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Denver Dog Bite Lawyer
Yes, you can sue for a dog bite in Denver and anywhere in Colorado. Under C.R.S. § 13-21-124, if the bite caused serious bodily injury or death while you were lawfully on public or private property, the dog owner is strictly liable for your economic damages. It does not matter if the dog had never bitten anyone before. Pain, scarring and emotional distress are pursued through a negligence claim that the statute preserves. The deadline to file is generally two years.
Jacobs Law, PLLC is a personal injury law firm in Centennial. We represent dog bite victims across Denver and the south metro. Attorney Dan Jacobs handles every case personally. Kim Jacobs manages your file. The consultation is free, and there is no fee unless we win. Call (303) 529-4040.
This page covers how Colorado’s dog bite law works, what counts as a serious injury, what you can recover, who pays, the dog owner’s defenses, what to do in the first 24 hours, and the deadlines.
Two things to do today, whether or not you hire a Denver dog bite attorney: get the wound looked at, and report the bite within 12 hours. Both are explained below.
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Is Colorado a strict-liability state or a one-bite rule state for dog bites?
Both. It depends on how badly you were hurt. Colorado’s dog bite law gives you two ways to hold a dog owner responsible for dog bite injuries. Most serious dog bite cases use both at the same time.
Strict liability (C.R.S. § 13-21-124) | Negligence (the “one-bite rule”) | |
|---|---|---|
When it applies | The bite caused serious bodily injury or death, and you were lawfully on public or private property | Any dog bite or dog attack, including being knocked down by a dog |
What you must prove | That the bite happened and caused a qualifying injury. The dog’s history and the owner’s knowledge do not matter | That the owner knew or should have known the dog was dangerous, or did not use reasonable care. Examples: a dog off leash in violation of local leash laws, an open gate, a dog with aggressive tendencies left around children |
What you can recover | Economic damages only: medical bills, future treatment, lost wages | Economic and non-economic damages: pain, disfigurement, emotional distress |
The statute says in subsection (6) that it does not take away any other claim you have. That is why a Denver dog bite lawyer usually files the strict-liability claim for the medical bills and a negligence claim for everything else.
What counts as "serious bodily injury"?
Colorado uses the definition from its criminal code, C.R.S. § 18-1-901(3)(p). A serious bodily injury is one that involves a substantial risk of death, a substantial risk of serious permanent disfigurement, or a substantial risk of long-term loss or impairment of any part or organ of the body. Any fracture or break counts. So does any second- or third-degree burn.
Dog bite injuries that commonly qualify: deep puncture wounds with nerve damage or torn tendons, bites to the face that need reconstructive surgery, and crush injuries to the hand. Severe bruising and cuts that need stitches may not qualify. Those cases go on the negligence track. Which track you are on is the first question we answer in a free consultation.
What compensation can you recover after a dog attack in Denver?
Dog bite claims are personal injury claims. You can seek compensation for every loss the bite caused. Which losses depends on the track.
- Economic damages (both tracks): medical expenses for emergency and follow-up treatment, scar revision and reconstructive surgery, physical therapy, counseling and medication; lost wages and lost income from reduced earning capacity; and damaged property such as glasses or a phone. Future medical costs for dog bite injuries count too, such as a child’s scar revision years from now.
- Non-economic damages (negligence track): physical pain, disfigurement and emotional distress. Post-traumatic stress disorder is common after a dog attack, and more common in children.
- The cap. For cases filed on or after January 1, 2025, Colorado caps non-economic damages in most injury cases at $1.5 million, and wrongful-death non-economic damages at $2.125 million (HB24-1472). Economic losses are not capped. Most dog bite claims settle well inside those limits. The caps matter in catastrophic cases.
- Children. The AVMA, citing CDC data, reports that at least half of dog bite victims who need medical attention are children. A parent or guardian brings the claim for the child. Scarring and psychological injury carry more weight for a child, because the child lives with them longer. A settlement for a child generally requires court approval. Do not sign anything from an insurer about a child’s injury without advice.
Who pays: the owner, their insurance, or a landlord?
Almost always the dog owner’s homeowners or renters insurance. The Insurance Information Institute reports that standard policies usually carry $100,000 to $300,000 in liability coverage. The dog owner is personally responsible for anything above that. Some policies exclude certain breeds entirely. For that reason, the first thing we check in a dog bite insurance claim is the policy, not the dog. Negotiating that claim with the insurance companies, and knowing when a fair settlement is on the table and when it is not, is most of what a dog bite attorney does.
In 2025, U.S. homeowners insurers paid about $1.86 billion on 28,450 dog-related injury claims, an average of roughly $65,000 per claim. Those are national figures. They are not a prediction about any case.
Denver’s breed rules. Denver repealed its pit bull ban in 2020. It still requires pet owners to hold a Breed-Restricted Permit for pit bull-type dogs. A dog owner who ignored that rule may be responsible under the negligence route.
Landlords. A landlord is generally not liable for a tenant’s dog unless the landlord kept control of the property or knew the dog was dangerous before the lease. These claims run through Colorado’s Premises Liability Act (C.R.S. § 13-21-115) and depend heavily on the facts. Bring the lease and any complaints to the consultation.
What are the dog owner's defenses?
The statute lists six situations where strict liability does not apply:
- You were trespassing or otherwise unlawfully on the property.
- The bite happened on the owner’s property and a “No Trespassing” or “Beware of Dog” sign was clearly posted.
- The dog was a police or military dog on duty.
- You knowingly provoked the dog.
- You were a veterinarian, groomer, trainer, handler or show judge working with the dog.
- The dog was working as a hunting, herding, farm or ranch dog, or for predator control, on the owner’s property or under the owner’s control.
Two things to know about these defenses and your legal rights. First, “knowing provocation” means on purpose. Startling a dog by walking past it is not provocation. Second, a defense to strict liability is not always a defense to negligence. If one of these applies to you, the negligence route may still be open.
Comparative fault. Colorado reduces your recovery by your share of fault, and bars it if you were 50% or more at fault (C.R.S. § 13-21-111). Insurance companies raise provocation and trespass for exactly this reason. That is why we ask you not to give a recorded statement before we have spoken.
What should you do in the first 24 hours after a dog bite in Denver?
The first day after a dog bite incident decides most of the evidence. Get treated, report it, and gather evidence, in this order:
- Get medical care today. The CDC’s guidance is to contact a healthcare provider after any dog bite. Dog bite injuries carry a high infection risk. Published rates run about 3 to 20 percent. Infections that show up within a day are often Pasteurella. Staphylococcus and Streptococcus are common, and Capnocytophaga can cause severe illness in people with weakened immune systems. Puncture wounds and bites to the hand or face are the most likely to need antibiotics and a specialist. Your medical records are also the core evidence in any dog bite claim.
- Report the bite within 12 hours. Colorado law (C.R.S. § 25-4-603) requires any bite that breaks the skin to be reported within 12 hours to animal control in the city where it happened. In Denver that is Denver Animal Protection, 720-913-2080. The owner has a separate duty under Denver’s municipal code to report the bite and confine the dog. The report starts a 10-day observation of the dog, which is how rabies risk is ruled out. It also creates the official record your claim will rely on.
- Identify the dog owner and get the dog’s vaccination history. Ask for proof of rabies vaccination. Get names and numbers for any witnesses. If police responded, get the police report number.
- Photograph everything. Your injuries on the day of the bite and every day after. The location. Any gate, fence or sign. The dog, if you can do it safely. We recently had a case where our client had photos of the dog, the place, the bite, and everything around it. That made a world of difference. Our firm has learned how to use photos like these to show exactly what happened and what the injury did to our client’s life, and in that case it earned a six-figure result.
- Keep every record. Medical records and bills, time missed from work, and a short daily note on pain and what you cannot do.
- Do not give a recorded statement to the owner’s insurance company before you speak with a dog bite attorney. Those calls are where provocation and comparative-fault arguments get built.
How long do you have to file a dog bite claim in Colorado?
Two years from the bite (C.R.S. § 13-80-102). The deadline is the same for the strict-liability claim and the negligence claim, and it is the same two years that applies to most Colorado personal injury claims. If the dog belonged to a government agency, a separate 182-day written-notice rule applies (C.R.S. § 24-10-109), so call sooner. Deadlines for a child’s claim can run differently. Ask us. Evidence disappears fast in these cases. The dog gets rehomed, witnesses move, doorbell footage gets overwritten. The real deadline is weeks, not years.
Dog bite cases in Denver and the south metro
We handle dog bite cases throughout the Denver metro: Denver, Centennial, Aurora, Lakewood, Littleton, Englewood, Greenwood Village, Parker and Highlands Ranch. In a Denver case, the Denver Animal Protection bite report and the 10-day quarantine record are usually the first documents we request. They establish the dog, the owner and the date before the insurer’s version of events sets in. Cases from Denver are generally filed in Denver District Court at the City and County Building, 1437 Bannock St. Cases from Centennial and the rest of Arapahoe County are filed at the Arapahoe County Justice Center, 7325 S. Potomac St., Centennial, a few minutes from our office.
Why hire a Denver dog bite attorney at Jacobs Law
You deal with one attorney. Dan Jacobs has been licensed in Colorado since 2012, has courtroom experience, and handles every dog bite case himself. There is no hand-off to an associate or a call center. Kim Jacobs manages your file and returns your calls. We work with your treating doctors, get a plastic surgeon’s opinion when scarring is involved, and pull animal-control and vaccination records to establish the dog’s history. We take dog bite cases on contingency. The consultation is free, we explain your legal options in plain language, and the law firm is paid only if we recover for you, by fair settlement or at trial. Our office is at 6767 S Spruce St, Suite 115, Centennial, CO 80112. Our clients’ Google reviews describe how we work.
Colorado dog bite FAQ
We handle a wide range of personal injury cases, including car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle crashes, medical malpractice, slip and fall injuries, wrongful death, product liability, defamation, and assault cases. Our firm is committed to securing compensation for victims across Colorado.
Yes. C.R.S. § 25-4-603 requires a bite that breaks the skin to be reported within 12 hours to animal control where it happened. In Denver, call Denver Animal Protection at 720-913-2080. Doctors are also required to report bites.
Yes. For serious bodily injury, the statute makes the dog's history irrelevant. For other injuries, you would need to show the owner failed to use reasonable care.
The same law applies. A parent or guardian brings the claim for the child. Children are more often bitten on the face and head, so scarring and emotional injury tend to be a large part of the claim. Settlements for a child generally require court approval.
Two years from the date of the bite under C.R.S. § 13-80-102. If a government agency owned the dog, a 182-day notice rule applies.
Knowing provocation is a defense under the statute. Colorado's comparative-fault rule also reduces your recovery by your share of fault and bars it at 50%. These are factual disputes, and the owner's version is rarely the whole story.
The statute requires an owner. If the dog cannot be traced to an owner or keeper, your options are limited. Still, report the bite right away so animal control can find and observe the dog, and see a provider about rabies post-exposure treatment.
Colorado has a separate criminal statute for dangerous dogs (C.R.S. § 18-9-204.5), with penalties from a misdemeanor up to a felony when a death results. In a civil case, the court can order a dog destroyed if the owner knew it was dangerous and it causes serious injury (C.R.S. § 13-21-124(3)). Those proceedings are separate from your compensation claim.
Nothing up front. The consultation is free, and the law firm is paid a percentage only if we recover money for you. If you decide not to take legal action, you owe nothing.
Talk to a Denver dog bite lawyer today
Call (303) 529-4040 or use the form. Tell us when and where it happened and whether you have seen a doctor. We will tell you honestly whether you have a case.
This page is general information about Colorado law, not legal advice. Every case depends on its facts. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
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DAN JACOBS
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