In Los Angeles County, dog bites must be reported immediately to the LA County Department of Public Health, Veterinary Public Health division. You can file the report online or by contacting the county directly. California law requires that all bites from mammals be reported to the local health officer, whether or not the animal is suspected of having rabies.
Where to File Your Report
For most of LA County, the reporting agency is Los Angeles County Veterinary Public Health and Rabies Control. The fastest way to file is through the county’s online Animal Bite Report Form at the Department of Public Health website (publichealth.lacounty.gov). The form is straightforward and walks you through each section.
Three cities within LA County handle bite reports independently: Long Beach, Pasadena, and Vernon. If you were bitten in one of those cities, contact the animal control agency for that jurisdiction directly instead of going through the county system.
If you believe the dog is dangerous and poses an ongoing threat, you should also file a separate report with your local animal control agency. The public health report deals specifically with rabies risk and bite documentation, while animal control handles enforcement, citations, and potentially designating the dog as dangerous.
Information You’ll Need
The report form asks for details across several categories. Having this information ready will make the process faster:
- About the incident: The street address where the bite occurred, the city, and a description of what happened.
- About your injury: The location of the bite on your body (face, hand, leg, torso), which side was affected, and whether you sought medical treatment.
- About the dog: Breed, age, sex, color, name, and whether the dog has been vaccinated for rabies (including the date of last vaccination, if known).
- About the owner: The dog owner’s name, address, phone number, and email address.
If you don’t know the owner or can’t identify the dog, file the report anyway with whatever information you have. The animal’s location is considered the most critical piece of information for follow-up, since it determines whether the county can locate and quarantine the dog.
What Happens After You Report
Your report triggers an investigation by public health officials. The intensity and speed of that investigation depend on the circumstances of the bite and the assessed rabies risk. An officer from public health or animal control will typically follow up to locate the dog and determine next steps.
The county classifies rabies risk into tiers. Healthy local dogs and cats, including strays, are considered low risk. Rabies treatment for the bite victim is rarely needed in these cases. Sick dogs or cats carry moderate risk, and treatment is sometimes recommended. Bats and abnormally acting wildlife are high risk, and treatment is frequently started right away. For context, bites from squirrels, rabbits, rats, mice, birds, and snakes are not even reportable because those animals do not spread rabies.
The Dog Quarantine Process
Once a biting dog is located, it will be placed under quarantine for observation. The standard quarantine period for dogs in California is 10 days. During this time, officials watch for any signs of rabies or other disease.
Quarantine can happen in a few different places. In some cases, the dog may be confined at the owner’s property if the facilities are adequate and animal control approves the arrangement. Otherwise, the dog will be held at an animal shelter, veterinary hospital, or licensed boarding kennel. The local health officer makes the call on where quarantine takes place.
There is an early release option. If a licensed veterinarian examines the dog on or after the fifth day of quarantine and certifies that it shows no clinical signs of disease, the health officer can release the animal early. Without that veterinary clearance, the full 10-day observation period applies.
Hiding a biting animal or violating any part of a quarantine order is a misdemeanor under California state law, punishable by fines or imprisonment.
Who Else Is Required to Report
You’re not the only one with a reporting obligation. California regulation mandates that healthcare providers, including physicians and veterinarians, report all mammal bites to the local health department. If you go to an emergency room or urgent care for a dog bite, the facility is required to file its own report. This means the county may already have a record of your bite if you’ve been treated, but filing your own report ensures the animal’s location and owner details are captured, which the medical facility may not have.
Dangerous Dog Designations
The public health bite report focuses on rabies risk, but a dog bite can also lead to the animal being classified as dangerous under local ordinances. Some municipalities in LA County have dangerous dog rules that target individual dogs with a history of harmful behavior, such as unprovoked attacks on people or other animals. These designations place responsibility on the owner and can result in requirements like special containment, muzzling in public, or additional liability insurance. To pursue this, you would file a separate complaint with the animal control agency in your area.