Dog Bites and Attacks Leading to Legal Claims

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs every year in the U.S. Most of these bites are not serious, but about 885,000 of these bites will require some type of medical care. Some will require the victim to stay home from work or cause suffering or disfigurement. Half of the bites requiring medical care are inflicted upon children.

While state laws vary greatly, dog bite liability generally comes in three forms. More than half the states have enacted strict liability statutes. These make a dog owner liable for at least some injuries caused by their dog, whether or not they acted carefully or knew that the dog was likely to bite. On the other hand, some states rely on what is called "the one bite rule," which makes a dog's owner legally responsible for a dog bite if the owner has reason to know the dog might bite. Meanwhile, a dog owner may be responsible if he or she failed to use reasonable care in controlling the dog. (This is called negligence.) Sometimes a violation of a state law or a local ordinance can help a plaintiff prove the liability of a dog owner under a negligence theory.

What Dog Owners Need to Know

Any dog can bite. Sometimes the bite comes out of nowhere, and other times the bite happens due to a dog's fear, a dog's protective instincts towards its owner or its food, or provocation by the victim. While it may not bother you when your dog jumps on you, if you let your dog off the leash and he or she jumps on an elderly person who then falls and gets hurt, you could be held responsible for those damages. It is important, therefore, to keep your dog from getting into situations that make your dog more likely to bite or attack.

Preventative measures include training and socializing your dog from a young age, never letting your dog off the leash in public places, taking particular care when your dog is around young children and never leaving your dog alone with a toddler or infant, keeping your dog's rabies vaccination and other shots current, and avoiding situations where your dog has previously displayed any sort of aggression or discomfort, such as around strangers. At your home, you may want to post a prominent sign warning visitors of your dog to avoid a premises liability lawsuit.

What To Do If You're Attacked By A Dog

If you are the victim of a dog attack or bite, you are entitled to defend yourself. In most states, you can take any necessary action to stop a dog, including killing it in the case of a sustained attack on you or somebody else. You should immediately report the attack to the dog's owner and get the names and phone numbers of the owners, as well as any witnesses.

Afterward, you should seek medical care, even if you don't think your injuries are serious, since sometimes injuries take a few days to manifest. You should report the event to animal control authorities. Later, if you are pursuing a claim, you should also look into the dog's history by checking with animal control to see if the dog has a history of attacks or has been officially designated as "dangerous."

If you are injured and need medical care, you can obtain reimbursement from the dog's owner for both economic and noneconomic damages: medical expenses, lost income, disfigurement, and pain and suffering. When you are injured on the dog's owner's property, his or her homeowner's policy or renter's insurance may cover the cost. You should submit the claim to these insurers even when the injury occurs out in public, off the property, since sometimes those bites are covered too.

Last reviewed October 2024