Bountiful Dog Bite Lawyer

Dog bites in Bountiful usually happen close to home: a dog that slips through a gate on a bench street, a dog off its leash in a city park, an encounter on a foothill trail such as Holbrook or Kenny Creek, or a delivery driver or visitor meeting an unsecured dog at the front door. Children are bitten more often than adults and, because of their height, often on the face.

Many people hesitate to make a claim against a neighbor. In practice, these claims are usually paid by the owner's homeowner's or renter's insurance rather than out of the owner's pocket.

Utah's Dog Bite Law

Owners and keepers are liable. Utah Code § 18-1-1 holds a person who owns or keeps a dog liable for injuries it causes, whether or not the dog was vicious and whether or not the owner knew it. Utah has no “one free bite.”

Only narrow exceptions. They cover certified police dogs used under a written agency policy, and dogs reasonably secured in a fence or enclosure on the owner's property when the injury is to an animal that came in without consent or to a criminal trespasser.

Fault can be shared. The statute sends damages through Utah's comparative fault law, § 78B-5-818, so an insurer may argue provocation, and a person found 50% or more at fault recovers nothing. See our damages page for what can be claimed.

Extra time for children. The limitations period does not run while the injured person is under 18 (§ 78B-2-108); adults generally have four years. Our deadlines page has details.

After a Bite in Bountiful

Get the wound cleaned and examined the same day; bites infect easily, and Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful has a 24-hour emergency department. Then report the bite to Animal Care of Davis County at (801) 444-2200. Its field officers serve Bountiful, and county code requires any bite that breaks the skin to be reported; officers investigate and quarantine the dog to watch for signs of rabies.

Leash rules help show what went wrong. Davis County requires dogs to be leashed in all public areas, including parks, trails, schools and sidewalks, and does not treat an electronic collar as a leash. Bountiful allows dogs in its city parks on leash only and keeps them out of Bountiful Town Square altogether. A loose dog in public is strong evidence the owner lost control, although Utah's strict liability rule means you do not have to prove it.

Photograph the wounds as they heal, keep every bill, and write down the owner's name, address and insurer. Our guides on dog bite compensation and dog bite settlements go further, and our Bountiful personal injury page covers other injuries.

Injuries We See After Dog Attacks

Deep punctures and torn skin that need stitches or plastic surgery, facial scars in young children, nerve and tendon damage to hands and forearms, infections, fractures from being knocked to the ground, and a lasting fear of dogs.

What a Bountiful Dog Bite Claim Can Include

A thorough claim accounts for:

• Medical care: the emergency visit, antibiotics, wound care and any rabies shots.
• Future surgery: scar revision and reconstruction, including procedures a child may need years later.
• Lost income: your own missed work, or a parent's time caring for an injured child.
• Pain and emotional harm: the injury itself and the anxiety afterward.
• Disfigurement: lasting scars, especially on the face and hands.

What the Owner's Insurer Will Say

Expect questions about whether you provoked the dog, whether you had permission to be on the property, and whether the scar will fade, often with an early offer before treatment is finished. A steady photo record and a surgeon's view on future care usually matter most. The steps in a Utah injury case explain the process.

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.