Dog Bite at Balboa Park in Encino: What Are Your Rights?

Arya Firoozmand, Esq. — Founding Partner

Local Encino Injury Attorney · UCLA Law

Arya Firoozmand is the founding partner at L&F Brown. He grew up in Woodland Hills and knows the 101/405 interchange and Ventura Boulevard through Encino firsthand. He graduated from El Camino Real High School and UCLA Law School and has spent his career representing injured clients across the San Fernando Valley.

Balboa Park in Encino is one of the most heavily used parks in the San Fernando Valley. Locals come to use the athletic fields, the tennis courts, the walking paths, and the grassy areas near the lake. Dogs are a common sight throughout the park, and most of the time that is fine. But when a dog is off leash in a non-designated area, or when an owner loses control, serious bites happen.

If you were bitten by a dog at Balboa Park, you have legal rights under California law, and those rights are strong. Here is exactly what you need to know and what you need to do right now.

California Strict Liability: The Owner Is Responsible, Period

California is one of the most protective states in the country for dog bite victims. Under California Civil Code Section 3342, the owner of a dog is strictly liable for any bite that occurs when the victim was lawfully present in a public place. Balboa Park is a public park. Your presence there is always lawful.

Strict liability means you do not have to prove the owner was negligent. You do not have to prove the dog had bitten anyone before. You do not have to prove the owner knew the dog was dangerous. If the dog bit you while you were lawfully in the park, the owner is liable. The first bite is enough.

There are two narrow defenses available to dog owners under California law: trespassing and provocation. Neither applies at a public park. Being in Balboa Park is not trespassing. Normal human behavior near a dog, walking by, bending down to pick something up, making eye contact, does not constitute legal provocation. These defenses rarely succeed in public park dog bite cases.

Leash Laws at Balboa Park and How They Affect Your Case

Los Angeles Municipal Code and Los Angeles Recreation and Parks rules require dogs to be on leash in Balboa Park except in designated off-leash areas. The designated off-leash dog area at Lake Balboa, which is adjacent to the park, is separate from the general park grounds.

If the dog that bit you was off leash in a non-designated area of Balboa Park, that is a violation of the leash law. A leash law violation does not create strict liability, which already exists under Civil Code 3342, but it is additional evidence of the owner's failure to control the dog and can strengthen your claim. It also creates a municipal code violation record if Animal Control responds.

Document whether the dog was on or off leash at the time of the bite. Take photos if you can. Note what you observed. This detail matters when your attorney builds your case.

Step-by-Step: What to Do After a Dog Bite at Balboa Park

Step 1: Get away from the dog and call 911 if injuries are serious. Your safety is the immediate priority. If you are seriously injured, call 911 and ask for paramedics. For less severe bites, move away from the dog and focus on the next steps.

Step 2: Identify the dog owner before they leave. This is critical. In a public park, the owner may try to leave quickly after a bite incident. Ask them directly: what is your name, address, and phone number? Ask to see their ID if possible. Ask for the dog's name and vaccination records. At minimum, get a physical description of the owner and the dog, and note the direction they walked when they left.

If there are other people nearby who witnessed the incident, ask them immediately whether they know who the dog owner is. Balboa Park regulars often know each other. A regular at the park who knows the owner by face or name is valuable.

Step 3: Document your injuries right now. Take photos of your bite wounds before any treatment. Photograph the location in the park where the bite occurred, any visible blood, the area around you, and any witnesses. Photograph the dog if it is still present. Take additional photos of your injuries over the next several days, as bruising and swelling often worsen before they improve.

Step 4: Go to Encino Hospital Medical Center immediately. Dog bites are medical emergencies even when they appear minor. Deep puncture wounds introduce bacteria including Pasteurella multocida and Capnocytophaga directly under the skin. Infection can progress rapidly and in severe cases can be life-threatening.

Go to the emergency room at Encino Hospital Medical Center (16237 Ventura Blvd, Encino) the same day. Tell the treating physician you were bitten by a dog at Balboa Park. The ER team will clean the wound, assess infection risk, and determine whether rabies post-exposure prophylaxis is necessary based on the dog's vaccination status. They will document your injuries, which creates the medical record that ties your treatment to the bite incident. This documentation is essential for your claim.

If the dog's vaccination status is uncertain, rabies prophylaxis involves a series of injections over 14 days. This is expensive and unpleasant. It is a recoverable damage in your claim.

Step 5: Report the bite to LA County Animal Care and Control. Dog bites in Encino are handled by the LA County Department of Animal Care and Control. Report the bite as soon as possible. Animal Control has authority to quarantine the biting dog for 10 days to observe for signs of rabies. This is required by California law for any domestic animal that bites a person. The Animal Control report creates an official record of the attack, which supports your injury claim and establishes a history if the dog has bitten before.

Note that this report goes to Animal Control, not LAPD. Dog bite reports and criminal matters go through separate channels in Encino. LAPD is not typically involved in civil dog bite injury claims unless there is a separate criminal matter.

Step 6: Contact a dog bite attorney before speaking to anyone's insurance company. The dog owner's homeowner's insurance or renter's insurance typically covers dog bite liability. Once you report the bite, the insurer may call you quickly for a recorded statement. Do not give that statement without first speaking to an Encino dog bite lawyer. Early statements given before you know the full extent of your injuries and damages can severely limit your recovery.

California's 10-Day Quarantine and What It Means for Your Claim

When you report a dog bite to LA County Animal Care and Control, the biting dog is subject to a mandatory 10-day observation quarantine under California Health and Safety Code Section 121685. This quarantine can be served at the owner's home if the dog is current on its rabies vaccination and the owner complies with conditions, or at an Animal Control facility.

The quarantine period is important for your claim for two reasons. First, it confirms the dog's identity and ownership. Second, the Animal Control report from this period documents the incident officially and may reveal whether the dog has a prior bite history, which can increase your damages if the owner had notice of the dog's dangerous tendencies.

What Compensation Can You Recover?

Dog bite cases at Balboa Park can involve significant compensation depending on the severity of the bite and the owner's available insurance coverage. Recoverable damages typically include:

• Medical expenses: Emergency treatment at Encino Hospital Medical Center, wound care, antibiotics, surgery for deep wounds, and the full course of rabies prophylaxis if required.
• Future medical costs: Plastic surgery for scarring, scar revision, and physical therapy if bite location affects mobility.
• Lost wages: Income missed during recovery, particularly if the bite is to the hand, arm, or an area that affects your ability to work.
• Pain and suffering: Physical pain from the attack and recovery, plus emotional distress including fear of dogs, anxiety in public spaces, and post-traumatic stress.
• Scarring and disfigurement: Bites that leave permanent marks carry independent value in California personal injury cases beyond the cost of medical treatment.

Dog bite settlements vary by severity, location on the body, degree of scarring, and the coverage limits of the owner's homeowner's policy. L&F Brown has recovered between $75,000 and $275,000 for dog bite clients in similar situations.

The Van Nuys Courthouse West and How Cases Are Resolved

If your dog bite claim cannot be settled through the owner's homeowner's insurance, a civil lawsuit would be filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, with Encino cases typically heard at Van Nuys Courthouse West. Most dog bite cases settle before reaching trial, but the possibility of litigation is an important reason why the documentation you gather in the first 24 hours matters so much. Juries in Los Angeles are sympathetic to dog bite victims, particularly when the bite occurred in a public space and the owner was violating leash laws.

L&F Brown represents dog bite victims throughout Encino, including those bitten at Balboa Park and Lake Balboa. All cases are handled on contingency, meaning no fee unless we recover for you. Visit our Encino personal injury page to learn more, or contact us today for a free consultation.