The Power of Justice
Children and Dog Bite Injuries
A dog bite can be frightening for anyone, but when the injured person is a child, the situation feels different. Children are smaller, closer to a dog’s face level, less able to protect themselves, and more likely to suffer injuries to the face, head, neck, hands, and arms. A dog bite can leave a child with scarring, fear, medical trauma, or long-term emotional effects.
At Cook, Bradford & Levy, we represent children and families affected by dog bite injuries throughout Boulder County and across Colorado. We handle serious personal injury cases, and we understand how quickly a normal day can turn into an emergency. A child may be bitten at a neighbor’s home, in an apartment complex, at a park, near a school, on a sidewalk, at a family gathering, or while visiting someone who said the dog was friendly.
At Cook, Bradford & Levy, we only represent injured people and families, never the insurance companies. When a child is hurt, our job is to protect the child’s interests, help the family understand the legal process, and pursue the compensation needed for medical care, scarring, emotional harm, and future needs.
Our attorneys also bring a strong record of professional recognition, including recognition from Super Lawyers, Justia 10.0 ratings, Avvo Excellent ratings, and Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished ratings. Awards and ratings do not guarantee a result, but they can help families understand more about a law firm’s reputation, experience, and standing in the legal community when choosing who to trust after a serious injury.
Dog Bites Involving Children Are Often More Serious
Children are often more vulnerable to dog bite injuries than adults. They may not recognize warning signs such as stiff posture, growling, staring, raised hackles, or a dog backing away. They may reach toward a dog’s face, hug a dog around the neck, run near a dog, or approach a dog while it is eating or resting. That does not mean the child is to blame. It means adults and dog owners must be especially careful when dogs are around children.
In Boulder County, children may encounter dogs in many familiar places: neighborhood sidewalks, apartment courtyards, parks, trails, playgrounds, school pickup areas, outdoor shopping areas, and residential streets. A bite may happen in Boulder, Longmont, Lafayette, Louisville, Erie, Superior, Niwot, Lyons, Nederland, Gunbarrel, or unincorporated Boulder County. It may occur near Pearl Street Mall, Boulder Creek Path, Chautauqua Park, North Boulder Park, Valmont City Park, Waneka Lake Park, LaMont Does Park, Old Town Lafayette, a multi-use path, a rental property, a fenced yard, a birthday party, or inside a friend or family member’s home.
These settings often feel safe and familiar, which can make the injury even more upsetting. A child may have known the dog. The dog owner may be a neighbor, relative, landlord, tenant, friend, or family acquaintance. That relationship can make families hesitant to ask legal questions, even when the child has suffered a serious injury.
A dog owner may know that a dog is nervous, protective, reactive, poorly trained, or unsafe around children. The owner may have seen the dog growl, snap, lunge, bite, escape, chase children, or behave aggressively before. Even when there was no prior bite, responsible owners must control their dogs and take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harm. Signs of aggression appear early and often and the dog owner is the best to know and warn before a bite occurs.
Local reporting can also matter. Boulder County Animal Control serves unincorporated areas and some communities, while cities such as Boulder, Longmont, Lafayette, Louisville, Erie, and Nederland generally handle animal control through their own local departments or police agencies. Parents should report the bite, identify the dog, confirm rabies vaccination information, and ask whether the dog must be confined for observation. In Boulder County, bites involving dogs, cats, and ferrets generally require reporting and may involve a ten-day observation period to evaluate rabies exposure concerns. That public health step is separate from a civil injury claim, but it can create important records about the incident.
Children can suffer severe injuries because of their size. A bite to the face may require stitches, plastic surgery, or scar revision. A bite to the hand may damage nerves, tendons, or joints. A larger dog may knock a child down, causing a head injury, fracture, dental injury, or additional trauma. Some children develop nightmares, fear of dogs, anxiety outdoors, or distress when returning to the place where the attack happened.
We take these injuries seriously because a child’s recovery is not only about the wound closing. It is about what the injury may mean for the child’s body, confidence, routine, emotional health, and future.
What Families Should Do After a Child Is Bitten
The first priority is medical care. Dog bites can become infected quickly, and children may need treatment even when the wound does not initially look severe. Deep puncture wounds, bites to the face or hand, uncontrolled bleeding, numbness, signs of infection, and any concern about rabies or vaccination status should be addressed promptly.
After a child is bitten by a dog in Colorado, families should try to:
- Get medical care right away and follow all discharge instructions.
- Report the bite to the appropriate animal control or law enforcement agency.
- Identify the dog, the owner, and the location where the bite happened.
- Ask for rabies vaccination information and any animal control case number.
- Take photos of the wound, the scene, torn clothing, blood, bruising, and healing over time.
- Save medical records, prescriptions, receipts, insurance letters, and school absence information.
- Write down what the child said happened as soon as possible, using the child’s own words.
- Avoid giving recorded statements to insurance companies before getting legal advice.
Families should also avoid posting photos, videos, or comments about the attack on social media. Even innocent posts may later be used by an insurance company to question the injury, the child’s recovery, or the family’s account of what happened.
Evidence That Can Help a Child Dog Bite Claim
A dog bite case may depend on details that are easy to miss in the early days. We may look for animal control reports, police reports, medical records, photographs, witness statements, vaccination records, lease documents, prior complaints, text messages, neighborhood warnings, veterinary records, homeowners insurance, renters insurance, and property management records.
Prior behavior can be important. Had the dog bitten someone before? Had it growled, lunged, snapped, chased children, escaped a yard, attacked another animal, or been reported to animal control? Did the owner warn people to stay away? Did neighbors complain? Did a landlord know the dog was dangerous? A competent attorney should investigate or hire an investigator to talk with neighbors or even the local mail carrier. Evidence of prior aggression of bites can be found with hard work and know-how.
We may also look at the physical setting. Was there a broken fence, open gate, loose leash, missing warning sign, unsafe play area, or lack of adult supervision? Was the dog allowed to roam? Was the child lawfully on the property? Was the dog being handled by someone who could not control it? Was a leash law or ordinance being violated?
The more complete the evidence, the stronger the claim may become.
Compensation in a Child Dog Bite Case
A child dog bite claim should account for both immediate and future harm. The first emergency room visit may not tell the whole story.
Compensation may include emergency care, ambulance bills, wound care, stitches, surgery, plastic surgery, scar revision, medication, counseling, follow-up care, future medical treatment, and other out-of-pocket costs. A claim may also include pain and suffering, emotional distress, disfigurement, inconvenience, and reduced quality of life where available under Colorado law.
The future is especially important for children. A scar may change as the child grows. A child may need later treatment. Emotional distress may become clearer after the child returns to school, sports, playdates, or public places where dogs are present.
We do not want a child’s claim valued too early, before doctors and the family understand what the injury will mean over time. Insurance companies may want a quick settlement. Families deserve time to understand the medical picture and legal options.
Colorado Dog Bite Law and Children
Colorado has a specific dog bite statute. Under Colorado Revised Statutes section 13-21-124, a person who suffers serious bodily injury or death from being bitten by a dog while lawfully on public or private property may bring a civil action against the dog owner for economic damages regardless of the dog’s prior viciousness or the owner’s knowledge of that viciousness.
That statute can matter in child injury cases because families often hear the owner say, “The dog never did this before.” Prior behavior may still be important, but Colorado law may allow recovery of economic damages for serious bodily injury even if the dog had no known bite history.
Economic damages can include medical bills, future medical care, therapy, surgery, counseling, and other financial losses related to the bite. In some cases, families may also have claims based on negligence, premises liability, or other legal theories depending on where the attack happened and who had control over the dog or property.
The statute defines bodily injury to include physical injuries such as severe bruising, muscle tears, skin lacerations requiring professional medical treatment, or injuries requiring corrective or cosmetic surgery. Serious bodily injury refers to the meaning set out in Colorado criminal law under Colorado Revised Statutes section 18-1-901.
Every case depends on its facts. A child bitten in a public park may raise different legal issues than a child bitten inside a rental home, apartment complex, daycare, neighbor’s yard, or relative’s house. We look closely at who owned the dog, who controlled the dog, where the bite happened, what the owner knew, what local rules applied, and whether another person or property owner also contributed to the danger.
The Dog Owner Is Not Always the Only Party We Review
Many dog bite claims focus on the dog owner, and often that is where responsibility begins. But the owner may not be the only person or entity whose conduct matters.
A landlord or property manager may have known about a dangerous dog and failed to act. A tenant may have violated lease rules or animal restrictions. A daycare, school, camp, or childcare provider may have allowed a child to be near an unsafe dog. A business may have permitted a dangerous dog on the premises. A relative, babysitter, or host may have failed to supervise an interaction between a child and a dog.
These cases can be sensitive because the dog owner is sometimes a neighbor, friend, family member, or someone the child knows. Families may worry about damaging a relationship. That is understandable. In many cases, the claim is handled through homeowners insurance, renters insurance, landlord policies, or other available coverage. Our role is to help the family understand the process and make decisions that protect the child.
We investigate responsibility carefully, not aggressively for the sake of being aggressive. The goal is to identify the full picture and find the insurance coverage that should respond.
Injuries Children May Suffer After a Dog Bite
Dog bite injuries can be physically and emotionally complex. Some children need emergency care, stitches, antibiotics, rabies evaluation, tetanus review, wound cleaning, imaging, or surgery. Others need follow-up care with a pediatrician, plastic surgeon, orthopedist, therapist, or mental health professional.
Common injuries may include puncture wounds, torn skin, facial lacerations, eyelid or lip injuries, ear injuries, nerve damage, tendon damage, broken bones, crush injuries, infection, scarring, disfigurement, and psychological trauma. A child who is knocked down may also suffer a concussion, dental injury, or fracture.
Scarring is especially important in child dog bite cases. A scar on a child’s face, hand, arm, or leg may change as the child grows. Some scars require later revision. Some may remain visible into adulthood. A child may become self-conscious, avoid photos, feel embarrassed at school, or struggle with questions from classmates.
Colorado Revised Statutes section 13-21-102.5 addresses noneconomic losses such as pain and suffering, inconvenience, emotional stress, and impairment of quality of life. In a child dog bite case, those losses may include fear, sleep disruption, anxiety around dogs, loss of confidence, and the emotional burden of visible scarring.
We work to document both the medical injury and the lived experience of the child.
Why Cook, Bradford & Levy Handles Child Injury Cases Carefully
Children’s injury cases require patience, preparation, and judgment. The legal claim belongs to a young person whose future may be affected in ways that are not immediately obvious. We approach these cases with care because the child’s long-term well-being matters more than a fast resolution.
Cook, Bradford & Levy has a long record of representing injured people against insurance companies and corporate defendants. Our lawyers have more than 60 years of combined legal experience. We have litigated hundreds of lawsuits and collectively completed more than 100 jury trials in American courtrooms. We have recovered millions of dollars for injured clients.
Those results do not guarantee any future outcome. Every dog bite case depends on its own facts, injuries, evidence, insurance coverage, and legal issues. But they reflect the serious injury work we are prepared to handle.
Our team is led by trial lawyers Jason Levy and Brian Bradford, with Stephen Cook serving as Of Counsel. Jason Levy has been recognized by Super Lawyers, including Rising Stars and Super Lawyers selections in personal injury. Brian Bradford brings Colorado courtroom experience and a deep personal injury background to the firm’s cases. Together, our lawyers bring the litigation experience needed when an insurance company refuses to treat a child’s injury with the seriousness it deserves.
We also never represent insurance companies. Our work is for injured people and families.
Trust Built Through Client Experience and Professional Recognition
When choosing a lawyer for a child’s dog bite injury, families often look for two kinds of reassurance: what past clients have said about their experience and how the legal community has recognized the attorneys they are considering. Both can provide helpful context when a family is deciding who to trust after a frightening injury to a child.
Cook, Bradford & Levy has earned positive feedback from clients who appreciate the firm’s communication, preparation, compassion, and commitment to helping injured people through difficult moments. In a child injury case, that kind of trust matters. Families need a legal team that will listen carefully, explain the process clearly, and take the child’s physical and emotional recovery seriously.
The attorneys at Cook, Bradford & Levy have also received recognition from respected legal platforms and rating services, including Super Lawyers, Justia 10.0 ratings, Avvo Excellent ratings, and Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished ratings.
Super Lawyers recognizes attorneys through a selection process involving independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations. Justia is a widely used legal information and lawyer directory platform that helps people research attorneys, legal issues, and law firms. Avvo evaluates lawyers using information from attorney profiles, public records, licensing sources, experience, professional achievements, peer endorsements, and disciplinary history. Martindale-Hubbell is one of the longstanding attorney rating organizations in the legal profession, and its Distinguished rating is part of its peer review rating system.
Client reviews, awards, ratings, and past results do not guarantee the outcome of any case. Every dog bite injury claim depends on its own facts, injuries, evidence, insurance coverage, and legal issues. Still, positive client feedback and professional recognition can help families feel more confident when deciding who to call after a serious injury to a child.
Timing Matters After a Dog Bite
Colorado Revised Statutes section 13-80-102 generally provides a two-year limitation period for many personal injury claims, while different timing rules may apply depending on the type of claim, the age of the injured child, the defendant, and the legal theory involved. Families should not rely on a general deadline without getting legal advice.
Waiting can hurt a case even when a formal deadline has not passed. Animal control records may become harder to obtain. Witnesses may move. Photographs may not capture the injury as it changes. Insurance information may be lost. The dog owner may deny what happened. A landlord or property manager may claim they never knew there was a problem.
Early legal help allows us to preserve evidence, identify insurance coverage, document the child’s injuries, and protect the child’s claim before important information disappears.
Talk With a Boulder County Child Dog Bite Lawyer
When a child is bitten by a dog, the family may be left with fear, guilt, anger, medical bills, and uncertainty about what to do next. You do not have to handle those questions alone.
At Cook, Bradford & Levy, we represent children and families in dog bite injury cases throughout Boulder County and across Colorado. We investigate what happened, identify responsible parties, preserve evidence, communicate with insurers, and pursue compensation for medical care, scarring, emotional harm, and the future impact of the injury.
If your child was bitten by a dog at a home, apartment complex, park, school, business, sidewalk, trail, or other location, contact us today for a free consultation.
The sooner we can begin, the sooner we can help protect evidence, deal with insurance companies, and explain your family’s options. Call Cook, Bradford & Levy today or send us a message to speak with a Boulder County dog bite injury lawyer. We are ready to listen, investigate, and help your family move forward.