Witness Statement Template
Get names and numbers at the scene. Everything else can follow, but that cannot.
People who stop to help are findable in the first hour and frequently unfindable a month later. And memory does not simply fade — it drifts, and it drifts toward whatever the person has heard since.
Minimum, taken at the scene
If you can do nothing else, get:
- Name
- Mobile number
- Where they were standing
Three lines. Thirty seconds. This alone preserves the option.
The statement
Ask them to write it in their own words. A statement in a witness’s own voice is far more credible than one that reads as though someone dictated it — and if it later appears you supplied the wording, it loses most of its value.
Give them these prompts:
Who they are. Name, contact details, and their relationship to anyone involved — or that they had none, which is better.
Where they were. Their exact position, and what they could see from it.
What they saw, in order.
- Where the dog came from
- Whether it was leashed, contained, or loose
- Whether anyone was holding or handling it
- Whether the dog gave warning — growling, barking, teeth — or none
- What the injured person was doing immediately beforehand
- What happened, in sequence
- How it ended
What was said. Anything the owner or handler said at the scene, as close to their exact words as the witness can manage. Admissions made in the first minutes are often the single most useful thing in a file, and they are the first thing remembered differently later.
What they observed about the property. Any sign, and its wording. Gates, fences, latches. Whether a sign was visible from the approach the injured person actually used.
This last one matters in Florida more than most places, because the “Bad Dog” sign provision can bar a claim entirely and every element of it is a fact question about that day.
Sign and date it. Full date, and the time it was written.
What not to do
Do not tell them what to write. Beyond the prompts, let them describe what they saw. A coached statement is worse than none.
Do not correct their account because it differs from yours. Honest witnesses disagree about details; that is normal and expected. A set of statements that match too closely invites the obvious question.
Do not ask them to leave things out. If a witness saw something unhelpful, that fact exists whether or not it is written down — and it is far better to know now.
If you did not get details at the scene
Not necessarily over. Worth trying:
- Neighbours, and anyone who works the area regularly — postal carriers, delivery drivers
- Nearby businesses
- Doorbell and security cameras. These are the time-critical one — most systems overwrite within days, so ask immediately
- Anyone who posted about it locally
A note on the person who was bitten
If that is you, write your own account separately and first, before speaking to witnesses. A structured log is here. Recording your own memory before it is influenced by other people’s is worth doing deliberately.