Los Angeles City Animal Services (LAAS)

If the bite happened inside Los Angeles city limits — from Sylmar to San Pedro, Venice to Boyle Heights — LA Animal Services is the agency responsible, not the County. LAAS operates six animal service centers across the city and its officers handle bite investigations and rabies quarantines.

Bites in the city are also reported to the LA County Department of Public Health's Veterinary Public Health program, which keeps the countywide rabies-control record.

How dog bite reports work here

A bite report can start several ways: you call LAAS or 311, a hospital or urgent care files the mandatory physician report, or someone else calls it in. An animal control officer investigates, identifies the dog and owner, and documents the incident — owner information, the dog's vaccination status, and how the bite happened. If nobody has reported the bite yet, it is not too late; reporting it now creates the official record.

The quarantine process

The biting dog is placed under a 10-day rabies observation quarantine, at the owner's home or at a city shelter, depending on the circumstances. LAAS documents the start and end of the quarantine and whether the dog remained healthy. Those records also capture the owner's identity and address — often the hardest information for a victim to get on their own.

How to request your records

You can request the bite report, quarantine paperwork, and any prior bite or dangerous-dog history through the City's public records process. Victims are generally entitled to the substance of these records, though some personal information may be redacted. Our tool identifies what to request and helps you get the process moving.

Service areas change as cities update their animal control contracts — we confirm the right agency for your specific bite as part of helping you. This site provides general information about California processes. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.