West Virginia Dangerous Dog Law

What happens in the first 10 days

Anyone who owns or harbors a dog that bites a person must confine it at once for 10 days of rabies observation. That applies whether or not the dog is licensed or vaccinated¹¹. The local health officer gives the owner the confinement order and follows up¹². If you do not confine the dog, the humane officer, dog warden or sheriff can take it to a licensed veterinarian at your expense. Ignoring the rule costs a $50 fine or two to three days in jail¹¹.

The bite itself is reported within 24 hours. The doctor, the veterinarian or animal control usually does this, and otherwise the bitten person or a child's parent¹². The health department's rabies program treats the report as a public-health record. It is used to decide whether the bitten person needs rabies shots¹³. In some cases the health officer may direct that the dog be euthanized and its brain tested instead of watched for 10 days. Those cases are a bite to the head, face or neck, an unusually severe bite, or a dog showing signs of rabies¹². For a healthy, vaccinated pet that is rare, but the rule allows it.

Is there a dangerous-dog hearing in West Virginia?

Not in the form most states use. West Virginia has no state process for declaring a dog "potentially dangerous" or "dangerous" and then imposing registration, insurance or muzzle rules. Instead, W. Va. Code § 19-20-20 does two things¹⁴:

• It makes it a crime to own, keep or harbor a dog known by you to be vicious, dangerous or in the habit of biting or attacking people.
• It lets a circuit court or magistrate, on "satisfactory proof" that a dog is vicious, dangerous or in the habit of biting or attacking people or other dogs or animals, authorize the humane officer to kill the dog.

Counties may also adopt their own dog-control ordinances, enforced by a county dog warden, with fines up to $100 per violation²⁰. Those ordinances cannot give a city court the power to order a dog destroyed (see below)¹⁷.

Who can start the case?

Only the state. In Durham v. Jenkins, 229 W. Va. 669, 735 S.E.2d 266 (2012), a family whose daughter was badly mauled at a party asked a magistrate to have the dog killed. The Supreme Court of Appeals held that § 19-20-20 is criminal in nature and gives no private right to sue for a dog's destruction¹⁵. In practice, the prosecuting attorney brings the charge, often after a complaint from the bitten person or animal control.

In Robinson v. City of Bluefield, 234 W. Va. 209, 764 S.E.2d 740 (2014), a dog bit an animal control officer, and the municipal court ordered it destroyed under a city ordinance. The court reversed. Section 19-20-20 places that power in a circuit court or magistrate, so an ordinance letting a municipal court order destruction is void to that extent¹⁷.

Does the owner have to be convicted first?

No. In State v. Blatt, 235 W. Va. 489, 774 S.E.2d 570 (2015), the owners were acquitted because the state could not prove they knew their dog was vicious. The circuit court then held a separate destruction hearing. The Supreme Court of Appeals said that was allowed. A conviction is not a precondition, and the hearing did not violate double jeopardy¹⁶.

What does the court look at?

The dog's own conduct. In Blatt, the circuit court had presumed that pit bulls are inherently vicious. The Supreme Court of Appeals held that a court may not rely on a breed-based presumption by judicial notice, because adopting one is for the Legislature¹⁶. Without that presumption, the court must ask whether the dog's past behavior shows a risk of future harm to the public serious enough to justify destruction¹⁶. The facts there were one bite to a child's lips during a game of fetch, with no earlier aggression. The court found that was play behavior, not satisfactory proof, and reversed the destruction order¹⁶.

Criminal penalties for the owner

Knowingly keeping a vicious dog violates § 19-20-20. Article 20 prescribes no specific penalty for it, so the general penalty in § 19-20-19 applies: a misdemeanor with a fine up to $100, up to 30 days in jail, or both¹⁹. Magistrates and circuit courts share jurisdiction¹⁹. The key element is the owner's knowledge. A dog with no history of biting will rarely support a conviction, as Blatt shows¹⁶. Article 20 has no special felony for a dog attack that seriously injures or kills a person¹⁹.

Guard dogs and the $10 license

If you keep a dog that is "generally considered to be vicious" for protection, § 19-20-21 requires a $10 special license from the county assessor on top of the regular dog license. You must also secure the dog so it cannot injure anyone lawfully passing or entering your property¹⁸. The license is the exception § 19-20-20 refers to. It is not a defense to a lawsuit for injury, death or property damage¹⁸.

Breed rules

No state law bans or restricts particular breeds, and none stops cities from doing so. Blatt noted that a Wayne County circuit court had upheld a city ordinance banning pit bulls within city limits¹⁶. Check your city or county code before assuming a breed is allowed. See the national guide to breed-specific legislation.

If the dog bites again

A second bite changes the owner's position in two ways. It can supply the knowledge element of the § 19-20-20 crime. It also gives a court the history of behavior that Blatt requires before ordering destruction¹⁴¹⁶. In a civil suit, a known earlier bite is the classic proof of a dangerous trait under the common law³. For the injured person's side, see the West Virginia dog bite law page, and for national comparisons see dangerous dog laws and my dog bit someone.

Rules for a declared dog in West Virginia

West Virginia rules in brief

Reporting. Under the health rule 64CSR7, a bite or scratch by a mammal must be reported to the local health officer within 24 hours¹². The duty falls on the treating physician or health care provider, the veterinarian, the humane or animal control officer, and the bitten adult if no provider is involved. If the bitten person is a child, the parent or guardian must report¹². The local health department then decides whether rabies shots are needed¹³.

Euthanasia. Only a circuit court or magistrate can order a dog killed. The court must have "satisfactory proof" that the dog is vicious, dangerous or in the habit of biting or attacking people or animals, and then authorizes the humane officer to act¹⁴. Since Durham v. Jenkins (2012), the order can come only out of a criminal proceeding. A neighbor cannot file a private civil suit for it¹⁵. A city's municipal court cannot order it either¹⁷. Under State v. Blatt (2015), the owner does not have to be convicted, and the court must judge the dog's own behavior, not its breed¹⁶. The owner can appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeals, as in Blatt¹⁶.

Criminal penalties. Knowingly owning, keeping or harboring a vicious or dangerous dog violates § 19-20-20¹⁴. It is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $100, up to 30 days in jail, or both¹⁹. Article 20 has no separate felony for a dog attack that seriously injures or kills a person¹⁹.

Breed rules. No state law bars breed-specific local ordinances. State v. Blatt left breed presumptions to the Legislature and noted a circuit court decision upholding a city pit bull ban¹⁶.

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. W. Va. Code § 19-20-13, Dog running at large; liability of owner, West Virginia Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
2. Marcum v. Bellomy, 157 W. Va. 636, 203 S.E.2d 367 (1974), CourtListener (Free Law Project). Checked 17 October 2026.
3. Jividen v. Law, 194 W. Va. 705, 461 S.E.2d 451 (1995), CourtListener (Free Law Project). Checked 17 October 2026.
4. W. Va. Code § 55-2-12, Personal actions not otherwise provided for, West Virginia Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
5. W. Va. Code § 55-2-15, Disability of infancy or insanity, West Virginia Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
6. W. Va. Code § 55-7-13c, Apportionment of damages, West Virginia Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
7. W. Va. Code § 29-12A-6, Limitation of actions (Governmental Tort Claims and Insurance Reform Act), West Virginia Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
8. W. Va. Code § 55-7-29, Limitations on punitive damages, West Virginia Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
9. Julian v. DeVincent, 155 W. Va. 320 (1971), CourtListener (Free Law Project). Checked 17 October 2026.
10. Bowers v. Wurzburg, 207 W. Va. 28, 528 S.E.2d 475 (1999), CourtListener (Free Law Project). Checked 17 October 2026.
11. W. Va. Code § 19-20-9a, Dogs, cats, etc.; rabies observation, West Virginia Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
12. W. Va. Code R. § 64-7-5 (64CSR7), Reportable diseases: potentially rabid animal bites, West Virginia Secretary of State (Bureau for Public Health rule). Checked 17 October 2026.
13. Animal Bites and Rabies: Healthcare Professionals, West Virginia Office of Epidemiology and Prevention Services. Checked 17 October 2026.
14. W. Va. Code § 19-20-20, Keeping vicious dogs; humane officers may kill such dogs, West Virginia Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
15. Durham v. Jenkins, 229 W. Va. 669, 735 S.E.2d 266 (2012), CourtListener (Free Law Project). Checked 17 October 2026.
16. State v. Blatt, 235 W. Va. 489, 774 S.E.2d 570 (2015), CourtListener (Free Law Project). Checked 17 October 2026.
17. Robinson v. City of Bluefield, 234 W. Va. 209, 764 S.E.2d 740 (2014), CourtListener (Free Law Project). Checked 17 October 2026.
18. W. Va. Code § 19-20-21, License fee for keeping vicious or dangerous dog, West Virginia Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
19. W. Va. Code § 19-20-19, Offenses; criminal penalties; jurisdiction, West Virginia Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
20. W. Va. Code § 19-20-6, County dog warden; rules and regulations for dog control, West Virginia Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.