A dog bite is a wound first and a legal claim second. Treat it that way. The injury drives everything that follows: the doctors you see, the bills you get, the scar you live with, and the amount an insurer will eventually pay. This page walks through the injuries we see most often, how each one is treated, and why each one matters to the value of a case.
Forest Hills is a dog neighborhood. Owners walk them down Austin Street at lunch. They crowd the paths in Forest Park on weekends. They ride elevators in the co-op towers along Queens Boulevard and wait behind the gates of Tudor homes in Forest Hills Gardens. Most of those dogs are harmless. A few are not. When one bites, a Forest Hills dog bite lawyer can help, but first you need clear facts.
Puncture Wounds: Small Holes, Deep Damage
Canine teeth are built to pierce. The entry point often looks minor. Underneath, the tooth may have driven bacteria deep into muscle or joint space. That is why a clean-looking bite can turn red, hot and swollen two days later.
Standard treatment includes irrigation, a tetanus update if needed, and often a course of antibiotics. Doctors usually leave punctures open rather than stitching them closed, to lower the chance of trapping infection.
Why it matters for the claim: punctures are easy for an insurer to downplay. Early photos and the ER record answer that. They show the wound on day one, before it healed.
Lacerations and Torn Skin
A dog that bites and shakes tears tissue. Faces, hands and forearms take the worst of it. Children are often bitten on the face because of their height.
Deep lacerations may need layered stitches, sometimes in an operating room. Tissue that is too damaged may need to be removed. Bites near the eye, lip or ear often call for a specialist.
A torn wound usually means more treatment, more visits and a more visible result. All of that raises the value of an animal bite claim.
Infection
Infection is one of the most common complications after a dog bite injury. Warning signs include spreading redness, pus, fever, red streaks and pain that gets worse instead of better. Hand bites are especially risky because the hand has many small compartments where bacteria can settle.
Some infections clear with oral antibiotics. Others need IV antibiotics, a hospital stay or surgical drainage. Each step is documented. Each step adds to the medical bills and to the pain and suffering in the case.
Follow every instruction on the discharge sheet. Fill the prescription. Go back if it gets worse. Skipped follow-ups give an adjuster an argument that you made the injury worse yourself.
Rabies Shots
If the owner cannot confirm the dog’s rabies vaccination, doctors may recommend post-exposure rabies shots. That is a series of injections over a couple of weeks. It is unpleasant, time-consuming and expensive.
You can often avoid the shots by getting the owner’s name and the dog’s vaccination status right away. Ask at the scene. Then report the bite to NYC Health within 24 hours using the city’s animal bite reporting page. The report also creates an official record of the incident.
If you do need the shots, their cost belongs in the claim.
Nerve, Tendon and Bone Injuries
A strong bite can crush as well as cut. Nerve damage may show up as numbness, tingling or weakness in the fingers. Tendon damage can make it hard to grip, bend or straighten a joint. These injuries sometimes need surgery and months of therapy.
Fractures happen too. Many do not come from the teeth at all. A large dog lunges, the person falls on the sidewalk, and a wrist or hip breaks. Older adults on busy stretches like Queens Boulevard are at real risk here. A fall caused by a charging dog is part of the same claim.
Injuries that affect function often affect work. Lost wages and reduced earning ability can become a large share of the case.
Scars and Plastic Surgery
Scars are often the longest-lasting part of a dog bite. They can be raised, discolored, tight or painful. On the face they can change how a person feels every single day.
Plastic surgeons usually wait until a scar matures before deciding on revision. That can take many months. Future scar revision, laser treatment and related care can be included in a claim as future medical costs. Disfigurement is a separate category of harm in its own right.
Photograph the wound as it heals. Take pictures every week or two in the same light. A series of photos tells the story better than any description.
Emotional Trauma
Not every injury is visible. Many people, and especially children, develop fear of dogs, nightmares or anxiety after an attack. A child may refuse to walk past the spot where it happened or to go back to a park like Forest Park. Counseling records support this part of the claim.
How Injury Connects to Liability
The injury sets the value. The law decides who pays. In New York, the injured person generally must show the owner knew or should have known the dog had vicious propensities. That rule comes from the Court of Appeals decision in Collier v. Zambito (2004). Prior bites, growling, lunging, a “Beware of Dog” sign or earlier complaints can all help prove it. If a dog has been declared dangerous, Agriculture & Markets Law § 123 makes the owner strictly liable for the medical costs its attacks cause.
Other parties can share responsibility. In co-op and rental buildings, a landlord or board that knew about a dangerous dog and could have removed it may be liable. Our New York dog bite law guide covers these rules in more detail.
Most payments come from the owner’s homeowners or renters insurance, not from the neighbor’s own pocket. No-fault car insurance does not cover dog bites. For a fuller answer, read who pays after a dog attack in Queens.
What a Claim Can Include
- Emergency room, urgent care and follow-up bills
- Antibiotics, wound care supplies and rabies shots
- Surgery, physical therapy and future scar revision
- Lost wages and lost earning ability
- Pain and suffering
- Disfigurement and emotional harm
If you were partly at fault, New York’s pure comparative fault rule reduces the award by your share. It does not wipe it out.
Deadlines
You generally have three years to sue under CPLR § 214. For a child, the clock is generally paused until age 18. A claim against the city or a public housing authority usually needs a notice of claim within 90 days. Short deadlines like that are one reason to call early.
Talk to a Dog Bite Lawyer Forest Hills Families Can Reach Quickly
Yakov Mushiyev & Associates has recovered over $80 million for injured New Yorkers. We handle dog bite cases on contingency. No fee unless we win. We speak English, Russian and Spanish, and we will come to your home or hospital room, or meet by video.
Still treating? Good. Keep going. Then call 718.775.3110 or use our online contact form and tell us where the wound stands today. You can also read more on our dog bite practice page or our Forest Hills injury lawyer page.
Bitten just over the line? We also cover nearby areas. See our pages for a dog bite lawyer in Rego Park, a dog bite lawyer in Kew Gardens and a dog bite lawyer in Middle Village.
Getting to Our Office
We work out of 1 Cross Island Plaza, Suite 325, Rosedale, NY 11422. The map below traces the drive from Forest Hills to our door. Can’t travel yet? We will come to you.
Attorney Advertising. This page offers general information about dog bite injuries and is not legal advice. No attorney-client relationship forms from visiting this page.