Spartanburg Dog Bite Lawyer

Legally Reviewed by Sam Bass: July 01, 2026

A dog attack happens without warning. One moment you are walking through Hillbrook Acres, jogging near Glendale Shoals, visiting a friend in Converse Heights, or simply checking your mail, and the next you are dealing with serious injuries, mounting medical bills, and a level of anxiety that makes it hard to feel safe in your own neighborhood again. In these moments, speaking with a Spartanburg dog bite lawyer can help you understand your rights and take the first step toward financial recovery.

At Stewart Law Offices, we represent dog bite victims throughout Spartanburg County and understand the full weight of what an attack like this puts on a person and their family. Attorney Sam Bass is a licensed member of the South Carolina Bar with more than 16 years of experience advocating for injury victims right here in Spartanburg County.

Sam believes every injured person deserves the same quality of legal help regardless of their income or background, and that belief shapes the way our entire team operates. From your first phone call, we work to make sure you feel heard, supported, and never left in the dark about your case. You will be treated as a person with a real problem that deserves a real solution, not as a number moving through a system.

Why Dog Bite Claims Require Careful Legal Attention

Dog bite cases involve specific legal standards that differ from other injury claims. South Carolina law often places responsibility on the dog owner, so victims may not need to prove that the dog had a history of aggression.

Fatal dog attacks have surged to unprecedented levels. CDC provisional data recorded 127 fatal dog attacks in 2024, the most ever documented in a single year, and a 165% increase from 2019. This alarming trend shows no signs of slowing, making legal accountability, including potential wrongful death claims, more important than ever. For a deeper look at the data behind these incidents, see our overview of dog bite safety stats, facts, and tips.

In 2023, 98 people died from dog bite-related injuries in the United States, up from 81 in 2021, a dramatic rise confirmed by CDC mortality data.

However, these claims can still become complex. Insurance companies may challenge the circumstances of the incident or attempt to minimize the severity of the injuries. Understanding how the law applies to your situation is an important first step toward protecting your rights.

South Carolina Dog Bite Laws

South Carolina law provides strong protection for dog bite victims. A dog owner, or any person who has the dog “in their care or keeping”, is strictly liable for injuries caused by the dog.

If you’re bitten or attacked by a dog in a public place or on someone’s private property (including the dog owner’s), the dog’s owner or caretaker is responsible for the damages

Strict liability means the dog’s prior history is irrelevant, no “one bite rule” in South Carolina. The owner is responsible regardless of whether they knew the dog might bite.

For strict liability to apply, the injured person must have been in a public place or lawfully present on private property (e.g., invited, performing a duty like mail delivery). Liability does not apply if:

• The victim provoked or harassed the dog, and that was the proximate cause of the attack; or
• The dog was a trained law enforcement dog performing official duties.

South Carolina law also prohibits owners from allowing dogs to run at large or keeping vicious/unruly dogs without proper restraint (fence, chain, etc.). A violation can support a negligence claim alongside a strict-liability claim.

In Spartanburg County, the Animal Welfare Ordinance requires all pets to be kept under restraint off the owner’s property. A violation (e.g., dog at large) can further strengthen a civil claim by showing the owner breached a legal duty.

This framework gives bite victims in Spartanburg and across South Carolina a solid path to compensation. If you’ve been injured, consult an attorney promptly; evidence and timelines matter.

Common Dog Bite Injuries in Spartanburg, SC

Dog attacks cause a far wider range of physical and psychological injuries than most people initially recognize. Our Spartanburg dog bite attorneys have represented victims suffering from all of the following:

• Puncture Wounds and Lacerations: A dog’s bite force can penetrate deep through skin, muscle, and tissue in a single attack. These wounds introduce dangerous bacteria, including Pasteurella, Streptococcus, and Capnocytophaga, directly into deep tissue, creating serious infection risk that can escalate to cellulitis, abscesses, or life-threatening sepsis if not treated aggressively within days of the attack.
• Broken Bones: Animal attacks frequently begin with the dog lunging at and knocking down the victim, particularly when the attacking animal is large, and the victim is a child or elderly person. The knockdown alone can cause serious fractures requiring reconstructive surgery and physical therapy. Arm and hand fractures are especially common when victims raise their arms to defend themselves.
• Head and Brain Injuries: The fall resulting from a dog knockdown can cause the brain to impact the inside of the skull, producing concussions or more serious traumatic brain injuries. The resulting injuries can be permanent; dead brain cells do not regenerate, and severe TBIs kill tens of thousands of Americans every year.
• Nerve and Tendon Damage: Particularly common when victims instinctively raise an arm to defend themselves. The resulting damage can cause permanent loss of function, reduced grip strength, lasting numbness, or severely limited range of motion.
• Psychological Trauma and PTSD: The extreme stress of a dog bite attack alters the brain’s chemical composition. This imbalance causes symptoms like hypervigilance, an unnatural fear of all dogs, depression, flashbacks, and anger. These symptoms make it difficult to function on a day-to-day basis. Many attack victims find they cannot walk their own neighborhood, visit friends with pets, or participate in outdoor activities they previously enjoyed, a profound reduction in quality of life that the law fully recognizes as compensable. Read more about the psychological impact of dog bites on victims and how these damages are valued in a claim.
• Severe Secondary Infections: These may necessitate hospitalization and include conditions like cellulitis, abscesses, and sepsis. If the attacking dog’s vaccination history is unknown, rabies post-exposure prophylaxis, which is costly and must begin immediately, is a critical concern.

Provocation Defense in South Carolina Dog Bite Cases

Strict liability under South Carolina law does not mean an automatic win for every dog bite claim. Insurance companies and defense attorneys frequently raise the provocation defense as their primary tool to defeat or minimize liability. Understanding this defense is essential. 

Under South Carolina law, a dog owner is not liable if the victim provoked the dog. However, the legal standard for provocation is demanding and far narrower than insurers often suggest. 

Provocation requires that the person who was attacked provoked or harassed the dog and that the provocation was the proximate cause of the attack, S.C. Code § 47-3-110(B)(1). Simple actions such as walking near the dog, making a sudden movement, speaking loudly, or being in the dog’s vicinity generally do not constitute legal provocation. Children, in particular, are held to a standard consistent with their age and are rarely found to have provoked a dog through typical childhood behavior. 

Our attorneys are prepared to challenge provocation claims with witness statements, surveillance footage, veterinary records, and the dog’s prior behavior history. When insurers attempt to use provocation as a blanket denial, we hold them to the actual legal standard required by South Carolina law.

What Can You Recover in a Dog Bite Claim?

South Carolina law allows dog bite victims to hold the responsible owners financially accountable for a wide range of damages, including:

• Medical Expenses: This covers all costs, from initial emergency room treatment, ambulance transport, and surgery, to hospitalization, prescription medications, physical therapy, and necessary plastic or reconstructive surgery. These costs often escalate rapidly, especially when facial injuries demand extensive, long-term reconstructive procedures.
• Lost Income and Earning Capacity: You can recover wages lost due to time missed from work during recovery. Furthermore, if permanent injuries or disabilities prevent you from returning to your former job, you are entitled to compensation for the resulting reduction in future earning capacity. Serious attacks often cause victims to lose weeks or months of income while healing. If your injuries occurred in the course of employment, a workers’ compensation claim may also be available alongside your dog bite recovery.
• Pain and Suffering: Beyond direct economic losses, the law acknowledges the profound non-economic impact of a dog attack. This includes compensation for physical pain, emotional distress, anxiety, depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and a diminished quality of life. The legal system recognizes the deep trauma sustained by victims that goes beyond mere medical bills.
• Scarring and Disfigurement: Permanent scarring, particularly facial scarring, warrants substantial compensation. Visible disfigurement negatively affects a victim’s self-esteem, social interactions, employment prospects, and overall quality of life. Juries in South Carolina routinely award significant damages for such injuries.

You are entitled to comprehensive legal representation with no out-of-pocket costs. We manage dog bite cases on a contingency fee basis. This means you owe us nothing unless we successfully win your case, ensuring that all Spartanburg residents have access to experienced advocacy, regardless of their current financial situation.

Who Pays for a Dog Bite Claim in Spartanburg

Most dog bite claims in Spartanburg are resolved through the dog owner’s homeowners or renters insurance policy, which typically includes personal liability coverage for dog-related injuries, whether the attack occurs on or off the owner’s property.

When the attack occurs at an apartment complex or rental property, and the landlord knew (or should have known) about a dangerous dog, premises liability may also hold the property owner or manager liable.

Under South Carolina law, liability is not limited to the registered owner. Anyone who had the dog in their care at the time, such as a dog sitter, boarding facility, household member, or property caretaker, may share or bear full responsibility depending on the circumstances.

Some insurance policies include breed exclusions (e.g., for pit bulls, Rottweilers, or other breeds deemed high-risk) that insurers use to deny claims. Understanding which dog breeds are most likely to attack can be relevant when challenging these exclusions. Our Spartanburg personal injury attorneys know how to challenge these exclusions and identify every available source of recovery when the primary insurer disputes liability.

Reporting a Dog Bite in Spartanburg County

Reporting your attack to the appropriate authority is both a legal protection and an important step in building your claim. If you are bitten within Spartanburg city limits, contact the Spartanburg City Animal Services Division at (864) 582-1558. If the attack occurred outside the city limits, including in areas like Duncan, Greer, Inman, Lyman, Pacolet, Wellford, Cowpens, Chesnee, Campobello, or Landrum, contact Spartanburg County Animal Control at (864) 562-4083. 

If the bite broke the skin, South Carolina law and county ordinance require the biting animal to be quarantined and observed for rabies for a 10-day period. Do not allow the owner to relocate or give away the animal before that process is completed. Your healthcare provider is also required by South Carolina law to report the bite to the SC Department of Public Health. An official report creates a formal record of the incident and can initiate a dangerous dog investigation, both of which become valuable evidence in your legal claim.

Time Limits for Filing Dog Bite Lawsuits in South Carolina

South Carolina imposes strict deadlines for dog bite lawsuits. You have three years from the date of the attack to file a lawsuit. Missing this deadline can bar your case entirely; regardless of injury severity or claim merit, courts will dismiss late-filed cases without considering the facts.

Shorter deadlines apply for claims against government entities (e.g., if a county, city, or state-owned dog attacks you, or the incident occurs on government property). Under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act:

• You must file a verified claim with the appropriate governmental entity within one year after the loss was or should have been discovered.
• The lawsuit must generally be filed within two years (or up to three years if a timely claim was filed).

If your case involves a municipality (such as Spartanburg), a county, or another government entity, contact us immediately. These rules are strictly enforced, and early notice is essential to protect your rights.

Evidence preservation timelines are even tighter. Photos should be taken while injuries are fresh, witnesses interviewed while memories are clear, and medical treatment documented promptly. Delays can make evidence disappear or become unreliable. Contact us right away after any dog attack to preserve crucial proof before it’s lost.

Don’t delay. Every day counts when deadlines are approaching, and evidence can fade quickly.

Visit Our Dog Bite Accident Lawyers in Spartanburg, SC

Contact a Spartanburg Dog Bite Attorney Today

Dog attacks cause devastating injuries. South Carolina’s strict liability laws protect victims and hold negligent owners accountable. However, insurance companies prioritize profits, minimize injuries, question accounts, and push inadequate settlements. Stewart Law Offices has protected the rights of Spartanburg dog bite victims for over 30 years. We know South Carolina dog bite law inside and out, understand what evidence wins cases, and possess the trial experience to take cases to court when insurance companies refuse fair settlements.

We offer free consultations and handle dog bite cases on a contingency-fee basis, meaning you pay no attorney fees unless we recover compensation for you.

Spartanburg, SC Dog Bite FAQS