Kentucky Dog Bite Law

How dog bite liability works in Kentucky

Kentucky's rule is old. The Supreme Court of Kentucky traces strict dog-owner liability back to an 1851 statute, and the version in force in 2026 says simply that any owner whose dog "is found to have caused damage to a person, livestock, or other property shall be responsible for that damage"¹⁴. A second section, KRS 258.990(2), separately makes the owner of a dog, cat or ferret that bites a human liable for all damages for the resulting personal injuries³. Neither section asks whether the dog had bitten before.

Three decisions set the limits. In Benningfield v. Zinsmeister (2012) the Supreme Court held that the statute replaced the one-bite rule as the main route to recovery but left negligence claims available⁵. In Maupin v. Tankersley (2018) it held that a person who was trespassing when a pack of dogs attacked could still recover under the statute, with the jury cutting the award for her own fault⁴. And in Hanna v. Shea (2025) the Court of Appeals held that strict liability covers attacks, bites and similar acts aimed at a person, not a guest who falls over a dog on a porch⁷.

The statute's definition of "owner" is wide. It covers the legal owner, anyone who keeps or harbors the dog or has it in their care, and anyone who lets it stay on premises they own or lease and occupy². The words "and occupied" were added in 2017, so a landlord who does not live on the property is no longer an owner merely for allowing a tenant's dog⁶.

The catch is time. Kentucky gives one year for personal-injury suits, half of what neighboring Ohio, Indiana and Virginia allow¹⁰. Owners facing a vicious-dog complaint should see the Kentucky dangerous dog law page.

The Kentucky dog bite statute

Any owner whose dog is found to have caused damage to a person, livestock or other property is responsible for that damage¹. "Owner" includes every person with a property right in the dog and everyone who keeps or harbors it, has it in their care, or lets it remain on or about premises they own or lease and also occupy². KRS 258.990(2) adds that the owner of a dog, cat or ferret that bites a human is liable for all damages for the personal injuries from the bite³. The statute has no place limit and no provocation or trespass exception; the courts apply comparative fault instead⁴.

• Law: Ky. Rev. Stat. § 258.235(4) (Owner responsible for damage caused by dog), enacted 1954; last changed 2004: 2004 Ky. Acts ch. 189, the version in force in October 2026; "owner" redefined in 2017
• Injuries covered: Any injury the dog causes (bites, knock-downs, chases)
• Where: Anywhere
• Who is liable: The owner, or a keeper or harborer
• Damages: All damages, under the ordinary rules

Other ways to prove liability

The statute did not abolish the common law. Benningfield ex rel. Benningfield v. Zinsmeister, 367 S.W.3d 561 (Ky. 2012), held that the General Assembly "in no way removed the ability of a plaintiff to bring a claim under the one-free-bite rule or a theory of negligence"⁵. A common-law claim requires proof that the defendant knew of the dog's dangerous or mischievous propensity, which the Court of Appeals reaffirmed in Hanna v. Shea (2025), citing Horbach v. Forsythe, 667 S.W.3d 1 (Ky. App. 2023), for the point that negligence remains available where strict liability does not apply⁷. Negligence matters when the defendant is not a statutory owner, such as an off-site landlord, or when the injury was not an attack⁶⁷. KRS 258.265, amended in 2026, requires owners to control their dogs so as not to break local nuisance ordinances, which can support a negligence argument¹⁸.

Defenses owners raise

Trespassing

Trespass is not a complete defense to the statutory claim. In Maupin v. Tankersley, 540 S.W.3d 357 (Ky. 2018), a woman crossing private land without permission was attacked by four or five dogs; the Supreme Court held the owner strictly liable and said the jury may reduce the damages for her own fault⁴. The definitions section excludes a person illegally on the owner's property from the word "attack", which the statute uses for vicious-dog complaints, but subsection (4)'s damage rule does not use that word¹².

Provocation

No Kentucky statute lists provocation as a defense¹. Teasing or hitting the dog counts as the bitten person's fault: under Maupin the jury lowers the award in proportion and may give only nominal damages to a plaintiff who was the sole wrongdoer⁴.

Other defense

Strict liability needs an attack, bite or similar act directed at the person. In Hanna v. Shea, No. 2024-CA-0881-MR (Ky. App. May 23, 2025), a guest who fell over the owners' Labrador on their porch could not use the statute; she would have had to prove negligence instead⁷.

Shared fault

Pure comparative fault (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 411.182).

In all tort actions the jury assigns a percentage of fault to each party, and the plaintiff's share reduces the award without ever barring it⁸. Maupin v. Tankersley (2018) held that this applies to the strict-liability dog claim: a comparative fault analysis of damages is "mandated by KRS 411.182(2)", and it "serves to ameliorate the harshness of KRS 258.235(4)"⁴. A plaintiff 70% at fault still recovers 30% of the damages.

How the five fault systems compare: provocation, trespass and shared fault.

Kentucky dog bite statute of limitations

1 year (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 413.140(1)(a))

An action for an injury to the person must be started within one year after the cause of action accrues, normally the day of the bite¹⁰. A claim against a state agency goes to the Board of Claims, which also has a one-year limit running from the injury or its discovery, never later than two years after the act¹².

Children. For a child, the one year runs from the 18th birthday, so a bitten child has until age 19¹¹. That tolling does not apply to Board of Claims cases against the Commonwealth, where a parent or guardian must file within the normal period¹².

Work out your own date with the dog bite claim checker, or compare deadlines in every state.

Damages

The statute makes the owner "responsible for that damage" and KRS 258.990(2) for "all damages" from a bite, so compensatory damages cover medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, scarring and other losses¹³. The statute sets no cap. Punitive damages require clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with oppression, fraud or malice⁹. When an owner destroys a biting animal so it cannot be quarantined or tested, the owner is also liable for the bitten person's rabies post-exposure treatment¹⁴.

Landlords and property owners

A landlord is liable as a statutory owner only if they permit the dog to remain on or about premises they own and occupy². That wording dates from 2017 H.B. 112, passed after Benningfield v. Zinsmeister (2012) had held that a landlord could be an "owner" under the older "owned or occupied" text⁵⁶. Even then, Benningfield limited liability to dogs on the property or within immediate physical reach of it; the landlord there was not liable for a tenant's Rottweiler that bit a boy on a street⁵. A landlord who does not live on site can still face a negligence claim⁵.

Insurance

No Kentucky statute in the dog chapter, KRS Chapter 258, limits insurers' use of breed or requires liability insurance or a bond for the owner of a vicious dog¹¹⁶. Coverage for a bite claim depends on the owner's homeowners or renters policy.

More on coverage, breed exclusions and renters policies: dog bite insurance.

Why the one-year deadline matters more than the liability rule

Most dog bite claims in Kentucky turn on time rather than on proof. The owner's liability is strict, and a bitten person's carelessness reduces the award instead of defeating it⁴⁸. But KRS 413.140(1)(a) allows only one year from the bite to file suit, while neighboring Ohio, Indiana and Virginia allow two years¹⁰. For children the year starts at 18¹¹, but for a claim against a state agency before the Board of Claims there is no extension for minors at all¹². See the dog bite statute of limitations table for every state.

Bite reports and quarantine

A physician who treats an animal bite must report it to the local health department within 12 hours of first attending the patient, giving the person's name, age, sex and the bite location¹³. If no physician is involved, a parent or guardian reports a child's bite and an adult (or their carer) reports their own; if the health department is closed, the report is due the next working day¹³. The Cabinet for Health and Family Services asks that all animal bites be reported to the local health department¹⁵.

The local health officer may quarantine a dog, cat or ferret that bit a person for up to 10 days, or order it destroyed and tested for rabies instead¹⁴. The owner pays the quarantine and testing costs¹⁴. Police service animals that are vaccinated and were on duty are exempt from bite quarantine¹⁴. Cities and counties may adopt stricter rabies rules¹⁷.

Dangerous-dog hearings, euthanasia orders and criminal penalties are covered on Kentucky dangerous dog law.

Questions about Kentucky dog bite law

Is Kentucky a one-bite state?

No. KRS 258.235(4) makes the owner responsible for damage the dog causes without proof that it had bitten before¹. The Supreme Court called this a form of strict liability in Benningfield (2012) and Maupin (2018)⁴⁵. The old one-bite rule survives only as an extra theory a plaintiff may plead⁵.

Can I sue if a dog bit me while I was on the owner's land without permission?

Possibly. In Maupin v. Tankersley the plaintiff was trespassing and the Supreme Court still held the owner strictly liable, leaving the jury to reduce damages for her own fault⁴. The trespass exclusion in the definition of "attack" applies to the vicious-dog complaint process¹².

Can I sue my landlord for a tenant's dog?

Usually not under the statute, unless the landlord also lives on the property²⁶. A landlord who occupies the premises can be a statutory owner, but only for bites on or right next to the property⁵. Otherwise the claim must prove negligence.

Does Kentucky require a dog that bit someone to be put down?

No. A first bite usually means a report and up to 10 days of quarantine¹³¹⁴. Destruction follows only if a health officer orders it for rabies testing or a district court orders it after finding that the dog viciously attacked someone off the owner's premises¹¹⁴.

What if the dog knocked me down but did not bite?

The statute covers damage caused by an attack, and an attempted bite counts as an attack¹². In Hanna v. Shea (2025), though, a fall over a dog that was simply moving in its home was not enough for strict liability; a claim like that needs proof of negligence⁷.

Official contacts

Sources

1. Kentucky Revised Statutes § 258.235, Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Checked 17 October 2026.
2. Kentucky Revised Statutes § 258.095 (definitions), Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Checked 17 October 2026.
3. Kentucky Revised Statutes § 258.990 (penalties; liability for bites), Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Checked 17 October 2026.
4. Maupin v. Tankersley, 540 S.W.3d 357 (Ky. 2018), CourtListener (Free Law Project). Checked 17 October 2026.
5. Benningfield ex rel. Benningfield v. Zinsmeister, 367 S.W.3d 561 (Ky. 2012), Michigan State University, Animal Legal & Historical Center. Checked 17 October 2026.
6. 2017 Regular Session, House Bill 112 (2017 Ky. Acts ch. 30), Kentucky General Assembly. Checked 17 October 2026.
7. Hanna v. Shea, No. 2024-CA-0881-MR (Ky. App. May 23, 2025), Kentucky Court of Appeals. Checked 17 October 2026.
8. Kentucky Revised Statutes § 411.182 (allocation of fault), Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Checked 17 October 2026.
9. Kentucky Revised Statutes § 411.184 (punitive damages), Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Checked 17 October 2026.
10. Kentucky Revised Statutes § 413.140, Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Checked 17 October 2026.
11. Kentucky Revised Statutes § 413.170, Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Checked 17 October 2026.
12. Kentucky Revised Statutes § 49.120 (Board of Claims), Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Checked 17 October 2026.
13. Kentucky Revised Statutes § 258.065 (bite reports), Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Checked 17 October 2026.
14. Kentucky Revised Statutes § 258.085 (quarantine), Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Checked 17 October 2026.
15. Rabies, Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Department for Public Health. Checked 17 October 2026.
16. Kentucky Revised Statutes § 258.365 (local ordinances), Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Checked 17 October 2026.
17. Kentucky Revised Statutes § 258.087 (local rabies control), Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Checked 17 October 2026.
18. Kentucky Revised Statutes § 258.265 (as amended by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 52), Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Checked 17 October 2026.