places such as the West Bluff off-leash area and the Dayland and Galena dog parks. A dog running loose where the city requires a leash undercuts any argument that you were to blame.

For more on what a claim is worth, see our guides to dog bite compensation and dog bite settlements.

The Injuries We See

Deep punctures and torn skin, wounds to the face and scalp in young children, nerve and tendon damage in the hands and forearms, infections, broken bones and head injuries from being pulled down on pavement or a trail, and a fear of dogs that can last for years.

What a Claim Can Include

Everything the bite has cost you belongs in the claim, including:

• Medical treatment: the ER or urgent care visit, antibiotics, rabies shots if they were needed, stitches, wound checks and follow-up.
• Scar care: plastic surgery and later revisions, including work a growing child may not be ready for until years from now.
• Missed work: your own lost paychecks, or the days a parent took off to care for a bitten child.
• Pain and emotional harm: the physical recovery and the nightmares, anxiety or avoidance that often come after.
• Disfigurement: visible, permanent scars, particularly on the face or hands.

How the Insurer Pushes Back

Owners and their insurers tend to say you provoked the dog, came onto the property without being invited, or that the scar will fade, and they often make an offer before scar treatment is done. Photos of the wound taken over weeks and months, a plastic surgeon's opinion about future care and the Animal Services report are usually what move the number.

More on Utah dog bite law

• What actually changed in Utah's dog bite law in 2025 and 2026 — the new trespasser exception, what the amendment did not change, and the arbitration track with its 14-day election window.
• Utah Dog Bite Report — twelve Utah dog bite files next to the public data, plus Christian West's own bite.