Dog bite help for Hollywood families
A bite can leave you managing a wound, an upset child, and an awkward conversation with someone you know. Miller & Jacobs helps people hurt by dogs in Hollywood review responsibility, preserve evidence, and seek supported compensation.
Get medical care first. Then tell us where it happened, whose dog was involved, and what has changed for you. Our headquarters is in Pompano Beach.
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An owner need not know of an earlier bite for Florida’s bite rule to apply.
A bite report helps identify the event. Your care record shows the injury.
An owner’s promise to pay does not tell you what an insurance policy covers.
Keep follow-up records and dated photos, including changes in a child’s scar.
A conversation about life after the bite
A hand wound may make work or driving difficult. A child may avoid a familiar walk because a dog was there. Tell us what has changed, even if the first treatment is over.
We listen to those details and compare them with the care record. You do not have to decide on the first call what the claim is worth or how it will end.
Begin with safety and care
Seek medical attention and move away from the dog. Call 911 for an emergency or an ongoing threat. The treating clinician should assess the wound and any possible rabies exposure; do not wait for a legal consultation.
Once you are safe, keep the facts you can obtain without approaching the dog again. You do not have to investigate the animal or confront its owner.
The Broward health department’s rabies guidance explains the clinician’s role in evaluating exposure and treatment.
01
Describe the bite, when it happened, and what you know about the dog. Save discharge papers, referrals, and instructions. Let the provider decide what care is needed.
02
Keep the owner’s contact details, the address, and witness names when you can obtain them safely. Note who was handling the dog and whether a gate or leash was involved.
03
Broward lists 954-359-1313, extension 9297, for biting-dog reports, weekdays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Hollywood has its own animal-control route for a loose dog. The contacts below explain the difference.
04
Save safe-to-take scene photos and dated images during healing. Keep original files, not just edited copies or social posts. Do not interrupt treatment to document the wound.
A report and medical treatment serve different purposes. Ask for the report reference and keep it with the treatment dates.
The Florida bite rule
No. Florida’s dog-bite statute can hold an owner responsible for a bite in a public place or while the injured person was lawfully on private property, even without an earlier bite. The rule has defenses that need factual review.
An earlier report is not required
An animal-control file may add useful history. A missing earlier complaint does not itself defeat the statutory bite claim.
Permission and location
An invited guest or a person carrying out a lawful duty may be lawfully on private property. Save visit messages, delivery instructions, or other proof of the reason for entering.
Conduct and warning signs
The statute allows a reduction for the injured person’s negligence that helped cause the bite. Its “Bad Dog” sign defense has limits, including for a child under six and harm caused by the owner’s negligence. Save a safe photograph of the sign and its placement.
A claim that someone “provoked” the dog still needs facts. Tell us what happened before the bite without guessing about fault.
Build the account in two parts
Use the bite report to establish the event and the medical record to follow its effects. One does not replace the other. Keep the same date and location in your notes so separate records can be compared.
Broward’s biting-dog reporting guidance gives the county contact above. That same page directs Hollywood loose-dog complaints to the city’s own agency; the routes should not be treated as interchangeable.
Hollywood’s Code Compliance directory includes the city’s animal-control officer and lists 954-921-3061 for the office. Ask which agency holds the report from your incident. Call 911 for an emergency.
The incident and the recovery
Keep the report number beside the treatment dates.
A useful photo has a date and context
A photograph may show a wound or a gate. It will not establish every symptom or what someone knew. Keep the original, note the date, and explain it alongside the other records.
Reporting file
Dog and owner identity, location, witnesses, and any vaccination or investigation information available.
Hollywood animal-control contacts →Treatment file
Clinical findings, follow-up visits, referrals, restrictions, and the course of healing.
Broward exposure guidance →A free conversation about the next step
Tell us the incident date, the location in Hollywood, the care received, and any contact from the owner or insurer. We can discuss what needs review and how to preserve what you already have.
When the situation feels personal
Knowing the owner does not settle the legal or insurance questions. You can ask about your options while giving an accurate account of the incident. We can discuss that concern without asking you to decide everything on the first call.
When the owner offers to pay
Keep the offer, messages, and receipts. Ask what a payment or release covers before accepting it as a final resolution. An early bill may leave out follow-up care. We review any available policy; homeowners or renters coverage is not automatic.
When a child is healing
Follow the child’s care plan and save later scar assessments. Tell the treating provider about sleep, school, or fear around dogs that has changed. Do not treat a quick return to school as proof that all effects have ended.
Who owned and controlled the dog?
Possibly, but another person’s role needs its own review. A landlord, dog walker, or business is not automatically liable because the attack happened on its property or during its work.
If control of the property is part of the event, our Hollywood premises liability guidance explains that separate inquiry. The Hollywood personal injury guide shows how this page fits with other injury matters.
Identify who owned the dog on the incident date. Ownership, the bite circumstances, and available insurance each need support.
Record who held the leash or had temporary care of the animal. What that person did may matter apart from ownership.
Keep complaints, lease information, and messages about the animal if you have them. A separate duty and failure must be assessed.
A delivery, service call, or work-related incident may involve job records and other claim rules. Tell us whether you were working.
Account for what changed
A supported claim may include treatment costs, lost income, and the injury’s effect on daily life. The amount depends on proof, legal responsibility, and available recovery. A wound photo alone cannot value the case.
Care
Keep bills and the treating provider’s plan for wound care, therapy, scar assessment, or other follow-up.
Work
Save pay records, missed-shift messages, and written restrictions. Explain which actual tasks you cannot do.
Daily life
Describe specific changes in movement, sleep, family tasks, or comfort around dogs. Keep relevant care records.
Serious loss
A fatal attack raises different questions about the estate and eligible survivors. We can discuss who may act and which losses the law allows.
Pompano Beach headquarters
Miller & Jacobs serves Hollywood from its Pompano Beach headquarters on South Federal Highway.
1600 S Federal Highway, Suite 1101
Pompano Beach, FL 33062
Meet the firm
Our work begins with the event, the records, and the questions that remain. In the matters we accept, we review responsibility and coverage and develop the injury evidence before advising on a claim or proposed resolution.
Partner
Mark’s background includes prosecution and insurance defense. Read his biography for the firm’s account of his trial experience.
Read Mark J. Miller's bio →
Partner
Rick’s background includes service as a Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney. His biography describes his practice and trial experience.
Read Rick S. Jacobs's bio →Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome. Each matter depends on its facts, evidence, law, available coverage, injuries, and losses.
Questions after a Hollywood dog bite
These questions address reports, ongoing care, and claim rules. The answer for your incident depends on its facts.
Ask for the incident reference and which agency holds the investigation. Broward lists a biting-dog reporting contact, while Hollywood has its own animal-control route for loose-dog complaints. Keep any county, city, or police references separately so the records can be requested and compared.
Give authorities the description, exact location, and time you can recall. Save witness contacts or lawful photos already available. Do not approach the dog to identify it. A review may help identify the owner, but recovery is uncertain if no responsible party or available source of payment can be found.
Not automatically. Florida’s bite statute has specific limits on that defense, including for a child under six and harm caused by the owner’s negligence. The wording, visibility, location, child’s age, and event need review. Save a safe photo rather than assuming any warning sign controls the result.
First ask whether the payment comes with a release or settles more than that bill. Follow-up care and healing may still be uncertain. Save the offer and ask an attorney to review its scope before agreeing to a final settlement. The available policy and coverage also need review.
Possibly. Florida law separately addresses damage caused by dogs, and the facts may also support a negligence claim. Explain what the animal did and how the injury happened. A chase or knockdown should be reviewed under the rules that fit it, rather than treated as a bite by default.
No single period should be assumed for every claim. Florida’s limitations law lists four years for actions based on statutory liability and two years for negligence. The claim, incident date, defendant, and any applicable exception need review. Reporting a bite or discussing insurance should not be assumed to extend the filing deadline.
See Florida’s rule for damage caused by dogs and the filing-period categories for the separate rules discussed above.
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