Bitten by a Dog in Birmingham?

Dog bites can cause deep puncture wounds, tissue damage, nerve injury, and scarring — but the risk of infection is what makes immediate treatment urgent. Dog mouths carry bacteria that can cause cellulitis, sepsis, and other serious infections. Bites to the hand, face, or joints are especially prone to complications.

Go to the nearest emergency room or urgent care. UAB Hospital's emergency department provides 24/7 care, and Children's of Alabama — the state's only freestanding pediatric hospital — is critical for child bite victims, as children are the most common targets of dog attacks. Baptist Health Brookwood, Grandview Medical Center, and UAB St. Vincent's also have emergency departments.

Tell the treating physician it was a dog bite. Alabama law requires physicians to report all animal bite treatment to the Health Department. The doctor will assess wound depth, check for nerve or tendon damage, clean the wound, and determine whether antibiotics, tetanus prophylaxis, or rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) are needed.

Report the bite to the Greater Birmingham Humane Society — Animal Care and Control (ACC Birmingham) at (205) 591-6522. They are available 24/7/365 and have provided animal control services to Jefferson County and its municipalities since 2015. Their address is 6227 5th Avenue North, Birmingham, AL 35212.

You can also contact the Jefferson County Department of Health Rabies Officer at (205) 424-7387 or Jefferson County Animal Services at (205) 978-0113. An official report creates documentation that is critical for any future legal claim.

Under Alabama law (Ala. Code § 3-7A-9), any dog that bites a person must be quarantined for 10 days under veterinary supervision, regardless of the dog's vaccination status. This quarantine period allows observation for signs of rabies. Home quarantine may be permitted for vaccinated animals under certain conditions, but the dog cannot be sold, given away, or disposed of during the quarantine period.

Photograph your injuries immediately and in the days following as they develop — bruising, swelling, and infection can worsen over time and the visual progression is powerful evidence. Photograph the location where the bite occurred, any blood or torn clothing, and the dog if you can safely do so.

Get the dog owner's full name, address, phone number, and homeowner's or renter's insurance information. If there were witnesses, get their names and contact information. Witness testimony can be decisive in disputes about provocation or the circumstances of the bite.

Keep every medical record, bill, and receipt. Track missed work days and any limitations on your daily activities. If the bite causes scarring, photograph the healing process over weeks and months. Cosmetic and reconstructive surgery costs can be significant, especially for facial bites.

Alabama's dog bite law depends on where the bite happened. Under Ala. Code § 3-6-1, if a dog bites someone who is lawfully on property owned or controlled by the dog's owner, the owner is strictly liable — no prior knowledge of the dog's dangerous propensity is required. This also applies when the person was on the owner's property immediately before the bite and was pursued by the dog.

When the bite occurs away from the owner's property — on a public sidewalk, in a park, at someone else's home — the common law one-bite rule applies. Under this rule, you must prove: (1) the dog had previously bitten or attacked someone, or had displayed dangerous or vicious propensities, and (2) the owner knew or should have known about those propensities.

Even under the strict liability statute, the owner can plead and prove in mitigation that they had no knowledge of the dog's vicious tendencies. If successful, the owner's liability is limited to actual expenses incurred by the victim. Both the statute and common law require the bite to be 'without provocation' — if the owner proves you provoked the dog, liability is defeated.

Alabama's pure contributory negligence rule applies to dog bite cases. If the dog owner can prove you contributed to the incident in any way — even 1% — your claim is completely barred. This is true whether the claim falls under the strict liability statute or the common law one-bite rule.

Common contributory negligence arguments in dog bite cases include: the victim provoked the dog (teasing, hitting, startling), the victim trespassed on private property, the victim ignored visible warning signs ('Beware of Dog'), or the victim attempted to pet an unfamiliar dog without the owner's permission.

The defendant bears the burden of proving contributory negligence — specifically, that you had knowledge of the dangerous condition and appreciated the danger. But in practice, insurance defense attorneys will aggressively investigate the circumstances of the bite to find any opening. What you say to the dog owner, to animal control, and to the insurance adjuster all matters.

Birmingham has a pit bull ban under Ordinance No. 2009-02, effective since July 2009. It is unlawful to keep, harbor, own, or possess a pit bull within Birmingham city limits. The ban covers bull terriers, Staffordshire bull terriers, American pit bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers, and any mixed breed known as a pit bull or displaying the appearance and characteristics of these breeds. Penalties include seizure of the dog, fines up to $500, and potential imprisonment up to 30 days.

Birmingham's animal control ordinance also makes it unlawful for any dog owner to allow their pet to run at large. Dogs must be leashed (up to 6 feet) when off private property. First offense: $100 fine, with higher fines for subsequent violations. Jefferson County's leash requirement is stricter — leashes up to 3 feet, with fines ranging from $50 to $500.

If the dog that bit you was a banned breed, was running at large, or was in violation of leash laws, the owner was already breaking the law at the time of the attack. This violation can strengthen your claim by demonstrating the owner's disregard for animal control regulations and community safety.

If the dog that bit you belonged to a tenant, the landlord may share liability under certain circumstances. The general rule in Alabama is that landlords are not liable for injuries caused by a tenant's dog. But there are exceptions.

A landlord can be held liable if they knew or should have known the tenant's dog was dangerous and failed to act — for example, if other tenants had complained about the dog, if the dog had previously bitten someone on the property, or if the landlord allowed a known vicious dog to remain on the premises. The Alabama Supreme Court ruled in Gentle v. Pine Valley Apartments that an apartment complex has a duty to use reasonable care to protect tenants from dog attacks in common areas.

If the bite happened in a common area of an apartment complex, at a rental property, or at a property managed by a management company, investigate whether the landlord had prior notice of the dog's dangerous behavior.

Dog bite cases in Alabama involve navigating a hybrid liability system, the contributory negligence defense, potential breed-specific ordinances, and insurance negotiations. The national average dog bite claim payout reached $69,272 in 2024, up 18.3% from the prior year — these are not trivial claims.

Most personal injury attorneys in Birmingham handle dog bite cases on contingency — no upfront cost, and they only get paid if you recover money. A free consultation costs you nothing and tells you whether your case has value, which liability theory applies (strict liability vs. one-bite), and how to counter potential contributory negligence arguments.

If the bite caused serious injury, if the dog was a banned breed, if a child was attacked, or if the dog owner's insurance company is trying to blame you for the incident, professional legal help can make the difference between a denied claim and fair compensation. Cases are filed in the Jefferson County Circuit Court, 10th Judicial Circuit.