South Carolina does not make a dog bite victim prove the owner was careless. A statute imposes liability directly; it reaches anyone who had the dog in their care or keeping, as well as the owner, and there are only two defenses. A separate law requires the bite to be reported by the end of the next working day, and that report creates the record a claim later depends on. The Arndt Law Firm handles animal attack claims across Horry County.
Most injury claims require proof that someone failed to act reasonably. A dog bite claim in South Carolina does not. Under Section 47-3-110(A), if a person is bitten or otherwise attacked by a dog while that person is in a public place or is lawfully in a private place, the dog owner or the person having the dog in their care or keeping is liable for the damages suffered.
Three parts of that sentence carry weight. The statute covers being bitten "or otherwise attacked," which is broader than a bite alone. A knockdown or jumping injury fits that language; whether a chase with no contact counts has not been clearly decided, so those cases may also be pleaded in negligence.
ย The location requirement is broad: a public place is enough. Separately, a person is 'lawfully' on private property when performing a duty under state, local, or federal law (including postal regulations) or when there by express or implied invitation of the owner, tenant or resident.
The third is the second defendant. The statute names the owner or the person having the dog in their care or keeping. A dog sitter, a boarding facility, a friend watching an animal for a weekend, or a household member who took a dog in are all within that language, and each may carry insurance the owner does not.
Do I have to prove the owner was negligent?
No. Section 47-3-110 imposes liability directly where the injured person was in a public place or lawfully in a private place. There is no requirement to show the owner knew the dog was dangerous or failed to exercise reasonable care.
Section 47-3-110(B) provides that the statute does not apply in two circumstances, and both are narrower than they are usually described.
The first is provocation. The statute does not say that any provocation defeats the claim. It says the section does not apply if the person who was attacked provoked or harassed the dog and that provocation was the proximate cause of the attack. The proximate cause requirement is the defense, and omitting it misstates the law in the owner's favor.
The second is the law enforcement dog exception, which applies only if all six statutory conditions are met: a lawful command from a duly certified canine officer; training to SC Law Enforcement Training Council standards; a written agency policy; no violation of that policy; no excessive force; and the person bitten was not a third-party bystander.
Neither defense turns on the dog's history. South Carolina does not give an owner a free first bite, and evidence of prior aggression is not something a claimant has to produce.
South Carolina treats an animal bite as a public health matter on a short clock, and the duty can land on the injured person. Under Section 47-5-90, a physician who attends a bite must report it to the county health department by the end of the next working day. Where no physician attends, the responsibility falls on the bitten adult, or the parent or guardian of a bitten child, to report by the end of the next working day.
The South Carolina Department of Public Health administers this. Animal bites are classed as an urgently reportable condition, with providers reporting by telephone within 24 hours, and county offices handling reports during business hours with a statewide line outside them.
The consequence of that report is what matters to a claim. The county health department serves notice on the owner of a dog that has attacked or bitten a person, requiring quarantine at the owner's expense for at least ten days. That produces a dated official record identifying the animal and the person responsible for it, created by a public body rather than by an interested party.
A visitor bitten while on holiday and treated at an urgent care before driving home is exactly the person most likely to miss this. The reporting duty and the evidentiary value point the same way.
Who do I report a dog bite to in South Carolina?
The county health department, under Section 47-5-90. A treating physician must report by the end of the next working day, and where no physician attends, the injured adult or a bitten child's parent or guardian carries that duty.
Section 47-3-20 authorizes local animal care and control ordinances, so a city or county may impose requirements the state code does not.
Inside city limits, dogs must be on a leash no longer than seven feet at all times. From May 1 through Labor Day, dogs are allowed on the beach only before 10 a.m. and after 5 p.m. Animals over four months old kept on any premises in the city must be vaccinated by a licensed veterinarian.
Complaints and violations within the city are reported to the Myrtle Beach Police Department, which is the practical answer to which agency responds inside city limits. Horry County and the neighboring municipalities maintain their own beach and leash requirements, which differ from the city's.
Those local rules matter in two ways. A violation is evidence about the standard of care and may support a theory alongside the statutory claim. And they determine which body investigated, which determines where the records live, in a county where Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach maintain separate police departments and the unincorporated county is served differently again.
This page does not state a leash length. Published sources disagree on the county beach maximum, and a figure that cannot be confirmed is better left off a page than guessed at.
A resort market produces attack circumstances that a residential market does not, and each raises a different question about who is responsible.
An attack at a short-term rental reaches the host under the statute where the host owned or kept the animal, and a guest lawfully present is squarely within the statutory language. Where the host permitted a guest's animal, or kept another person's, the reach to keepers matters.
Attacks in condominium and resort common areas raise the question of who controlled that space. Pools, walkways, elevators, and parking areas are typically controlled by an association rather than by any individual owner, and an association that knew of a dangerous animal and had the ability to act may face a premises theory alongside the statutory claim.
Beach and public space attacks turn on which jurisdiction the location falls in, since the leash requirements and the responding agency differ between the city, the neighboring municipalities, and the unincorporated county.
Attacks at a boarding kennel, a groomer, a daycare, or a veterinary practice bring a commercial policy into play, and the business is frequently a keeper within the statute rather than a bystander. If the injured person worked for the kennel, groomer, or clinic, workers' compensation is generally the only remedy against that employer. A claim against the dog's owner, as a third party, may still proceed, subject to the comp carrier's lien.
The statute already reaches keepers, which covers a great deal. Other situations need a different theory alongside it.
A landlord is not automatically responsible for a tenant's dog. Where the landlord knew of a dangerous animal on the property and had the ability to remove it or refuse it, a premises theory may reach them. That claim turns on knowledge and control rather than on the dog bite statute. The framework is set out in the premises liability analysis.
Property managers, associations, and businesses that permitted an animal on their premises can be reached on the same reasoning. Identifying every party who had control of the animal or the place determines the money available.
The statute reaches a person who is bitten "or otherwise attacked," and that second phrase covers a category of claim people assume falls outside it.
A dog that charges and knocks someone down causes an injury without closing its jaws. A large dog jumping on an older adult can cause a fracture. The statute is broad enough to include knockdowns and jumping injuries. Whether a chase with no contact counts as an "attack" has not been clearly decided by South Carolina appellate courts, so those cases may also require a negligence theory.
The same statutory framework applies to all of them. The injured person must have been in a public place or lawfully in a private place; liability attaches to the owner or to the person having the dog in their care or keeping, and the same two defenses apply and no others.
Injuries from these incidents are frequently more serious than a bite. Hip fractures from a knockdown, head injuries from a fall, and secondary collisions after a chase produce consequences that outweigh a puncture wound. They are also often reported as falls rather than as animal incidents, which affects how the record is created and whether the reporting duty is triggered at all.
Does the statute cover a dog that knocked me over?
Section 47-3-110 covers a person who is bitten or otherwise attacked, which is broader than a bite alone. A knockdown or jumping injury fits that language; whether a chase with no contact counts has not been clearly decided, so those cases may also be pleaded in negligence.
Most dog bite recoveries come from a homeowner's, condo unit owner's, or renter's policy rather than from an individual, and the policy language decides how far it goes.
Three issues recur. Some policies exclude specific breeds outright. Some impose a separate, lower sublimit for animal liability rather than applying the full personal liability limit. Some exclude an animal with a prior recorded incident, which is one reason bite history matters even though a claimant does not have to prove it.
Where the owner is a tenant, the renter's policy and the landlord's policy are separate potential sources responding to different theories. Where a dog was in someone else's care at the time, that person's own policy may apply, which follows directly from the statute naming keepers.
| Potential source | When it responds | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Owner's homeowner's or condo policy | Owner owns the residence | Breed exclusions, animal sublimits, prior incident exclusions |
| Owner's renter's policy | Owner rents | Whether animal liability is included at all |
| Keeper's own policy | Dog was in another person's care | The statute names keepers, so this is a direct claim |
| Association or business policy | Attack in a common area or at a business | Knowledge, control, and any premises theory |
Section 47-3-110 contains no comparative-fault reduction. Its only fault-based defense is provocation: if the injured person provoked or harassed the dog and that provocation was the proximate cause of the attack, the section does not apply. South Carolina's general 51 percent bar (Nelson v. Concrete Supply Co.) governs negligence claims, such as a premises claim against a landlord or association brought alongside the statutory claim.
There is a further point specific to this claim type, and it runs the opposite way from every other injury page. For causes of action accruing on or after January 1, 2026, a defendant in most South Carolina injury cases may ask that a party who was never sued be placed on the verdict form and assigned a share. That mechanism is unavailable here because Section 15-38-15(H)(4) provides that a nondefendant tortfeasor is not added where the causes of action involve strict liability.
Because Section 47-3-110 imposes liability without fault, a dog bite claim is insulated from a tactic that now affects nearly every other kind of injury case in the state. The general injury analysis covers how the mechanism operates everywhere it does apply.
Can the dog owner blame someone who was not sued?
Not in a strict liability claim. Section 15-38-15(H)(4) keeps a nondefendant off the verdict form where the cause of action involves strict liability, which is what Section 47-3-110 creates.
Dog attacks produce a distinctive injury pattern: puncture wounds carrying a high infection risk, crush injuries from the jaw rather than the teeth, nerve damage, and scarring in visible places. Facial injuries are disproportionately common in attacks on children because of height.
Scarring damage is assessed based on the permanent result rather than the initial wound, which is one reason a claim involving a child is often not ready for quick valuation. Reconstructive treatment can extend for years, and psychological effects, including a lasting fear of dogs, are recognized elements of the claim.
The general deadline is three years from the date of the attack. For a child, ยง 15-3-40 pauses part of the limitations period during minority and limits how far that pause can extend past age eighteen. How those limits combine is not settled, so a child's claim should not be left until adulthood. A parent can bring the claim now.
Where the animal belonged to a government agency, the Tort Claims Act applies instead, with a two-year deadline extendable to three by filing a claim first, damage caps, and no punitive damages.
A suit is filed in the Court of Common Pleas for Horry County, in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, at the courthouse at 1301 Second Avenue in Conway. The Clerk of Court is reachable at (843) 915-5080, with a second office at 9630 Scipio Lane in Myrtle Beach at (843) 915-5082.
Most dog bite claims resolve with a homeowner's carrier without suit. Filing changes when a carrier disputes ownership, asserts an exclusion, or takes a position on provocation that the evidence does not support.
Serious injuries in the Myrtle Beach area are commonly treated at Grand Strand Medical Center (809 82nd Parkway), an adult Level I and pediatric Level II trauma center. Conway Medical Center is an adult Level III trauma center. In a scarring case, the photographic record from the initial treatment carries weight throughout, and it is easier to build while the injury is fresh.
A dog bite claim can stall on a question that sounds trivial and is not: establishing who owned or kept the animal. An owner who denies ownership, an animal belonging to a visitor, or a dog kept at a property by someone other than the resident all create the same problem, and it is worse where the injured person was a visitor with no local knowledge.
The statutory reporting process is the most reliable answer. The county health department bite report identifies the animal and the person responsible, and the quarantine notice served under Section 47-5-100 is served on the owner by name, at the owner's expense. That is an official document created by a public body rather than a statement by an interested party.
Local animal control records add to it where a responding agency generated a file, and within the city that means the Myrtle Beach Police Department. Licensing and vaccination records establish ownership and may establish a prior history.
Beyond ownership, the useful records are created immediately: photographs of the wounds before treatment and through healing, the names of anyone who witnessed the attack, and the location of the attack relative to any fencing, gate, or leash.
How do I prove who owned the dog?
The county health department bite report and the quarantine notice served on the owner both identify the responsible party, which is why reporting matters beyond the public health purpose.
No, liability is statutory, and a claimant does not have to show the dog had bitten before or that the owner knew it was dangerous.
Yes, the claim arises where the attack happened, so it proceeds in South Carolina under South Carolina deadlines regardless of where you live.
The statute reaches the person having the dog in their care or keeping, as well as the owner. That person may be liable and may carry their own insurance.
Only where the provocation or harassment was the proximate cause of the attack, which is a higher bar than the word alone suggests.
Nothing up front. Consultations are free,e and the fee is contingent on recovery.
The Arndt Law Firm starts an animal attack claim by securing the record the statute creates, meaning the county health department bite report and the quarantine notice served on the owner. Those documents identify the animal and the responsible person more reliably than anything gathered afterward, and they are frequently the only ownership proof that exists.
Each party the statute's language reaches is then identified in turn, since a keeper is liable alongside an owner and each may carry separate coverage.
That also means establishing which jurisdiction the attack happened in, because the city, the neighboring municipalities, and the unincorporated county have different requirements and different responding agencies. Horry County claims are filed in the Court of Common Pleas in Conway. Attorney Jonathan S. Arndt has been licensed in South Carolina since 2018 and reviews the firm's animal attack matters.
Consultations carry no charge, and no fee is owed unless the claim recovers. You can reach the firm through the contact page. Where a child was injured, the claim can be brought at any point during minority, and the photographic record of the early treatment is easier to build while the injury is fresh.
Last reviewed: August 2026
This page was reviewed by Jonathan S. Arndt, licensed in South Carolina since 2018.
Content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed South Carolina attorney for guidance specific to your situation.
