Fatal Dog Attack Lawyer in Los Angeles, CA Who May Sue and What Is Recoverable

Who may bring the action

Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 provides that a cause of action for the death of a person caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another may be asserted by listed persons or by the decedent's personal representative on their behalf. Subdivision (a) names the surviving spouse, domestic partner, children and issue of deceased children, or, where there is no surviving issue, the persons who would be entitled to the decedent's property by intestate succession, and it addresses legal guardians where the parents who would otherwise be entitled are deceased. Subdivision (b) reaches a putative spouse, children of a putative spouse, stepchildren, parents or legal guardians who were dependent on the decedent, and it defines a putative spouse by reference to a void or voidable marriage where the court finds the survivor held a good faith belief in its validity. Subdivision (c) then reaches a minor who had lived in the decedent's household throughout the previous 180 days and looked to the decedent for at least half of that minor's support.

What the death action pays, and what it does not

Section 377.61 provides that damages may be awarded that, under all the circumstances of the case, may be just, but may not include damages recoverable under section 377.34, and it directs the court to determine the respective rights in an award of the persons entitled to assert the cause of action. That last sentence matters in families with several claimants: the statute contemplates apportionment by the court rather than by agreement among relatives.

The survival action, and the window that closed

The second action belongs to the decedent's own claim. Section 377.34 limits damages in an action by a personal representative or successor in interest on the decedent's cause of action to the loss or damage the decedent sustained or incurred before death, including penalties or punitive damages the decedent would have been entitled to recover, and states that they do not include damages for pain, suffering or disfigurement. Subdivision (b) creates an exception: those damages may be included where the action was granted a preference under section 36 before January 1, 2022, or was filed on or after January 1, 2022, and before January 1, 2026. On the face of that subdivision, an action filed after that date falls back to the general rule in subdivision (a). Subdivision (c) required plaintiffs recovering under subdivision (b) between January 1, 2022, and January 1, 2025, to report specified information to the Judicial Council within sixty days.

Which liability rule applies

Civil Code section 3342 addresses damages suffered by a person bitten in a public place or while lawfully in a private place, regardless of the former viciousness of the animal or the owner's knowledge of it. A fatal attack may also involve conduct the statute does not describe, and there the general duty in Civil Code section 1714 governs, since it makes everyone responsible for injury caused to another by want of ordinary care in the management of property or person. A restraint violation may add the presumption in Evidence Code section 669 where the four listed conditions are met, and inside the City the relevant enactments are commonly Municipal Code section 53.06.2 on restraint and section 53.34 on animals at large, which makes the offense a misdemeanor where the animal bites and allows an ownership prohibition of up to three years after conviction.

The state categories, and what follows a finding

Food and Agricultural Code section 31604 defines severe injury by reference to muscle tears or disfiguring lacerations, or injuries requiring multiple sutures or corrective or cosmetic surgery, and section 31603 defines the vicious category. Where a dog is declared vicious, section 31645 allows destruction where public safety cannot otherwise be protected, and section 31646 allows the owner to be prohibited from owning any dog for up to three years. Civil Code section 3342.5 separately places a duty on an owner whose dog has bitten a human being to take reasonable steps to remove any danger from bites by that animal.

The public files in a fatal case

The same agencies remain involved. County Veterinary Public Health handles the bite report and quarantine and states that a bite report does not itself deem an animal dangerous (Reporting Animal Bites). The County rabies manual describes quarantine under County Code section 11.04.210 and the confinement options in section 11.04.220 (quarantine provisions). County Animal Care and Control describes its Dangerous Dog Investigations Unit and its property inspection program (Protecting People). A City dangerous-animal proceeding follows Municipal Code section 53.34.4 with hearing procedure in section 53.18.5, which requires notice at least ten days beforehand, provides that hearsay may supplement but cannot alone support a finding, and requires a recording or transcript.

Deadlines, and the additional one for agencies

Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 covers an action for the death of an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another. Where a public entity is involved, the presentation deadline in Government Code section 911.2 calls for a written claim inside six months of accrual, section 912.4 requires board action within forty-five days and deems inaction a rejection, and the suit-filing provision numbered 945.6 allows six months measured from the mailing or delivery of a rejection notice.

Scope

This page summarizes published statutes and agency material for general information. It is not legal advice and does not address any family's circumstances. Questions belong with the attorney who advertises on this site.