Your Dog Bit Someone in Your Yard in Ohio: Your Liability and the Ten-Day Quarantine

Attorney Answer

In Ohio, a dog's owner is liable for injuries the dog causes. It doesn't matter whether the dog had bitten before. The exceptions are a person who was trespassing or committing another offense on your property, or who was teasing, tormenting or abusing the dog there. Separately, the dog must be kept under a ten-day rabies quarantine, and it may not be moved out of the county or given away during it.

Liability. Ohio Rev. Code § 955.28(B):

(B) The owner, keeper, or harborer of a dog is liable in damages for any injury, death, or loss to person or property that is caused by the dog, unless the injury, death, or loss was caused to the person or property of an individual who, at the time, was committing or attempting to commit criminal trespass or another criminal offense other than a minor misdemeanor on the property of the owner, keeper, or harborer, or was committing or attempting to commit a criminal offense other than a minor misdemeanor against any person, or was teasing, tormenting, or abusing the dog on the owner's, keeper's, or harborer's property.

So the question that decides liability is who the person was and what they were doing. If the person was a guest, a neighbor or a delivery driver, the first part of the sentence applies. Someone breaking in, or someone abusing the dog, falls within the exceptions.

The quarantine. Ohio Rev. Code § 955.261:

(A)(1) No person shall remove a dog that has bitten any person from the county in which the bite occurred until a quarantine period as specified in division (B) of this section has been completed. No person shall transfer a dog that has bitten any person until a quarantine period as specified in division (B) of this section has been completed, except that a person may transfer the dog to the county dog warden or to any other animal control authority.

(B) The quarantine period for a dog that has bitten any person shall be ten days or another period that the board of health for the district in which the bite occurred determines is necessary to observe the dog for rabies.

The local board of health sets the details, and it may contact you after the bite is reported.

Insurance. Many homeowner's and renter's policies cover a dog bite claim. Tell your insurer promptly, because policies usually require prompt notice.

Other proceedings. A bite can also lead to a local proceeding about the dog itself. If you receive a notice or a citation about the dog, it has its own deadline. Answer it and talk to a lawyer.

What you can do

1. Follow the board of health's quarantine instructions, and keep the dog in the county and in your care for the ten days.

2. Notify your homeowner's or renter's insurer.

3. Keep the dog's vaccination records handy.

4. Note who the person was and why they were in your yard.

5. Even if you are handling this yourself, you would be best served by a brief phone consultation with a local Ohio attorney before you act. Most lawyers offer a short initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts — and on how your court actually handles this — is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. The quarantine runs ten days or the period the board of health sets (Ohio Rev. Code § 955.261(B)). The injured person has two years to bring a claim under Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.10(A), and any notice about the dog carries its own date.