Dog Bite Injury Liability

Answer:

When it comes to dog bite and dog attack cases, a question people sometimes ask is, “Could someone other than the dog owner be responsible for the injuries in the case?” Like a lot of legal questions, it always depends on particular facts and circumstances. Yes, in some instances, someone other than the dog owner could be responsible for the injuries. Let me give you an example. Frequently, dog bites and severe dog attacks are against young people and small children. A classic scenario where someone other than the dog owner might be held responsible for the injury to that child would be when that child is in the care of someone else. The parents have placed that child in the care of a daycare or school, or some other person or entity, who has been placed in the role of looking after that child and caring for them during a particular period of time, and the dog bite or dog attack essentially happens under that person’s watch. In that situation, yes, there may be some responsibility still on the part of that dog owner, but, if the person responsible for looking after that child or responsible for the care of that child is involved in the situation, and that’s a person who’s different than the dog owner, then there could be potential liability on them for some or all of that fault, depending on the particular circumstances. For instance, if they did not watch the child and let the child wander over into the yard, where a vicious dog was, or if they let the child willingly go up and pet a strange dog that then turned on them, they could bear some responsibility for those injuries. That actually comes up quite often. There are other scenarios, not necessarily involving a child, but perhaps a person working, who has to go on the property or who has to go into situations where there’s a dangerous dog who turns on them and attacks them. That potentially turns into an on-the-job injury and implicates workers’ compensation or implicates some other form of liability on that employer for the injury that would be separate from the dog owner. Yes, there are multiple potential scenarios and situations where, in a dog bite injury or a dog attack case, someone other than the dog owner ends up bearing some or all of the responsibility for the victim’s injuries. Again, all of these potential scenarios are just case-specific, fact-specific and local law specific. You have to have legal representation involved working on your claim in that situation who understands litigating personal injury cases, but, more specifically, litigating dog bite and dog attack cases and who understands the local law and how it applies to those circumstances. You need someone with experience in those cases who can get all the facts together and really work up the case that it needs to be. If you or a loved one have been injured in a dog attack, we have had some success pursuing those types of cases here at the Brad Morris Law Firm. Over time, they’ve ranged from relatively minor or not severe injuries to some very severe injuries with lifelong implications for our clients. We’ve been able to get them fair compensation, when the circumstances justified that, and we’re here to answer your questions and get you pointed in the right direction if you need help. Reach out to us through our website or give us a call, and we will do our best to get you the help you need.