Queens Dog Bite Lawyer: How New York’s 2025 Law Change Revived Dog Bite Claims

For almost twenty years, New York was one of the hardest states in the country in which to win a dog bite case. That changed in 2025. If you are looking for a Queens dog bite lawyer, the most important thing to know is that the rule which defeated most claims — the so-called “one bite” barrier — was overruled by the state’s highest court. Cases that would have been dismissed in 2024 are viable today.

What Changed: Flanders v. Goodfellow

On April 17, 2025, the New York Court of Appeals decided Flanders v. Goodfellow. The plaintiff was a postal carrier attacked by a 70-pound dog. Other letter carriers had submitted affidavits describing the dog repeatedly slamming against windows, baring its teeth, snarling, and growling at them — yet the lower courts dismissed her case under the rule then in force.

The Court of Appeals reversed and overruled Bard v. Jahnke, the 2006 decision that had governed New York dog bite law for nearly two decades. Bard held that an owner could only be liable if they knew or should have known of the animal’s vicious propensities — and that there was no separate negligence claim available. In practice, that meant a dog effectively got one free bite.

New York Now Has Two Paths to Recovery

Path one: strict liability for vicious propensity

This path survives, but it is meaningfully broader than before. Vicious propensity no longer requires a prior bite. Growling, lunging, baring teeth, straining at a leash, or charging a fence can establish it. Just as importantly, the owner’s knowledge can now be shown constructively — through what neighbors, delivery workers, or other tenants observed and reported — rather than requiring proof the owner personally witnessed and understood the behavior.

Path two: ordinary negligence

This is the genuinely new part. The Court recognized a separate negligence cause of action for harm caused by domestic animals. An injured person can now argue that the owner simply failed to act reasonably — an unlatched gate, a dog left off-leash in a shared hallway, a tie-out long enough to reach the sidewalk, a child left alone with a large dog — without proving the dog had any history at all.

Both paths can be pleaded together. A case that fails on propensity may still succeed on negligence.

The Dangerous Dog Statute Still Guarantees Medical Costs

Separate from the case law, Agriculture and Markets Law § 123 provides a strict-liability route for one specific category of damages. Where a dog has been judicially declared “dangerous,” the owner is strictly liable for the medical and veterinary costs resulting from the attack — no proof of negligence required. The New York State Bar Association maintains a plain-language explanation of how the dangerous dog designation works and what a dangerous dog proceeding involves.

Note the limit: § 123 covers medical bills. Pain and suffering, scarring, and lost income come through the common-law paths described above.

Who Actually Pays a Queens Dog Bite Claim

Almost never the owner personally. The realistic sources of recovery are:

• Homeowners insurance — the most common source in one- and two-family neighborhoods like Rosedale, Bellerose, and Howard Beach. Policies often carry $100,000 to $500,000 in liability coverage, though many exclude specific breeds or a dog with a bite history.
• Renters insurance — frequently overlooked, and often the only coverage in an apartment building bite.
• Landlord or building liability coverage — where a landlord knew about a dangerous dog on the property and did nothing. This can also arise as a premises liability claim.
• Commercial policies — for bites at a groomer, boarding facility, veterinary office, or dog park run by a business.

What to Do After a Dog Bite in Queens

1. Get medical care the same day. Dog bites carry a high infection rate, and puncture wounds that look minor can involve deep tissue damage. The medical record also fixes the date and mechanism of injury.
2. Report the bite. New York City requires animal bites to be reported to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which triggers a rabies observation period and creates an official record. You can report through NYC Health or by calling 311.
3. Identify the owner and the dog. Get the name, address, phone number, and — critically — whether the dog is licensed and vaccinated.
4. Photograph the wounds immediately and repeatedly — at the scene, at the emergency room, and weekly as they heal. Scarring evidence is built over months, and early photos are irreplaceable.
5. Find witnesses who knew the dog. After Flanders, the neighbor who says “that dog always lunged at the fence” is directly relevant evidence of constructive knowledge.
6. Do not sign anything from the owner’s insurer, and do not accept a quick payment before the full extent of scarring and any nerve damage is known.

Children, Scarring, and Damages

Children are bitten disproportionately, and because they are at eye level with most dogs, their injuries concentrate on the face, scalp, and neck. Those cases carry two features worth understanding. First, the statute of limitations is generally tolled until the child turns 18, so the three-year clock under CPLR § 214 does not run in the usual way. Second, a settlement on behalf of a minor requires court approval — an infant’s compromise proceeding — which protects the child from an inadequate deal.

Damages in a dog bite case typically include emergency and reconstructive medical treatment, future plastic surgery, permanent scarring and disfigurement, nerve damage, lost wages, and psychological injury. Post-traumatic stress and lasting fear of dogs are well documented after serious attacks and are compensable — they simply require treatment records to prove.

Talk to a Queens Dog Bite Lawyer

The law in this area shifted decisively in favor of injured people in 2025, and claims that were previously dismissed on summary judgment now warrant a serious look. If you were bitten within the last three years — or your child was — it is worth having the case evaluated under the current framework rather than the old one.

Yakov Mushiyev & Associates handles personal injury and premises liability claims throughout Queens. Review our case results and FAQ, or contact us for a free consultation.

Call 718.775.3110 · mushiyevlaw.com

General information, not legal advice. Attorney Advertising.