Texas Dog Bite Lawyer: The One-Bite Rule, Negligence and Lillian’s Law (Updated November 2026)

By the Beverly Law legal team. Updated November 2026.

What to do after a dog bite in Texas

1. Get medical care. The CDC says nearly 1 in 5 people bitten by a dog needs medical attention, and children’s injuries tend to be more severe (CDC).
2. Report the bite. Texas law requires anyone who knows of an animal bite that could transmit rabies to report it to the local rabies control authority, usually city or county animal control, with the names and addresses of the victim and the owner if known. The authority must investigate every report (H&S Code § 826.041).
3. Know what happens to the dog. A dog that bit someone is quarantined until the end of a 10-day observation period that starts at the time of the bite. The local rabies control authority picks the facility and can allow a vet clinic or, for a vaccinated dog that was not a stray, a secure enclosure at home (25 Tex. Admin. Code § 169.27).
4. Write down what the dog did before. Texas claims often turn on whether the owner knew the dog was dangerous. Ask neighbors, mail carriers and delivery drivers about earlier bites, lunges, escapes and complaints.
5. Write down what the owner did during the attack. Whether the owner tried to pull the dog off or stood by matters under Bushnell v. Mott.
6. Do not give a recorded statement to the owner’s insurer before getting advice. Our page on dog bite evidence lists what to save.

Texas law: the one-bite rule and negligence

Texas has no statute that makes owners strictly liable for every bite. Civil claims rest on two rules set by the Texas Supreme Court. Our short answer to whether Texas is a one-bite state summarizes them.

Strict liability for a dog known to be dangerous. In Marshall v. Ranne, 511 S.W.2d 255 (Tex. 1974), a neighbor’s boar hog got onto a man’s farm and bit his hand. The court held that suits for damages caused by vicious animals are governed by strict liability: an owner who knows or has reason to know of an animal’s dangerous propensities is liable even if he used the utmost care (Marshall v. Ranne). For dogs, that means proving the owner knew or should have known of earlier bites, attacks or aggressive behavior. The court also held that a person who voluntarily faces a known vicious animal can be barred by assumption of the risk, but found that the man, whose only choices were staying in his house or crossing his own land to face the hog, did not act voluntarily.

Negligence for any dog. In Bushnell v. Mott, 254 S.W.3d 451 (Tex. 2008), three dogs ran out of a mobile home and bit a woman delivering products to the owner. The Texas Supreme Court said that while the owner of a vicious animal can be strictly liable, the owner of a non-vicious animal can be liable for negligent handling of it. The court explained that an owner of a dog not known to be dangerous is generally not liable for letting it be unrestrained, but can be liable for failing to use reasonable care to stop an attack once it has begun. It sent the case back for trial because the victim’s affidavit raised a fact issue on that point, “even if Mott did not know her dogs had dangerous propensities” (Bushnell v. Mott).

Your lawyer usually pleads both theories and lets the evidence decide which one carries the case.

Dangerous dogs and Lillian’s Law

Chapter 822 of the Health and Safety Code adds rules that often help a civil claim:

• Dangerous dog. A dog that makes an unprovoked attack causing bodily injury outside an enclosure meant to keep it in, or whose unprovoked acts outside that enclosure make a person reasonably believe it will attack and cause bodily injury (§ 822.041).
• Owner duties. Within 30 days of learning the dog is dangerous, the owner must register it with animal control, keep it restrained on a leash or in a secure enclosure, and carry liability insurance or show financial responsibility of at least $100,000 for bodily injury from an attack (§ 822.042). If the owner ignored those duties, that is strong evidence the owner knew.
• Seizure. Any person, a county or city attorney, or a peace officer can file a sworn complaint in a justice, county or municipal court that a dog caused death or serious bodily injury. If the court finds probable cause, it orders animal control to seize and impound the dog (§ 822.002).
• Lillian’s Law. An owner who, with criminal negligence, fails to secure a dog that makes an unprovoked attack somewhere other than the owner’s property, car or boat, or whose known dangerous dog attacks outside its enclosure, commits a third-degree felony if the attack causes serious bodily injury and a second-degree felony if it causes death (§ 822.005). The 2007 bill was named in memory of Lillian Stiles (bill analysis).

Your share of fault and other defenses

Texas uses proportionate responsibility for tort claims (CPRC § 33.002). If a jury finds you more than 50% responsible, you recover nothing; at 50% or less, your award is reduced by your percentage (CPRC § 33.001). Owners argue that the victim reached over a fence, entered a yard without permission, or provoked the dog. In a strict liability claim the owner may also argue you voluntarily took on a known risk, the defense the court rejected on the facts in Marshall. Our page on comparative fault in California, Texas and Washington shows how the percentages work.

Insurance and how claims get paid

The owner’s homeowner’s or renter’s policy is the usual source of payment. Triple-I says standard policies typically cover dog-bite liability up to the policy limit, usually $100,000 to $300,000 (Triple-I). The owner of a dangerous dog must carry at least $100,000 (§ 822.042). If the limit is too low, read about policy limits.

Texas is one of the biggest states for these claims. In 2024, California, Florida and Texas had the most dog-related injury claims in the Triple-I and State Farm data (Insurance Journal). Nationally, insurers paid $1.86 billion on 28,450 claims in 2025, an average of $65,450 each (Triple-I). Our page on dog bite claim value explains what drives the number.

Dog attacks in Texas: the numbers

• Texas had 358 dog attacks on postal employees in 2025, second only to California (U.S. Postal Service, May 28, 2026).
• Four Texas cities made the Postal Service’s list: Dallas (50, second nationally), Houston (44), San Antonio (31) and Fort Worth (20) (USPS).
• Children are more likely than adults to be bitten, according to the CDC (CDC).

We handle Texas dog bite claims statewide, including Austin. See our Texas locations. Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou.

Deadlines and the rules in all three states

In Texas you must sue within two years after the day the claim accrues (CPRC § 16.003). For a child under 18, the time of that disability is not counted (CPRC § 16.001). Do not wait on that: the dog’s history and witnesses get harder to find. If an attack was fatal, see the Texas wrongful death deadline.

Related pages

• California dog bite lawyer
• Washington dog bite lawyer
• Is Texas a one-bite state?
• How much is a dog bite claim worth?
• Evidence in a dog bite case
• How pain and suffering is calculated

Common questions

Important: This page is general information, not legal or medical advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different; talk to a lawyer about yours. Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou. Last reviewed: November 6, 2026.