Things You May Not Have Known About Dog Injury and Bite Cases

When you are injured by a dog it may seem like a pretty easy case. The dog bit you, so the owner should be liable for your injuries. But dog bite cases are actually more complex than you think, and there are a lot of misconceptions about dog bite and injury cases.

Strict Liability

To hold an owner of a dog liable, you don’t have to actually show the owner did something wrong, or that the owner could have or should have done something. That’s because dog bite cases are strict liability cases. That means that if the dog causes you injury, the owner is liable, even if the owner didn’t necessarily do anything wrong or careless.

No Free Bites

Many people are under the misconception that there is “one free bite,” meaning that the dog must have previously bitten someone in the past, for the owner to be liable for an injury caused by the dog. That is not the law. The owner doesn’t have to have any prior knowledge of a dog’s propensity for causing injury, in order to be held liable for what the dog does.

The Owner Doesn’t Have to be There

There are a lot of situations where an owner isn’t in immediate control of their dog. Imagine a dog walker waking someone’s dog, or the owner is out of town, and a neighbor is watching the dog.

Under Massachusetts law, the owner doesn’t have to be physically present, or currently in possession or control of the dog, to be liable for what the dog does.

Not Just Bites

Yes, dog bites cause injury. But dogs injure people in other ways as well—and not all of them are out of aggression.

A dog owner is strictly liable for the injuries the dog causes, even if those injuries aren’t biting injuries, and even if the dog is not even being aggressive. So, for example, if a dog playfully jumps on a child and knocks the child over, the dog owner is liable—even though the dog was “only playing.”

In fact, there have been numerous instances where dogs did things like step on guns, discharging them, and causing injury. Even there, dog owners are liable.

Provocation is a Defense

A dog’s owner can argue that the victim provoked the dog, causing the dog to injure the victim. This doesn’t have to be a mean, hostile provocation. Even a playful one—imagine going up to a strange dog and trying to hug it leading to the dog lashing out—can constitute provocation. Often expert testimony may be needed, to determine whether the dog was or was not provoked.

Trespassers Can’t Sue

A trespasser cannot sue for injuries caused by a dog. But so long as someone is on property legally, they are not a trespasser.

This means that, for example, emergency responders, or city workers, or anybody who may be using a public right of way or easement on the property, is not a trespasser, and can sue for injuries caused by a dog.

Injuries to Kids

Generally, it is a valid defense to say that someone provoked a dog, or was negligent around the dog, leading to the injury. But a dog owner cannot use this defense, if the person injured or bitten was a child under the age of 7.

Bitten or injured by a dog? Let us help. Call the Boston personal injury lawyers at The Law Office of Joseph Linnehan, Jr. today at 617-275-4200 for help with your dog bite or injury case.

Source:

abcnews.go.com/US/man-shot-dead-after-dog-steps-hunting-rifles/story?id=96688192