No, the dog bite laws are not the same all across Texas. Each county and even city may have its own dog bite law that all dog owners must obey.

Texas does not have a dog bite statue. Instead the state follows a rule from Marshall v. Ranne which says that Texas is a negligence or a “one bite rule” state. Thus, in a dog bite claim the injured party must demonstrate that the dog owner knew their dog had been aggressive or had bitten someone in the past, and the dog owner was negligent in controlling their dog to prevent the dog bite.

Texas seems to be worse than the average state. In a report bydogsbite.org it showed there were 34 Texas dog bite fatalities between 2005 and 2013 —more deaths than any other state. The report further indicated that pit bulls were responsible for 76 percent of the total number of deaths and that Rottweilers accounted for 15 percent of the total. Pit bulls have more prominence in Texas compared to nationally. This is most likely due to the 1991 state wide law prohibiting municipalities from regulating specific dog breeds and perhaps the state’s long reputation for dog-fighting.

Texas data also indicates that 68 percent of the victims (23) were children ages 11-years and younger and 52 percent (12) were ages 2 and younger.

Dog bites and dog attacks happen far more often than people may think. Statistics show that there are approximately 78 million dogs in the United States, and the American Humane Society (AHS) estimates that roughly 4.7 million dog bites happen each year with 800,000 bites requiring medical attention. Approximately 25 percent of fatal dog attacks involve canines that are chained and 24 percent of fatal attacks are the result of dogs running loose.