Sep 2, 2026

Dog Bites in Scottsdale: One Number, and a Seven-Day Difference

Home quarantine, or not less than seven days in the pound at your expense. The difference is your dog's licence, and the reporting duty falls on witnesses too.

Luis ZamoraCo-founder of PetCompass; Dog Dad to Banzo and Tuck

Scottsdale, Arizona11 min readPet Care & Services

Scottsdale prints the number on its own park rules. Verbatim from the dog parks page:

"All dog attacks should be immediately reported to the Maricopa County Animal Care & Control at 602-506-7387."

602-506-7387. The city routes bites and attacks to the county rather than handling them itself, and the county ordinance that follows is where the consequences live.

The largest of those consequences turns on whether your dog was licensed and vaccinated: home quarantine, or not less than seven days in the pound.

The rule that decides where your dog spends the next week

Maricopa County Ordinance P-13, Section 9, verbatim:

"An unlicensed or unvaccinated dog or cat that bites any person shall be confined and quarantined in a county pound or, upon request of and at the expense of the owner, at a veterinary hospital for a period of not less than seven days. A dog properly licensed and vaccinated pursuant to this ordinance, that bites any person, may be confined and quarantined at the home of the owner or wherever the dog is harbored and maintained with the consent of and in a manner prescribed by the county enforcement agent."

Read the two halves against each other.

Dog	Where it is quarantined
Properly licensed and vaccinated	May be quarantined at the owner's home, with the county's consent and in the manner it prescribes
Unlicensed or unvaccinated	County pound, or a veterinary hospital at the owner's expense, for not less than seven days

Seven days of veterinary boarding, paid by you, against a $22 licence. That is the arithmetic, and it is in the ordinance rather than on a marketing page. Our Scottsdale dog licence guide covers how to get one.

Note the words "may be" in the licensed half. Home quarantine is permitted, not guaranteed, and it is at the county's discretion and on its terms.

Other animals get longer. Verbatim: "Any animal other than a dog or cat that bites any person shall be confined and quarantined in a county pound or, upon request of and at the expense of the owner, at a veterinary hospital for a period of not less than fourteen days".

Reporting is a duty, and it falls on witnesses too

Verbatim from the same section:

"Whenever an animal bites any person, the incident shall be reported to the county enforcement agent immediately by any person having direct knowledge."

"Any person having direct knowledge." Not just the owner and not just the person bitten. A witness at a dog park has the same duty, which is presumably why the city prints the number on the park rules.

Report it even if the bite looks minor, because the quarantine framework exists for rabies control rather than for injury severity, and a report you did not make is a problem later.

Where this is most likely to happen in Scottsdale

The dog parks, and the city says so in its own rules. Verbatim:

"Dog behavior can be unpredictable particularly around other dogs and strangers." "Aggressive or anti-social behaving dogs must be removed from the park immediately." "The city does not supervise use of the dog park and anyone using the area does so at his/her own risk."

Nobody is watching. That is an explicit statement rather than an implication, and it puts the judgment on you.

And the liability line, verbatim: "Owners or custodians of a dog are responsible and legally liable for the acts and conduct of the dog at all times when the dog is in a city park."

Two more rules read as bite prevention once you notice what they are for. "No more than four dogs per visitor" is a control limit, and "An adult must accompany youth under the age of 16" puts a decision-maker next to the child. Our Scottsdale dog parks guide has all four parks and the rest of the rules, and our dog park etiquette guide covers reading a situation before it turns.

The state layer: liability without regard to the dog's history

Arizona's bite liability statute is short and it removes the argument most owners expect to have.

ARS 11-1025(A), verbatim:

"The owner of a dog that bites a person when the person is in or on a public place or lawfully in or on a private place, including the property of the owner of the dog, is liable for damages suffered by the person bitten, regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner's knowledge of its viciousness."

"Regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner's knowledge of its viciousness." So the argument that the dog has never done it before is not a defence to liability in Arizona. And note the scope: it covers a bite on the owner's own property where the bitten person is lawfully there.

There is also a duty to hand over your details. Subsection (B), verbatim: "A person who owns or is responsible for the care of a dog that bites a person when the person is in or on a public place or lawfully in or on a private place, including the property of the owner of the dog, shall provide the owner's contact information to the person who suffered the dog bite."

And breed is expressly out of bounds. Subsection (C), verbatim: "The breed of a dog may not be considered in findings of facts or conclusions of law entered by a court, administrative law judge, hearing officer, arbitrator or other legal decision-maker regarding whether a dog is aggressive or vicious or has created liability."

That is a strong provision and it is worth knowing if you own a breed that insurers and landlords treat as a category. Our renting with a large or restricted-breed dog guide covers the housing side, which is contractual rather than statutory.

The one defence the statute names

ARS 11-1027, verbatim: "Proof of provocation of the attack by the person injured shall be a defense to the action for damages. The issue of provocation shall be determined by whether a reasonable person would expect that the conduct or circumstances would be likely to provoke a dog."

A reasonable person standard, applied to the conduct rather than to the dog.

And a broader rule for dogs at large

ARS 11-1020, verbatim: "Injury to any person or damage to any property by a dog while at large shall be the full responsibility of the dog owner or person or persons responsible for the dog when such damages were inflicted."

"Any property", and "full responsibility". That reaches beyond bites to a loose dog that causes a crash or wrecks a garden, which is one more reason the six-foot rule matters. Our Arizona dog laws guide covers the wider statutory picture.

At-large restrictions are separate again. ARS 11-1012(A), verbatim: "Neither a female dog during her breeding or mating season nor a vicious dog shall be permitted at large."

What "vicious animal" means here, and who decides

P-13 defines it, verbatim:

"'Vicious animal' means any animal of the order carnivora that has a propensity to bite human beings without provocation, and has been so declared after a hearing before a justice of the peace or city magistrate."

Two elements, and the second is procedural. A propensity to bite without provocation, and a declaration after a hearing before a justice of the peace or a city magistrate. Absent that hearing, the label does not attach.

The consequence of the label, verbatim: "The county enforcement agent shall destroy a vicious animal upon an order of a justice of the peace or a city magistrate. A Justice of the Peace or city magistrate may issue such an order after notice to the owner, if any, and a hearing."

Notice to the owner, and a hearing. Those are the two protections in the sentence, and they are worth knowing exist.

If your dog has bitten someone

Contain the dog first. Not because of the law, because a frightened dog in a crowd bites twice.

Give your details and check on the person. The bitten person needs medical advice, and in Arizona the reporting duty is on anyone with direct knowledge in any case.

Report to the county on 602-506-7387. The ordinance says immediately.

Find your licence and rabies certificate before you make that call. Whether the dog is quarantined at your home or in a pound turns on your ability to show it is properly licensed and vaccinated. Digging through a drawer is not how you want to spend that phone call. Our pet health and vaccination tracker guide is where to keep it.

And expect the quarantine to be on the county's terms. The ordinance says home quarantine may be permitted "with the consent of and in a manner prescribed by the county enforcement agent".

If your dog has been bitten

Different sequence, and the medical part comes first.

Get to a vet. A puncture wound closes over dirt and a dog can look fine for a day. Our emergency vets in Scottsdale guide lists the 24-hour hospitals, including two in the same ZIP code, and our pet first aid basics guide covers the immediate handling.

Get the other owner's details and their dog's vaccination status. Rabies status is the question your vet will ask first.

Report it to the county on the same number. The city's own rules say all dog attacks should be reported immediately.

Photograph the wound and keep the invoices, because Arizona's strict liability framework makes the other owner's responsibility a live question.

The prevention that actually works

Licence and vaccinate. It decides where the quarantine happens.

Keep the lead at six feet outside the fenced parks, and handheld in the Preserve. Our dogs in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve guide covers the trail rules.

Leave the park when your dog stops enjoying it. The city's rule says aggressive or anti-social behaving dogs must be removed immediately, and the tell usually arrives several minutes before the incident.

Use the passive pen if that is your dog. Two of Scottsdale's four dog parks separate Active Dogs from Passive Dogs, which is a genuine bite-prevention feature rather than a nicety.

And train the recall properly, because no food is allowed inside the fence and voice control is the standard. Our how to leash train a dog and how to choose a dog trainer guides are the place to start.

Frequently asked questions

Who do I report a dog bite to in Scottsdale? Maricopa County Animal Care and Control at 602-506-7387. The city prints that number on its own dog park rules and states that all dog attacks should be reported immediately.

Does my dog have to be quarantined after biting someone? Yes, but where depends on its paperwork. Ordinance P-13 provides that a properly licensed and vaccinated dog may be quarantined at the owner's home with the county's consent, while an unlicensed or unvaccinated dog is confined in a county pound, or a veterinary hospital at the owner's expense, for not less than seven days.

How long is the quarantine? Not less than seven days for an unlicensed or unvaccinated dog or cat. For any animal other than a dog or cat, the ordinance sets not less than fourteen days.

Who has to report a bite? The ordinance states that whenever an animal bites any person, the incident shall be reported to the county enforcement agent immediately by any person having direct knowledge. That includes witnesses, not just the owner.

What makes a dog legally vicious in Maricopa County? Ordinance P-13 defines a vicious animal as any animal of the order carnivora that has a propensity to bite human beings without provocation and has been so declared after a hearing before a justice of the peace or city magistrate.

Can a vicious dog be destroyed? The ordinance provides that the county enforcement agent shall destroy a vicious animal upon an order of a justice of the peace or city magistrate, and that such an order may be issued after notice to the owner and a hearing.

Sources

Ordinances change and one layer of this could not be read at source. Contact Maricopa County directly for anything consequential.