Suing for Pet Injury in Maryland: What the Law Actually Allows

When another person’s negligence injures or kills your pet, the emotional toll can feel overwhelming. You want accountability — and you want to know whether the legal system will recognize what you’ve lost. In Maryland, the answer is more complicated than most pet owners expect.

Maryland law treats pets as personal property, which directly shapes what you can and cannot recover in a civil lawsuit. Understanding the specific statute, the damage caps, and the narrow exceptions is essential before you decide whether and how to pursue a claim.

How Maryland Law Values Pets in Civil Lawsuits

Traditionally under Maryland law, pets have been treated as items of personal property, meaning that when an animal was injured or killed, the owner was only able to recover the market value, or replacement cost, of the animal. That framework still controls today, though the legislature has expanded it somewhat.

Section 11-110 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article is the Maryland law that limits recovery for pet injuries. Under the statute, “compensatory damages” means: in the case of the death of a pet, the fair market value of the pet before death and the reasonable and necessary cost of veterinary care; and in the case of an injury to a pet, the reasonable and necessary cost of veterinary care.

In either event — injury or death — there is a cap of $10,000. The statute defines “pet” as a domesticated animal but does not include livestock.

The Maryland Court of Appeals addressed the scope of this statute directly in Anne Arundel County v. Reeves, 474 Md. 46 (2021). In a 6-to-1 decision, the court held that even where a police officer had been grossly negligent in shooting and killing a pet, the only damages the owner was entitled to was the amount allowed by the statute. That ruling effectively confirmed that the $10,000 cap is the ceiling for most pet injury cases in Maryland.

Key Insight: The $10,000 cap applies to economic damages only. Knowing what counts as an “economic” loss — and what falls outside the statute — is the starting point for building any pet injury claim in Maryland.

What Damages You Can Recover for a Pet Injury in Maryland

Maryland’s statute draws a clear line between what you can recover and what you cannot. On the recoverable side, economic damages are available for two categories depending on the outcome for your pet.

If your pet was injured but survived, you can recover the reasonable and necessary cost of veterinary care. Maryland law, last amended in 2017, allows an owner to recover the reasonable cost of veterinary care in the event of injury to the pet. This includes emergency treatment, surgery, hospitalization, and follow-up care — as long as those costs are documented and medically necessary.

If your pet died, you can recover both the veterinary costs incurred before death and the fair market value of the animal. The state cap on the loss of a pet is limited to the fair market value of the pet before death and reasonable and necessary veterinary care costs, not to exceed $10,000.

You can ask for damages such as vet bills, stud fees, or burial expenses in cases where animals are killed. A person who requests more compensation may do so because of the severity of the animal’s injuries or the level of abuse or negligence — for example, by suing for the replacement cost of animals or placing a special value on certain animals, such as a service dog or a dog used for breeding purposes.

Situation	Recoverable Damages	Statutory Cap
Pet injured, survived	Reasonable and necessary vet care costs	$10,000
Pet killed	Fair market value before death + vet care costs	$10,000
Owner also personally injured	Pet damages + personal injury damages (pain and suffering, medical bills)	Pet cap applies separately; personal injury uncapped

If you were also bitten or personally injured during the same incident, that allows for the recovery of pain and suffering and adds significant value to the case. Had the owner not been bitten, the loss of the dog’s life would have been capped at $10,000. This distinction matters enormously when evaluating your claim’s practical value.

Suing for Emotional Distress and Loss of Companionship in Maryland

This is where Maryland law is most painful for pet owners — and most clearly settled. Maryland law does not permit recovery of damages for the emotional pain and suffering that the loss of an animal can cause.

The Maryland Court of Appeals based its ruling in part on the fact that Maryland’s statute limiting non-economic damages for personal injury specifically includes categories such as mental anguish, emotional pain and suffering, loss of society, companionship, comfort, protection, and care — and the court implied that if the legislature intended for these types of damages to be available for the loss of a pet, it would have specifically listed them in the statute.

The court also reasoned that it would be nonsensical to cap economic damages at only $10,000 and not provide a cap for non-economic damages arising out of the same facts. In other words, the cap itself signals the legislature’s intent to limit total recovery.

There is one narrow exception. There is only one way a pet owner’s emotional distress can be considered, and it stems from cases involving a state actor. In one case, the Appellate Court of Maryland upheld a Frederick County jury award of $200,000 in emotional distress damages ($100,000 to each spouse) plus $7,500 in vet bills. The only reason the case turned out that way is because it involved a count for violating the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights under Articles 24 and 26 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights.

However, if you do not have a state actor — like the police in that case — you will be limited to the state’s cap on damages for pets. If a private individual or business injured your pet, the constitutional rights pathway is not available to you.

Important Note: The law in this area continues to evolve. Several Maryland legislative sessions have considered expanding non-economic damages for pet owners. Consulting an animal law attorney in Maryland is the best way to understand whether any legislative changes affect your specific situation.

Negligence Claims for Pet Injuries in Maryland

When your pet is injured by another person’s dog or by someone’s careless conduct, negligence is the legal theory you’ll most likely rely on. Maryland law gives you two distinct paths depending on the facts.

Strict Liability for Dog-on-Human Injuries

Maryland uses a strict liability rule to decide if owners are responsible for injuries, deaths, or property damage caused by their dogs. Under strict liability, a victim does not have to prove that the dog’s owner did something wrong — as long as the victim can show that the dog injured them or damaged their property, the court will assume the owner is legally responsible.

Maryland’s dog-injury law creates a rebuttable presumption that, if a dog kills or injures someone, the owner knew in advance about their pet’s vicious or dangerous propensity. Owners are therefore strictly liable for the victim’s damages unless they can prove either that their dog did not have vicious or dangerous tendencies, or that there was no way they could have known about the dog's vicious or dangerous tendencies.

Negligence for Dog-on-Pet Injuries

When another dog attacks your pet — rather than you — the legal standard shifts. You can sue the owner of the other dog for negligently failing to control their dog, but you will only be able to collect property damages. The strict liability framework that protects human victims does not extend to claims brought solely on behalf of an injured pet.

In deciding a negligence case, a court will ask whether the defendant exercised the amount of control over the dog that a “reasonable person” would have in the same situation. For example, if someone is walking a dog on a long leash and decides to take the animal through a crowd, and the animal suddenly changes direction causing someone to trip, a judge or jury could conclude that a reasonable person would have kept the animal on a shorter leash — making the dog walker liable for negligence.

Contributory Negligence: A Critical Risk

Contributory negligence can end your claim or significantly reduce your compensation. Maryland statute allows a dog owner to raise this defense by showing that the claimant was partly or wholly responsible for the injuries suffered. In Maryland, if the defendant can show contributory negligence, it ends your case and you won’t receive any compensation.

Maryland is one of only a few states that still applies the pure contributory negligence rule. Even being 1% at fault can bar your entire recovery, so how you frame the facts of the incident matters significantly.

Pro Tip: Document everything immediately after the incident — photos of your pet’s injuries, witness contact information, the location where the attack occurred, and any prior complaints about the other dog. This evidence directly addresses the negligence and contributory negligence questions a court will weigh.

When Punitive Damages Are Available in Maryland

Punitive damages are designed to punish a defendant for especially egregious conduct, not simply to compensate you for your loss. In Maryland pet injury cases, they are rarely available — but they are not impossible.

The scope of remedies available depends on the tortfeasor’s level of interference with the pet owner’s property — specifically, whether they injured or killed the companion animal, the type of conduct (whether the harm was done willfully, negligently, or with gross negligence), and the type of damages sought by the pet owner.

The Reeves case illustrates both the possibility and the limits of punitive-style recovery. The jury awarded Mr. Reeves $10,000 plus $500,000 in economic damages plus $750,000 for non-economic damages as a result of gross negligence. However, the Court of Appeals reduced that award to the statutory cap because no state actor constitutional claim applied to the facts in the same way.

Distressed pet owners may be eligible for compensation when someone maliciously hurts their pets or acts with the intent to make the owner suffer — sometimes called the “intentional infliction of emotional distress.” This is a separate tort claim that exists outside the § 11-110 framework and, if proven, is not subject to the same cap.

To succeed on intentional infliction of emotional distress, you generally must show that the defendant’s conduct was extreme and outrageous — not merely negligent or careless. Deliberately harming your pet in front of you, for example, is a scenario courts have recognized as potentially meeting that threshold. Accidental or even reckless conduct typically does not.

Type of Conduct	Punitive/Enhanced Damages Available?	Notes
Ordinary negligence	No	Capped at $10,000 economic damages
Gross negligence (private actor)	Generally no, per Reeves	Court held cap still applies
Gross negligence (state actor)	Potentially yes	Constitutional rights claim required
Intentional/malicious harm	Potentially yes	IIED claim outside § 11-110 framework

How to File a Pet Injury Claim in Maryland

The process for pursuing a pet injury claim in Maryland depends on the amount you’re seeking and the complexity of your case. Most pet injury claims, given the $10,000 statutory cap, fall within the jurisdiction of the District Court of Maryland — and many qualify for small claims court.

Step 1: Assess Your Claim and Gather Evidence

Before filing anything, calculate your documented economic damages — all veterinary bills, the fair market value of your pet if they died, and any other qualifying expenses. Collect all receipts, medical records from your veterinarian, photographs, and witness statements. The strength of your documentation directly determines how much you can prove at trial.

Step 2: Determine the Right Court

The amount in controversy determines whether a claim qualifies as a small claim. The limit is $5,000, and any case filed in the District Court of Maryland for money only for $5,000 or less is considered a small claim. Small claims court handles claims for $5,000 or less, and the rules of evidence and procedure are simplified so it’s easier to represent yourself without a lawyer.

If your documented damages exceed $5,000 — which is possible if your pet required extensive emergency surgery — you’ll need to file in the District Court under standard civil procedures, which require following formal rules of evidence. For most people, small claims court may be the best bet given the practical economics of litigation against the $10,000 cap.

Step 3: File the Complaint

Use the Complaint form to start a small claim — this is form DC-CV-001. In most cases, you should file your complaint at the District Court in the county where the defendant lives, works, or is employed. The filing fee generally ranges from $44.00 to $56 (as of 2024) for small claims cases, but confirm the exact amount with the court.

Step 4: Serve the Defendant

After filing, you must serve a copy of the complaint and supporting documents to the person you are suing. The court can help with this step, often by arranging for the Sheriff’s Office to deliver the papers for an additional fee — as of 2024, the fee is $40 per defendant.

Step 5: Attend the Hearing and Present Your Case

Bring all your documentation to the hearing: veterinary bills, photographs, any written communications with the defendant, and witness testimony if available. Keep the facts as basic and simple as you can. You do not have to tell the whole story in the complaint itself, but you do have to put enough in there so the judge knows what the basis of your claim is.

Consider Consulting an Attorney First

You can handle a small claims tort case, but you should not do it without at least getting advice from an attorney. You usually have to prove some negligence, and there are a lot of laws in Maryland that can adversely affect that claim. Maryland’s contributory negligence rule in particular can eliminate your recovery entirely if the defense raises it successfully.

The victim has three years from the date the action accrues to file a civil lawsuit, usually three years from the time of the incident. Failure to file the lawsuit within that time period may result in the case’s dismissal. Mark that deadline carefully — missing it forfeits your right to any recovery, regardless of how strong your underlying claim is.

Pro Tip: Even if you plan to represent yourself in small claims court, a one-hour consultation with a Maryland animal law or personal injury attorney can help you identify whether your facts support any claims beyond the standard § 11-110 cap — such as an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim or a constitutional rights claim if a government actor was involved.

maryland's pet injury law is not generous to pet owners, and the courts have consistently upheld that framework. But knowing exactly where the limits are — and where the narrow exceptions exist — puts you in the best position to decide whether to file, how to frame your claim, and what a realistic outcome looks like.