What to Do After a Dog Bite in Pennsylvania: 7 Steps to Protect Your Health and Your Claim

The first 48 hours after a Pennsylvania dog bite determine both your medical recovery and the strength of your insurance claim. Here are the seven steps that matter — in the order they need to happen.

1. Get away from the dog and call 911 if the attack is ongoing

Your safety comes first. If the dog is still loose or aggressive, get to a safe place — a car, a building, a fenced area — and call 911. Pennsylvania police can shoot, capture, or order the confinement of a dog that poses an immediate threat.

2. Photograph the wound BEFORE you clean it

Take phone photos of every puncture, laceration, and bruise before you wash anything. Then take a second set of photos after cleaning, with a coin or ruler for scale. Insurance adjusters and juries rely on these photos — without them, the wound is often "described" rather than "shown."

3. Identify the dog, the owner, and the homeowner's-insurance carrier

• The owner's full name, address, and phone number
• The dog's name, breed, color, and weight
• The dog's rabies-vaccination certificate and tag number
• The owner's homeowner's or renter's insurance carrier (just ask — most owners will tell you)
• Names and phone numbers of every witness

This information is the foundation of the claim. Without it, even a slam-dunk case becomes much harder.

4. Get medical care — even if the bite seems minor

Go to the ER, an urgent care, or your primary care provider the same day. Dog bites carry a 10–20% infection rate (Pasteurella, Capnocytophaga, MRSA), and infected bites can become life-threatening within 48 hours. The medical visit also creates the official record of the bite — without which the insurance case is significantly harder to prove.

The treating provider should irrigate the wound thoroughly, decide whether to suture or refer to plastic surgery for facial bites, update tetanus, prescribe prophylactic antibiotics (Augmentin is standard), and start rabies post-exposure prophylaxis if the dog's vaccination cannot be verified.

5. Report the bite to local animal control within 24 hours

Pennsylvania requires medical providers to report bites, but you should also report it yourself to create a second record. Every county has an animal-control office or SPCA that takes bite reports. The report triggers a mandatory 10-day quarantine of the dog under 3 P.S. § 459-502-A — which both confirms the dog was not rabid and creates an official record we can subpoena later.

6. Do NOT give a recorded statement to the dog owner's insurance company

The owner's insurance adjuster will call you, usually within 48–72 hours, and ask for a "quick recorded statement." Politely decline. Adjusters are trained to ask questions that minimize the bite, suggest you provoked the dog, or get you to commit to a low number before you understand your injury. Refer them to your lawyer.

7. Call a Pennsylvania dog bite lawyer before signing anything

The insurance company will often offer a fast settlement — typically $1,000–$5,000 — within the first two weeks. Do not sign. Once you sign a release, the case is over forever, even if you later need plastic surgery, the wound gets infected, or the scar turns out worse than expected. A Pennsylvania dog bite lawyer will review the offer for free and tell you honestly whether it is fair.

What if you missed some of these steps?

Most clients did not photograph the wound, did not get the insurance information, or talked to the adjuster before calling us. That is okay — we can usually reconstruct what is missing through medical records, animal-control reports, and witness affidavits. The case is rarely lost. Call us anyway.

Free consultation

Call (717) 724-7503 or request a free consultation. We represent dog bite victims throughout Pennsylvania on a contingency fee — no fee unless we recover. For the full PA legal framework, see our PA Dog Bite Lawyer hub.

Serving injured Pennsylvanians in: Philadelphia · Pittsburgh · Harrisburg.