Tennessee Dog Bite Law for Dog Businesses: Liability, Reports and What to Record After a Bite

Do these in order, and keep each step short and factual.

Separate and secure the animals first. Put the dogs involved in different, closed spaces so nobody gets hurt a second time. Then help the injured person get appropriate medical attention; call emergency services if the wound is serious. Cleaning the wound and seeing a medical provider is the standard advice on MedlinePlus, and the person's health comes before any paperwork.

Next, save what you have. Copy the original video before anything records over it, take photos of the gate, latch, fence, crate or lead, and write down who saw what. The checklist later in this post covers the full record.

Then call your local health department or animal-control agency about rabies steps. The Tennessee Department of Health says that when a person is bitten by a dog or cat, the animal should be observed for 10 days. The exact reporting pathway can depend on where you are and what happened, so ask the local office what it wants from you.

After that, tell the client what happened in plain facts, and tell your insurer. Before you say anything that sounds like taking the blame, or hand anyone a waiver as protection, talk to a Tennessee attorney. Last, once the day settles, look at your intake, staffing and enclosure habits and fix what the incident showed you.

The statute starts with a duty. T.C.A. § 44-8-413(a)(1) says the owner of a dog has a duty to keep that dog under reasonable control at all times, and to keep that dog from running at large. A person who breaches that duty is subject to civil liability for damages suffered by a person injured by the dog while in a public place or lawfully in or on the private property of another.

Subsection (a)(2) matters if your first thought is "he's never bitten anyone." It says the owner may be liable regardless of whether the dog showed dangerous propensities, or whether the owner knew or should have known of them. A clean history is not a complete answer in those settings.

There is a different rule for some private property. Under subsection (c)(1), when the injury happens on residential, farm or other noncommercial property that the dog's owner owns, has permission to be on, or lawfully leases, the injured person has to show that the owner knew or should have known of the dog's dangerous propensities, along with the other premises-liability or comparative-fault requirements. That is a higher bar than the public-place rule, and it is why the location of the incident is one of the first facts an attorney will ask about.

Escapes have their own statute. Under T.C.A. § 44-8-408(b), an owner commits an offense when a dog goes uncontrolled on another person's premises without consent, or goes uncontrolled on a highway, public road, street or other place open to the public. The section includes exceptions, graded criminal penalties and restitution, and it says an injured person can still pursue remedies under § 44-8-413 or other law. So, a dog that gets out can raise a criminal question and a civil one at the same time.

Section 44-8-413(b) says the statute does not put liability on the dog owner when any of these apply:

1. The dog is a police or military dog acting in official duties, and the injured person was involved in the conduct that prompted the deployment.
2. The injured person was trespassing on the owner's private, nonresidential property.
3. The dog was protecting the owner or another innocent party from attack by the injured person or that person's dog.
4. The injury happened while the dog was securely confined in a kennel, crate or other enclosure.
5. The injured person enticed, disturbed, alarmed, harassed or otherwise provoked the dog.

For a boarding kennel or daycare, the fourth item is the one you'll think about first. A dog that was securely confined when the injury happened is a listed exception. But "securely" is a fact question. A latch that didn't catch, a gate left open or a crate door that wasn't closed points the other way, which is why the photos of gates, latches and enclosures belong in your record.

The exception also covers only liability under this section. It doesn't decide every negligence, premises, contract, employment, insurance or local-ordinance question that a bite can raise. A Tennessee attorney should review the facts before you assume the exception protects you.

This is the question most dog businesses want answered, and the statute gives a definition rather than a yes or no. Under § 44-8-413(e)(1), the owner is a person who, at the time of the damage, regularly harbors, keeps or exercises control over the dog. A person who is temporarily harboring, keeping or exercising control over the dog is excluded. Owning the land alone is not enough to make someone a regular harborer.

That leaves a lot of room for real-life arrangements. A 20-minute walk, a day of daycare, a week of boarding and a groomer's appointment are not the same thing, and the statute doesn't sort them for you.

One 2025 case shows how a court looked at it. In Hudson v. Gravette, the Tennessee Court of Appeals held at the summary-judgment stage that a boarding facility was the statutory owner while it had sole possession and control of the dog for several days. That decision turned on its own facts, and it doesn't tell you how a court would treat your business. Whether you count as an owner, a temporary keeper or something else is a question for a Tennessee attorney, who can look at your actual arrangement with the client.

Section 44-8-413(d) ties these claims to the personal-injury time limit. Under T.C.A. § 28-3-104(a)(1)(A), actions for injuries to the person must generally be started within one year after the cause of action accrued. Subsection (a)(2) adds a two-year provision for certain actions when a criminal prosecution is commenced, subject to its conditions.

So, the general period is one year, but I wouldn't promise anyone that every case has the same deadline. For a business, the practical lesson is that a bite is not over when the wound heals or when the client goes quiet. Keep your records, keep your policy information handy and talk to a Tennessee attorney promptly, because the clock matters for the injured person and for you.

How much a claim is worth is a case question that depends on the injury, the facts and the law. Send that question to a Tennessee attorney, not to a website.

The Tennessee Department of Health says that if a person is bitten by a dog or cat, the animal should be observed for 10 days from the time of the bite, and that it doesn't matter whether the animal is vaccinated against rabies. If you've heard that a vaccinated dog skips this step, the state's page says otherwise.

The same page explains why: if a dog or cat stays healthy for 10 days after a bite, it could not have passed rabies on at the time of the bite. If the animal looks ill or acts abnormally at the time of the bite or during those 10 days, a veterinarian should evaluate it for signs of rabies.

If the biting animal isn't available for observation, the state says to discuss the situation with public health officials from the local or state health department. That can happen when a stray dog bites at your door or a client's dog goes home before anyone calls. Call early and say what you know.

Look up which office handles a bite in your county before you need it. Put the number of your local health department and your animal-control agency in your incident folder. For rabies certificates and intake records, read my guide to Tennessee rabies law for dog businesses.

Dangerous-dog designations mostly come from city and county codes, so the rules change with the address. Name the office, read the local code and don't assume one city's process applies everywhere.

• Memphis. The Memphis code, Chapter 8-3 sets out a dangerous-dog determination process involving Animal Services, notice, a summons and court proceedings in § 8-3-10. Section 8-3-11 covers dangerous-dog tags, enclosure, warning signs, leash, muzzle and insurance requirements.
• Nashville. Metro Animal Care and Control enforces Nashville code and Tennessee animal statutes and responds to dangerous-animal complaints. Ask that office, and read the current Nashville code, for how designation works.
• Knoxville. Knoxville Animal Care and Control points to the city's animal codes and Tennessee animal laws. Check the current Knoxville code with that office for dangerous-dog provisions.
• Chattanooga. The city publishes its city code through Municode. Check its current animal provisions for designation and confinement rules, and ask the city's animal-control office if a section is unclear.

If you're outside those four cities, your city or county animal-control agency is the place to ask. The answer can also differ between Nashville-Davidson County, Memphis-Shelby County, Knoxville-Knox County, Chattanooga-Hamilton County and smaller towns. A bite at a dog daycare in one county can start a different process than the same bite in the next one.

Write the record the same day, while memories are fresh. Keep the wording neutral and factual, with no guesses about fault. Include:

• Date, exact time and location.
• Names and contact information for the injured person, staff, the client, witnesses and any contractors.
• Which dogs were present, where they were, and how they were separated.
• The sequence of events in plain wording.
• Visible injuries, and whether medical attention was requested or obtained.
• Photos of the scene, gates, latches, fences, crates, leads and anything else relevant.
• The original surveillance video, plus a preservation copy.
• Witness statements, signed and dated where appropriate.
• The dog's intake records, owner disclosures, prior-bite answers and emergency contacts.
• When and how you told the client, and what you said.
• Contacts at the health department, animal control, police, emergency services or your insurer.
• The staff schedule and who had control of the dog.
• Later communications and any corrective changes you made.

Keep originals, limit who can open them and don't edit video or records. The IRS makes a similar point about business records generally: keep them organized so they clearly show what happened.

Your intake form is part of the same record. Ask every client whether the dog has ever bitten, snapped at a person or another dog, or escaped, and write down the answer with the date. A clear intake answer helps you decide whether to accept a dog, and it is something an attorney will want to see.

Contracts and waivers deserve a Tennessee attorney's eyes before you rely on them. Ask the attorney to cover who has control of the dog, what the client must disclose, emergency authority, releases, insurance, incident notice and governing law. A signed waiver is not a guaranteed defense, and nobody can promise you how a court would treat yours. Have the same attorney look at your incident form and the wording you use when you tell a client about a bite.

A personal homeowners policy and a business liability policy are different products. Don't assume a homeowners policy covers a dog you're walking, boarding, grooming, transporting or caring for in exchange for pay. Read the policy and ask your agent.

Trade sources describe specialized coverage for pets and property in a business's care. NAPPS says ordinary general-liability policies commonly exclude personal property in the insured's care, custody or control, and describes care-custody-control coverage for pets and client property. Pet Sitters International says its preferred program includes general liability, care-custody-control coverage, bonding, workers' compensation and commercial auto options. Ask the insurer in writing what your own policy covers.

Questions to put to an insurance professional, in writing:

• Does the policy cover bodily injury to a client, a visitor or a stranger?
• Does it cover the animals in my care, and does it treat injury to a dog differently from injury to a person?
• Does it cover employees and independent contractors, and does workers' compensation sit separately?
• Does it apply to my kind of work: home pet care, daycare, boarding, grooming, walking or transport?
• What does it exclude, and does it require me to report an incident by a certain date?

For insurance regulation questions, the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance is the state office. Call your insurer as soon as the injured person is safe, and follow your policy's notice instructions.

A Tennessee business license is a separate question from all of the above. The Tennessee Department of Revenue says businesses with in-state gross receipts above $3,000 and below $100,000 generally get a minimal activity license through the county or municipal clerk, and a standard business license applies at $100,000 or more, with a $15 registration fee. That license does not stand in for local zoning, animal-control, building or fire approvals, which come from your city or county. For opening approvals, see my guide to opening a dog boarding kennel in Tennessee.

Each answer below is short, and the attorney or office named can rule on your facts.

The general period for a personal-injury action is one year after the cause of action accrued, under T.C.A. § 28-3-104(a)(1)(A), and § 44-8-413(d) points to that period. Qualifications exist, including a two-year provision tied to certain criminal prosecutions, so a Tennessee attorney should confirm the deadline for a specific case.

The Tennessee Department of Health says a biting dog or cat should be observed for 10 days, and it directs bite questions to local or state public-health officials. Contact your local health department or animal-control agency promptly after any bite, even a small one, and ask what it needs from you.

For your side, keep the incident timeline, how the dogs were separated, injury information, witnesses, original video, communications, intake records and the contacts you made with authorities and your insurer. What a claimant must prove in a particular case is a question for a Tennessee attorney.

Expect the local health department or animal-control office to ask about the 10-day observation, and in a city with dangerous-dog rules, to look at its own process. Memphis, for example, has a determination process with notice, a summons and court proceedings. Ask the office what comes next and speak to an attorney before you respond in writing.

That depends on the injury, the facts and the law, and I can't put a number on it. Send claim value and case questions to a Tennessee attorney and your insurer.

Open a folder today with your local health department number, your animal-control agency, your insurer's claim line and the name of a Tennessee attorney. Print the record list above and tape it where staff will see it. Then read your own intake form, contract and policy with this post beside you, and mark every place they don't match what you'd want on the worst day.

If you also want the other Tennessee basics, my guide to Tennessee rabies law for dog businesses covers certificates and intake rabies records, and opening a dog boarding kennel in Tennessee covers the approvals and setup. A bite is stressful and it can feel personal, but a calm, written, same-day record and an early call to the right offices will serve you well. If you want your intake forms and policies on your website, contact me.

• irs.gov: IRS
• knoxvilletn.gov: Knoxville Animal Care and Control
• law.justia.com: Hudson v. Gravette
• law.justia.com: T.C.A. § 28-3-104(a)(1)(A)
• law.justia.com: T.C.A. § 44-8-408(b)
• law.justia.com: T.C.A. § 44-8-413
• library.municode.com: Memphis code, Chapter 8-3
• medlineplus.gov: MedlinePlus
• napps.petsitterinsurance.com: NAPPS
• nashville.gov: Metro Animal Care and Control
• petsit.com: Pet Sitters International
• register.chattanooga.gov: city code
• tn.gov: Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance
• tn.gov: Tennessee Department of Health
• tn.gov: Tennessee Department of Revenue