When a dog bites a child, the parent carries two burdens at once: caring for a frightened, injured son or daughter, and making decisions whose legal consequences may not surface for years. This guide is written for parents in Kew Gardens Hills facing that situation. It addresses the injuries children tend to suffer, the particular problem of scarring, the emotional aftermath, and the way New York law treats deadlines when the injured person is a minor.
Children are not a marginal group among bite victims. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, millions of people in the United States are bitten by dogs each year, hundreds of thousands require medical attention, and about half of all victims are children.
Where Children Encounter Dogs in This Neighborhood
Kew Gardens Hills combines busy shopping along Main Street with residential blocks of attached homes and apartments. A child may meet a dog on a crowded sidewalk near Jewel Avenue, in the shared entrance of an apartment building, on a neighbor’s stoop, or on the paths around Willow Lake in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Each setting raises different questions about who controlled the dog and who else may bear responsibility, questions a parent does not need to answer alone.
Immediate Steps for Parents
- Obtain medical treatment promptly. Even small punctures can become infected, and bites can injure nerves or tendons beneath the surface.
- Identify the owner and ask about rabies vaccination. If vaccination cannot be confirmed, your child’s doctor may recommend rabies shots.
- Report the bite within 24 hours. New York City requires it; the report can be made through the Health Department’s animal bite page.
- Photograph the injuries on the day of the bite and throughout healing, along with torn clothing and the location.
- Record witness information, including other parents, shopkeepers and neighbors.
- Keep every record: bills, prescriptions, school absence notes, therapy appointments.
Injuries Common in Children
Physical wounds
Parents should expect a physician to evaluate puncture wounds and lacerations carefully for infection and for damage to nerves or tendons. A child knocked to the ground by a lunging dog may also suffer fractures.
Scarring and disfigurement
Scarring is often the most lasting physical consequence of a child’s dog bite injury. Some scars may call for plastic surgery, and the question of scar revision may not be settled until the child has grown. For that reason, a claim on behalf of a child should account for future care, not merely the treatment already received. Photographs taken at regular intervals document how a scar changes, which can be essential when valuing disfigurement.
Emotional effects
Emotional trauma after a dog attack is especially common in children. Parents may notice nightmares, fear of leaving the house, reluctance to walk past any dog, or changes in behavior at school. These effects are part of the harm and belong in the claim. Records from a counselor or pediatrician lend them weight.
A simple parent’s journal can help as well. Brief dated entries noting a bad night, a refusal to go to the park, or a teacher’s comment create a contemporaneous account that memory alone cannot reproduce months later.
Establishing Responsibility
New York law does not make a dog owner automatically liable for every bite. Under Collier v. Zambito (2004), the Court of Appeals held that the injured person generally must show the owner knew or should have known of the dog’s “vicious propensities.” Evidence may include prior bites, growling, snapping, lunging, jumping on people, a “Beware of Dog” sign, keeping the dog chained or muzzled, and complaints from others. Where a dog has been formally found dangerous, the owner is strictly liable for the medical costs its attacks cause.
Other parties may also be responsible. A landlord that knew of the dog’s vicious propensities and could have removed it may be liable, as may a building owner or business that kept a dangerous dog on its property. The firm’s guide to New York dog bite law sets out these principles in more detail.
Parents are sometimes told that a child “provoked” the dog. New York applies pure comparative fault: any share of fault assigned to the injured person reduces recovery but does not bar it. Our article on shared fault in New York explains how that allocation works.
Directions to Our Rosedale Office
The firm is located at 1 Cross Island Plaza, Suite 325, Rosedale, NY 11422. The map below charts the trip from Kew Gardens Hills. Parents caring for an injured child may prefer that we meet at home, at the hospital, or by video, and we accommodate that.
Deadlines When the Victim Is a Minor
Deadlines deserve particular care in a child’s case, because they operate differently than for adults.
| Situation | General rule |
|---|---|
| Adult victim | Three years to sue, under CPLR § 214 |
| Child victim | Time generally paused until age 18, under CPLR § 208 |
| City property or public housing | Notice of claim usually due within 90 days, under GML § 50-e |
The extended period for minors is a protection, not an invitation to wait. Witnesses move, owners relocate, and dogs are rehomed. A parent who delays may find that the evidence of the owner’s knowledge has disappeared long before the deadline arrives. The 90-day notice requirement is also far shorter than many parents expect when a public entity is involved.
The Role of Counsel in a Family’s Case
A Kew Gardens Hills dog bite lawyer handling a child’s claim typically takes on several tasks that parents would otherwise shoulder during an already difficult period:
- Identifying the owner, any landlord or business involved, and the applicable insurance policy.
- Obtaining the Health Department bite report and the child’s medical records.
- Speaking with neighbors and witnesses about the dog’s prior conduct.
- Consulting treating physicians about future care and scar revision.
- Managing all communication with the insurer.
- Calculating the deadlines that apply and ensuring any notice of claim is timely.
Parents remain the decision-makers throughout. The purpose of representation is to relieve them of the procedural burden so that attention can stay where it belongs, on the child’s recovery.
Compensation in a Child’s Claim
A claim brought for a child may seek medical expenses, future care including scar revision, pain and suffering, and compensation for disfigurement. Where a parent missed work to care for the child, lost wages may also be part of the picture. Most such claims are paid through the owner’s homeowners or renters insurance. Parents are not obliged to give the insurer a recorded statement and may reasonably decline until they have spoken with counsel. No-fault automobile coverage does not apply to dog bites.
Guidance from a Dog Bite Lawyer in Kew Gardens Hills
Yakov Mushiyev & Associates has recovered over $80 million for injured New Yorkers. Consultations are free, the firm works on a contingency basis with no fee unless we win, and we speak English, Russian and Spanish. Parents who wish to discuss a child’s injury may call 718.775.3110 or write to us through the firm’s contact page. An overview of the firm’s dog bite practice is also available, as is further reading on New York dog bite laws.
Families in adjoining neighborhoods may consult the firm’s pages for a dog bite lawyer in Pomonok, a dog bite lawyer in Murray Hill, or a dog bite lawyer in Utopia, as well as the Queens accident lawyer page covering the wider borough.
Attorney Advertising. This guide for parents provides general information about New York law and does not constitute legal advice concerning any particular child’s injury.