Boerne Dog Bite Lawyer
Recovering Compensation for Dog Bite Victims in Boerne, TX
Most dog bite victims in Kendall County know the dog. It belonged to a neighbor down a county road off FM-474, a contractor’s loose Cane Corso at a job site, a friend’s “he’s never done that before” Belgian Malinois, or a livestock-guard dog along Old San Antonio Rd that decided a passing jogger looked like a coyote. The Law Offices of J. Robert Davis, P.C. handles dog bite injury claims throughout Boerne and the surrounding Hill Country, and the firm offers a free consultation by phone at (210) 525-9220. Robert Davis has built a 25-plus-year personal injury practice on cases that other firms find too messy: child victims, facial scarring, infections that hospitalize otherwise healthy adults, and the awkwardness of having to make a claim against a homeowner who used to wave from the next driveway. The Boerne office at 119 E Theissen St gives Kendall County residents a place to discuss the case in person, not over a chat box on a strange website.
The Hill Country Dog-Bite Problem Nobody Likes Talking About
Boerne is dog country. Ranch dogs, hunting dogs, breeding kennels, off-leash gathering spots, and a steady stream of new arrivals who underestimate what an under-socialized livestock-guard breed will do when a stranger walks the fence line. The county has grown 38% since 2020, which means an explosion of new construction, more contractors entering yards, more delivery drivers reaching gates, and more visitors hiking trails where free-running ranch dogs do not see strangers as friends. The combination of a growing population and a long Hill Country culture of “dogs run loose out here” is exactly the setup that turns a peaceful afternoon into a trip to the emergency room.
The firm sees three recurring victim profiles. First, children visiting a friend or relative who own a dog the parents thought was friendly. Second, service workers (postal carriers, package delivery, utility readers, HVAC techs, landscapers) who entered a property in the lawful course of business. Third, adults attacked while walking their own dog past a neighbor’s unfenced yard or while jogging along county roads where leash enforcement is uneven.
Children Bear the Worst of It
Children under 10 are bitten in the face and neck far more often than adults because of their height relative to the dog. The CDC tracks this pattern year over year, and the CDC Dog Bite Prevention materials confirm the demographic reality. A bite to the face often requires plastic surgery, sometimes in stages over many years as the child grows. Psychological trauma is real and compensable. The firm has worked with child clients whose PTSD presented as a refusal to leave the house, terror at the sight of any dog regardless of breed, and disrupted sleep that lingered well past the physical healing.
Scarring and Disfigurement Damages
Texas law allows recovery for disfigurement as a stand-alone damage category. Scars on the cheek, forehead, lips, hands, and forearms are visible for life and never fully fade. Juries understand that. A Kendall County jury looking at scar photographs and a treating dermatologist’s testimony tends to award meaningful sums for the lifetime cost of looking different.
How Texas Dog Bite Law Actually Works
Texas is not a strict-liability state for dog bites in the way some states are. Liability runs along three tracks, and a strong case usually leans on more than one of them.
The first track is the “one bite” rule from the Texas Supreme Court’s decision in Marshall v. Ranne. The owner is strictly liable when the owner knew or should have known the dog had dangerous propensities. Prior bites are the easy version of “should have known,” but they are not the only version. A dog that lunged at the fence whenever a stranger walked past, a dog that has growled at children, a dog that the owner muzzled in public, a dog with a posted “Beware of Dog” sign on the gate, all of these go toward knowledge. The firm gathers this evidence early through neighbor interviews, animal control records, and homeowner-insurance claim histories.
The second track is ordinary negligence. Did the owner act as a reasonably prudent dog owner under the circumstances? Letting a 90-pound dog into a yard with a broken gate latch falls short. Walking a known reactive dog past a children’s birthday party without a muzzle falls short. The third track is negligence per se, anchored to local leash and restraint ordinances. The City of Boerne and Kendall County both have leash and animal-control rules. A violation that causes the type of harm the ordinance was meant to prevent is evidence of negligence the jury can rely on directly.
Homeowner Insurance Pays the Claim
The hard truth: a Kendall County dog owner is rarely worth suing personally. The money comes from the homeowner’s or renter’s liability policy. Most policies in Texas cover dog bites at limits of $100,000 to $500,000, although some carriers exclude specific breeds or apply restrictions after a first incident. The firm tenders the claim early, requests the policy limits, and prepares for the rare case where coverage is denied. Umbrella policies sometimes layer on top, and the firm always asks. The free consultation contact form sets that investigation in motion at no cost to the client.
Statute of Limitations and Comparative Fault
Two years. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code §16.003 controls dog bite injury claims the same way it controls car wrecks. Comparative fault under CPRC Chapter 33 also applies, and defense lawyers will try to pin some percentage of fault on the victim (“you put your hand near his food bowl,” “you ran past the fence”). A 51% finding against the victim ends the case, so building a clean liability narrative is everything.
Medical Treatment in Boerne and What It Costs
Dog bite victims usually go straight to Methodist Boerne Emergency Center on South Main, where wounds are irrigated, evaluated for tendon and nerve involvement, and closed or packed. Deep facial wounds frequently get transferred to Methodist Hospital | Stone Oak, the Level III trauma center for the region, or to University Hospital San Antonio for plastic-surgery coverage. Infection is a recurring complication. Pasteurella, Capnocytophaga, and MRSA all live in dog mouths, and what looks like a clean wound on day one can become a hospital admission on day three. Tetanus and rabies prophylaxis is standard for any bite where the dog’s vaccination status cannot be confirmed.
The firm has handled cases where a single bite generated bills exceeding $50,000 over a 12-month window: emergency care, IV antibiotics, two surgical washouts, hand-therapy rehab, and finally a scar-revision procedure. Insurance adjusters who look only at the ER visit miss the rest of the picture, which is exactly why the firm refuses to discuss settlement until the medical course is stable.
What Robert Davis Brings to a Dog Bite Case
Robert Davis built this practice on cases where the human cost is real and the legal path is not obvious. The firm has handled dog bite matters involving permanent nerve damage in a hand, repeat surgeries on a child’s face, and bite-related infection that nearly cost a client her leg. The firm refuses fees that the client cannot afford up front, which is why every dog bite case runs on contingency: no fee unless we win. Beyond the bite practice, the firm handles related severe-injury work, including traumatic brain injury cases when an attacked victim falls and hits their head, and parallel slip and fall accidents where a dog’s behavior contributed to a fall.
Anyone bitten in Boerne or Kendall County should call (210) 525-9220 for a free consultation. The Boerne office at 119 E Theissen St is open for in-person meetings, and the firm can also handle the entire intake by phone for clients still healing at home. Robert Davis personally reviews every dog bite case before the firm accepts it, and the firm operates on a contingency-fee basis, which means no upfront cost to the client.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have a case if the dog never bit anyone before?
Possibly yes. Texas requires the owner to have known of dangerous propensities, but prior bites are not the only proof. Growling, lunging at the fence, snapping at children, prior animal-control complaints, and warning signs on the property all count. Even without knowledge, ordinary negligence and leash-ordinance violations can support the claim independently.
What if the dog belongs to a friend or family member?
The claim runs against the homeowner’s insurance, not personally against the friend. Most clients are uncomfortable at first, but the homeowner does not pay anything out of pocket if the policy covers the loss. The firm handles the awkwardness, and most relationships survive intact because everyone understands medical bills have to be paid.
Can I recover for emotional trauma after a dog attack?
Yes. Texas allows recovery for mental anguish, especially in cases involving children, facial injuries, or attacks of significant severity. PTSD diagnoses, fear of dogs in public, sleep disruption, and the cost of counseling are all elements the firm documents through treating providers.
What if my child was bitten at a friend’s birthday party?
The case proceeds against the dog owner’s homeowner policy. Parental fault arguments rarely succeed against a child plaintiff because young children are held to a lower standard of care under Texas law. The firm has handled this exact scenario more than once, and settlements typically fund a structured payout that becomes available when the child turns 18.