If a dog bite occurs in South Carolina, someone must report it to the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control or the county health department. Generally, the physician who treats the injury will file this report. The report activates a law enforcement investigation to track down the dog’s owner and ensure that the dog has been vaccinated against rabies and does not have rabies or another type of communicable disease. The animal will usually quarantine in a shelter.
Reporting a dog attack will also create a paper trail that will allow the Department of Health and Environmental Control, the county health department, and local law enforcement to protect individuals from being injured by the dog in the future.
Dangerous dog designations are given to dogs in South Carolina after they’ve made an unprovoked attack that has caused bodily injury to a human being. This designation requires the dog’s owner to keep the dog in a secure area clearly marked with warning signs, requires that the dog does not leave the property without proper restraints, requires registration of the dog with local law enforcement, and requires the maintenance of an insurance policy of at least $500,000 for personal injury liability for injuries caused by the dog.
Additionally, if a dog who has been designated as dangerous bites someone, the dog’s owner faces not only civil liability but also criminal liability.