Dog Injury and Bite Cases: Who Really “Owns a Dog?”

In Massachusetts, the owner or the keeper of a dog is strictly liable for injuries or damages caused by that dog. And although there are a number of defenses to dog bite cases, one defense that many victims may not anticipate, is for the person sued, to argue that they are, not in fact, the owner of a dog.

No Deed or Title

Unlike many other forms of property that may have a title or a deed, or some document that says specifically who owns it, dogs generally do not have this. In fact, even your own common experience may be of dogs that go from home to home, often multiple times, and yet, there is no “official registration” of a dog.

Examples of Unclear Ownership

In many cases, it may not be completely clear who actually owns a dog. Imagine these scenarios:

• A couple who have a young child, has her dad watch the dog for the first year after the child is born, until the couple can devote time to the dog
• A young adult goes to college, and leaves his dog with his parents. He comes home routinely, but the dog is at his home, with his parents, when he is away at college.
• A couple adopted a dog together, but the couple splits up. The dog goes back and forth between the former owners.
• An elderly person becomes too sick to care for her dog, so while she is infirm, her adult child has the dogs at the child’s house

As you can see, scenarios like these, and many others that aren’t listed here, can draw some real questions over just who the owner of a dog is. And you can bet that when someone is sued because a dog bites or injures someone else, the first thing that the person sues says is “the dog isn’t mine, I gave him up awhile ago.”

Proof of Ownership

So if ownership is in dispute, how do you prove ownership of a dog?

If the dog was adopted from a rescue organization or adopted from a pound, a victim can obtain records to see who is listed as the adopting party.

Another way courts will look to an owner, is to see who pays the bills related to ownership—specifically, things like vet bills, which can be obtained and looked at to see who pays for the dog’s needs.

What if You Just Can’t Tell?

If the owner of a dog truly cannot be determined, a dog bite or victim injury still has options.

There is nothing in the law that prohibits a court from finding that a dog can have multiple owners. So, in cases where two people may have equal claim to ownership, it does not have to be one or the other.

The statute also says that “a keeper” of a dog can also be liable. So even if you could not determine an owner, being “a keeper” is a much easier standard, and can allow anybody who takes care of a dog, to be potentially liable.

Bitten or injured by a dog? We’re ready for their defenses. Call the Boston personal injury lawyers at The Law Office of Joseph Linnehan, Jr. today at 617-275-4200 for help.