legal

Dog Owner's Legal Responsibility

Whether you know it or not as a dog owner you have a legal responsibility to ensure your dog does not cause harm or injury to others. Regardless of breed, even docile breeds, may bite when provoked. The provocation can be protecting food, family, puppies or territory. The following statistics provided by the Insurance Information Institute (www.iii.org) in perspective the need to take proactive measures through early training to protect you from future costly litigation. With 70 percent of the bites occurring on the dog owner's property the issue is clearly becoming a major source of concern for insurers and indicates a lack of awareness. Lawsuits filed by victims of dog bites against pet owners appear to be on the rise.

Facts

There were 4.5 million bites reported to authorities in 1996 and 4.7 million reported in 1999.

According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and control, the numbers of dog bites requiring medical attention increased from 585,000 in 1986 to 800,000 in 1994, an increase of 37 percent.

In 2001 the property/casualty insurance industry paid out $310 million in dog bite liability claims, up from $250 million five years earlier. These numbers only account for liability claims from homeowners or renters policies. They do not include uninsured losses or other medical costs that are not part of the liability claim.

Dog bites now account for one-third of all homeowner's insurance liability claims totally $310million.

Approximately 4.7million people are bitten by dogs annually, resulting in an estimated 800,000 injuries.

Dog Owners' Liability

Under most state laws, if your dog bites someone you are responsible for the expenses and damages. Owners are liable for injuries their pets cause if the owner knew the dog had a tendency to cause that kind of injury; if a state statute makes the owner liable whether or not the owner knew the dog had a tendency to cause that kind of injury; or if the injury was caused by unreasonably carelessness on the part of the owner.

There are three kinds of law that impose liability on owners:

• A dog-bite statute: where the dog owner is automatically liable for any injury or damage the dog causes without provocation.
• The one-bite rule: where the dog owner is responsible for an injury caused when the owner knew the dog was likely to cause that type of injury - in this case, the victim must prove the owner knew the dog was dangerous.
• Negligence laws: where the dog owner is liable if the injury occurred because the owner was unreasonably careless (negligent) in controlling the dog.

Reducing the likelihood a dog will bite someone:

• Seek training early
• Proper socialization
• Spay or neuter. Studies show that dogs are three times more likely to bite if they are not neutered.
• Discourage children from disturbing a dog that is eating or sleeping.
• Play non-aggressive games such as fetch instead of more aggressive games like tug-of-war
• Avoid situations where you are unsure of what the dog's behavior will be
• Never approach a strange dog