Indiana Dangerous Dog Law

What happens in the first days after the bite?

The bite is first a rabies question. Anyone bitten by a mammal must be reported to the local health officer within 24 hours, and an attending physician makes that report¹¹. Doctors and hospitals that treat a dog bite also report it to the Indiana Department of Health within 72 hours¹⁰. The health officer investigates right away¹¹.

The usual result for a healthy dog is an observation order. The state veterinarian, the local health officer or someone either of them names may order the dog confined¹². The confinement must last at least 10 days, run under the supervision of a licensed accredited veterinarian or another named person, and be paid for by the owner¹². Whether the dog stays home or goes to a shelter or clinic is the official's call¹¹. The dog cannot get a rabies shot during the observation period. A sick or badly injured dog is euthanized and tested¹¹.

Breaking the order has consequences. If two people sign a sworn written statement that the dog broke confinement, an officer impounds it, and the owner pays the local government's costs¹². An officer must impound or destroy a dog running at large while it is under a confinement order¹².

Indiana requires every dog 3 months or older to be vaccinated against rabies, with no medical exemptions and no titer tests in place of the shot¹⁴. Keeping an unvaccinated dog over six months old is an infraction. It becomes a Class B misdemeanor if the dog bites someone and causes injury¹⁴.

Does Indiana have a state dangerous-dog law?

No. The dog-bite chapter of the Indiana Code has no dangerous-dog class, no hearing and no registration. It expressly preserves any state agency rule or local ordinance that does not conflict with it¹. So whether your dog can be declared dangerous or vicious, who holds the hearing, what you must do afterward and whether the dog can be destroyed all depend on the ordinance where the bite happened. Ordinances vary widely. Some impose enclosures, muzzles, insurance or fees; some have no dangerous-dog procedure at all. Read your city or county code and any notice you receive, and note the appeal deadline it gives.

Can the dog be put down?

Under state law, a dog can be destroyed in three situations. The first is rabies testing: a health officer may order a biting animal confined and destroyed for laboratory diagnosis, and a sick or terminally injured biting dog must be euthanized for testing¹²¹¹. The second follows a criminal case. An officer with probable cause that the owner broke the restraint law may impound the dog¹. If the owner is convicted, the court can end the owner's right to the dog and give it to a humane organization or order another disposition¹⁵. The owner can ask the criminal court for a probable-cause hearing and get the dog back if the court finds none¹⁵. The third is a local dangerous-dog ordinance that allows it.

What criminal charges can the owner face?

The main offense is failing to restrain a dog. It applies when the owner recklessly, knowingly or intentionally fails to take reasonable steps to restrain the dog, the dog goes onto someone else's property, and it bites or attacks a person without provocation, causing injury¹. The penalty rises with the harm and with the owner's record¹:

• First offense with bodily injury: Class C misdemeanor.
• One earlier conviction: Class B misdemeanor.
• Two or more earlier convictions, or serious bodily injury: Class A misdemeanor.
• Death, if the owner acted recklessly: Level 6 felony.
• Death, if the owner acted knowingly or intentionally: Level 5 felony.

The offense requires the dog to leave the owner's property, so a bite inside your own yard falls outside it¹. Letting any dog stray off your property without control is a separate infraction, except for a dog hunting lawfully with its owner or a nonaggressive dog on farm or forest land¹. Owners of wolf hybrids and coydogs must keep them in a building, a secure enclosure or on a leash of 8 feet or less. Failing to do so is a Level 6 felony if it leads to serious injury and a Level 5 felony if it leads to death¹. Government police and military dogs on duty are exempt from the restraint offense¹.

Does Indiana ban any breeds?

Not at the state level, and state law does not stop cities and towns from adopting breed rules. A 2022 bill to ban breed-specific local ordinances died in a Senate committee¹⁶.

What if the dog bites again?

A second conviction for failing to restrain a dog moves the offense up one class, and a third makes it a Class A misdemeanor whatever the injury¹. Each new bite also brings a new rabies confinement order¹². Under a local ordinance, a second bite may also trigger a dangerous-dog finding. In a civil suit, an earlier bite you knew about defeats the presumption that your dog is harmless. That is often what the victim needs to win, as explained on the Indiana dog bite law page³.

Rules for a declared dog in Indiana

Indiana rules in brief

Reporting. Every bite of a person by a domestic or wild mammal must be reported to the local health officer within 24 hours. If a physician attends, the physician makes the report¹¹. Separately, a physician or hospital that treats a dog bite must report it to the Indiana Department of Health within 72 hours¹⁰. The department takes bite reports online and encourages bitten people to file a separate report with local animal control or police¹³.

Euthanasia. No state statute lets a court or agency declare a dog dangerous and order it destroyed. That power, where it exists, comes from local ordinances, which state law expressly preserves¹. State law allows a health officer to order a biting dog confined and destroyed when needed for rabies testing¹²¹¹. After a criminal conviction under the dog-bite or animal chapters, a court may end the owner's right to the dog and order its disposition¹⁵.

Criminal penalties. An owner who recklessly, knowingly or intentionally fails to restrain a dog that leaves the owner's property and bites someone without provocation commits a Class C misdemeanor. It becomes a Class A misdemeanor if the bite causes serious bodily injury. If the victim dies, it is a Level 6 felony when the owner acted recklessly, or a Level 5 felony when the owner acted knowingly or intentionally¹.

Breed rules. No Indiana statute bars breed-specific local ordinances; a 2022 bill to ban them (Senate Bill 18) died in committee¹⁶¹.

Compare states: dangerous dog laws by state, bite quarantine rules, euthanasia after a bite. If your dog bit someone, start with what happens next.

Sources

1. Indiana Code 15-20-1 (Liability for Dog Bites), §§ 1–7, Indiana General Assembly. Checked 17 October 2026.
2. Cook v. Whitsell-Sherman, 796 N.E.2d 271 (Ind. 2003), Supreme Court of Indiana (CourtListener). Checked 17 October 2026.
3. Poznanski v. Horvath, 788 N.E.2d 1255 (Ind. 2003), Supreme Court of Indiana (CourtListener). Checked 17 October 2026.
4. Indiana Code 34-11-2-4 (two-year limitation for injury to person or property), Indiana General Assembly. Checked 17 October 2026.
5. Indiana Code 34-11-6-1 (persons under legal disabilities), Indiana General Assembly. Checked 17 October 2026.
6. Indiana Code 34-51-2-2, -5, -6 (Comparative Fault Act), Indiana General Assembly. Checked 17 October 2026.
7. Indiana Code 34-13-3-6 and 34-13-3-8 (Tort Claims Act notice), Indiana General Assembly. Checked 17 October 2026.
8. Indiana Code 34-51-3 (punitive damages), Indiana General Assembly. Checked 17 October 2026.
9. Morehead v. Deitrich, 932 N.E.2d 1272 (Ind. Ct. App. 2010), Court of Appeals of Indiana (Animal Legal & Historical Center). Checked 17 October 2026.
10. Indiana Code 35-47-7-4 (dog bite injury reporting), Indiana General Assembly. Checked 17 October 2026.
11. 410 IAC 1-2.5-80 (animal bites; specific control measures), Indiana Department of Health (Cornell LII). Checked 17 October 2026.
12. Indiana Code 15-17-6-10 and 15-17-6-11 (rabies confinement and destruction orders), Indiana General Assembly. Checked 17 October 2026.
13. Report an Animal Bite, Indiana Department of Health. Checked 17 October 2026.
14. Pet Vaccination Laws (345 IAC 1-5; IC 35-46-3-1), Indiana Department of Health. Checked 17 October 2026.
15. Indiana Code 35-46-3-6 (impoundment of animals; probable cause hearing; disposition), Indiana General Assembly. Checked 17 October 2026.
16. Senate Bill 18 (2022): Prohibition of local bans on specific dog breeds, Indiana General Assembly. Checked 17 October 2026.