dog
law
Spring is puppy-shopping season for many dog lovers.
But it pays to remember that although dogs may be
a person’s best friend, they are potentially
dangerous property in the eyes of the law.
Following widely publicized maulings by American
Pit Bull Terriers, many communities and states that
had not already done so began considering legislation
that would make it easier to hold dog owners liable
for their pets’ first unprovoked attack on
humans. Dog bite laws vary greatly from state to
state, but in many states landlords can also sometimes
be held liable for injuries caused by their tenants’ dogs.
But isn’t “every dog entitled to one
bite?” In a word, no. That saying is an imprecise
paraphrase of old English laws under which dog owners
generally would not be held accountable for their
pet’s “first bite” unless the owner
knew or should have known that the dog had a propensity
to bite. After the first bite, the owner would be
deemed to have been put on notice and could be held
liable for any subsequent incidents.
Even under that rule, which may still be in effect
in some states, a dog may not actually have to bite
someone for the owner to be put on notice that it
is likely to bite someone. A dog’s habit of
snarling and lunging at passersby, for example, might
be enough to alert the owner of the dog’s dangerous
nature.
And although there is considerable debate over whether
an entire breed can be viewed as “vicious,” some
juries may view a pit bull owner’s explanations
with the sort of skepticism auto insurers accord
drivers of high-performance sport cars.
Well, if state laws are rendering owners liable for
their dogs’ first bite, what good is a guard
dog? The answer is that if you would be entitled
to shoot an intruder because you reasonably believed
you were in imminent danger of serious harm, your
dog would also be entitled to attack. On the other
hand, you would not be entitled to shoot a small
child who wandered onto your property; nor would
you be allowed to permit your dog to attack him or
her.
For situations falling between those two extremes,
some states permit dog owners to defend a lawsuit
by showing that their pet was provoked, that the
victim was a trespasser, or that the property was
posted with warning signs.
Of course, owners who “sic” their dogs
on someone run the risk of being charged with assault
or even murder, just as if they had deliberately
shot that person. In sum, then, owners should be
alert to their dogs’ temperament and take appropriate
precautions to protect others from harm. In many
states, simply saying “He never bit anyone
before” may be akin to saying “I didn’t
know the gun was loaded”—a less than
perfect defense to a negligence suit.
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